Title Poet Year Written Collection Body
“The dule ’s i’ this bonnet o’ mine” Edwin Waugh English

Lancashire Dialect
THE DULE ’S i’ this bonnet o’ mine:
  My ribbins ’ll never be reet;
Here, Mally, aw ’m like to be fine,
  For Jamie ’ll be comin’ to-neet;
He met me i’ th’ lone t’ other day
  (Aw war gooin’ for wayter to th’ well),
An’ he...

“The day returns, my bosom burns” Robert Burns 1779 English

The Day returns, my bosom burns;
  The blissful day we twa did meet;
Though winter wild in tempest toiled,
  Ne’er summer sun was half sae sweet.
Than a’ the pride that loads the tide,
  And crosses o’er the sultry line,—
Than kingly robes, and...

“The day is done” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1827 English

The Day is done, and the darkness
  Falls from the wings of Night,
As a feather is wafted downward
  From an eagle in his flight.

I see the lights of the village
  Gleam through the rain and the mist,
And a feeling of sadness comes o’er me...

“Tell me, ye wingèd winds” Charles Mackay 1834 English

  TELL me, ye wingèd winds,
    That round my pathway roar,
  Do ye not know some spot
    Where mortals weep no more?
  Some lone and pleasant dell,
    Some valley in the west,
  Where, free from toil and pain,
    The weary soul may rest...

“Tell me, my heart, if this be love” George, Lord Lyttelton English

When Delia on the plain appears,
Awed by a thousand tender fears,
I would approach, but dare not move;—
Tell me, my heart, if this be love.

Whene’er she speaks, my ravished ear
No other voice than hers can hear;
No other wit but hers approve;—...

“Tears, idle tears” Alfred, Lord Tennyson English

From “The Princess”
  TEARS, idle tears, I know not what they mean,
Tears from the depth of some divine despair
Rise in the heart, and gather to the eyes,
In looking on the happy autumn fields,
And thinking of the days that are no more.

  Fresh as...

“Take, O, take those lips away” William Shakespeare 1584 English

TAKE, 1 O, take those lips away,
  That so sweetly were forsworn;
And those eyes, like break of day,
  Lights that do mislead the morn;
But my kisses bring again,
Seals of love, but sealed in vain.

Hide, O, hide those hills of snow
  ...

“Take the world as it is” Charles Swain English

Take the world as it is!—there are good and bad in it,
  And good and bad will be from now to the end;
And they, who expect to make saints in a minute,
  Are in danger of marring more hearts than they ’ll mend.
If ye wish to be happy ne’er seek for the faults,...

“Sweetly breathing, vernal air” Thomas Carew 1615 English

Sweetly breathing, vernal air,
That with kind warmth doth repair
Winter’s ruins; from whose breast
All the gums and spice of the East
Borrow their perfumes; whose eye
Gilds the morn, and clears the sky.
Whose dishevelled tresses shed
Pearls...

“Sweet stream that winds” William Cowper 1751 English

Sweet stream, that winds through yonder glade,
Apt emblem of a virtuous maid,—
Silent and chaste she steals along,
Far from the world’s gay, busy throng;
With gentle yet prevailing force,
Intent upon her destined course;
Graceful and useful all she...

“Strong Son of God, immortal Love” Alfred, Lord Tennyson English

From “In Memoriam”: Introduction

STRONG Son of God, immortal Love,
  Whom we, that have not seen thy face,
  By faith, and faith alone, embrace,
Believing where we cannot prove;

Thine are these orbs of light and shade;
  Thou madest Life in man...

“Stone the woman, let the man go free” Anonymous English

Yes, stone the woman, let the man go free!
Draw back your skirts, lest they perchance may touch
Her garment as she passes; but to him
Put forth a willing hand to clasp with his
That led her to destruction and disgrace.
Shut up from her the sacred ways of...

“Spring, the sweet spring” Thomas Nashe 1587 English

Spring, the sweet spring, is the year’s pleasant king;
Then blooms each thing, then maids dance in a ring,
Cold doth not sting, the pretty birds do sing,
  Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo!

The palm and may make country-houses gay,
Lambs frisk and...

“Softly woo away her breath” Bryan Waller Procter English

Softly woo away her breath,
  Gentle death!
Let her leave thee with no strife,
  Tender, mournful, murmuring life!
She hath seen her happy day,—
  She hath had her bud and blossom;
Now she pales and shrinks away,
  Earth, into thy gentle...

“So sweet love seemed” Robert Bridges 1864 English

So sweet love seemed that April morn,
When first we kissed beside the thorn,
So strangely sweet, it was not strange
We thought that love could never change.

But I can tell—let truth be told—
That love will change in growing old;
Though day by day...

“Smile and never heed me” Charles Swain English

Though, when other maids stand by,
I may deign thee no reply,
Turn not then away, and sigh,—
    Smile, and never heed me!
If our love, indeed, be such
As must thrill at every touch,
Why should others learn as much?—
    Smile, and never...

“Sit down, sad soul” Bryan Waller Procter English

Sit down, sad soul, and count
  The moments flying;
Come, tell the sweet amount
  That ’s lost by sighing!
How many smiles?—a score?
Then laugh, and count no more;
    For day is dying!

Lie down, sad soul, and sleep,
  And no more...

“She was a phantom of delight” William Wordsworth 1790 English

She was a phantom of delight
When first she gleamed upon my sight;
A lovely apparition, sent
To be a moment’s ornament;
Her eyes as stars of twilight fair;
Like Twilight’s, too, her dusky hair;
But all things else about her drawn
From May-...

“She walks in beauty” Lord Byron English

“Hebrew Melodies”
SHE walks in beauty, like the night
  Of cloudless climes and starry skies,
And all that ’s best of dark and bright
  Meet in her aspect and her eyes,
Thus mellowed to that tender light
  Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

...
“She is not fair to outward view” Hartley Coleridge 1816 English

She is not fair to outward view,
  As many maidens be;
Her loveliness I never knew
  Until she smiled on me:
O, then I saw her eye was bright,—
A well of love, a spring of light.

But now her looks are coy and cold;
  To mine they ne’er...