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The Fly |
William Oldys |
1707 |
English |
Occasioned by a Fly Drinking out of the Author’s Cup
BUSY, curious, thirsty fly,
Drink with me, and drink as I!
Freely welcome to my cup,
Couldst thou sip and sip it up:
Make the most of life you may;
Life is short and wears away!
Both... |
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The Flying Gang |
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English |
I served my time, in the days gone by,
In the railway's clash and clang,
And I worked my way to the end, and I
Was the head of the "Flying Gang".
'Twas a chosen band that was kept at hand
In case of an urgent need;... |
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The Fool's Prayer |
Edward Rowland Sill |
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English |
The royal feast was done; the King
Sought some new sport to banish care,
And to his jester cried: “Sir Fool,
Kneel now, and make for us a prayer!”
The jester doffed his cap and bells,
And stood the mocking court before;
They could not see... |
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The Foolish Virgins |
Alfred, Lord Tennyson |
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English |
From “Idyls of the King: Guinevere”
THE QUEEN looked up, and said,
“O maiden, if indeed you list to sing,
Sing, and unbind my heart, that I may weep.”
Whereat full willingly sang the little maid:
“Late, late, so late! and dark the night and chill!... |
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The Fool’s Prayer |
Edward Rowland Sill |
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English |
The Royal feast was done; the King
Sought some new sport to banish care,
And to his jester cried: “Sir Fool,
Kneel now, and make for us a prayer!”
The jester doffed his cap and bells,
And stood the mocking court before;
They could not see... |
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The Forefather |
Richard Burton |
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English |
Here at the country inn,
I lie in my quiet bed,
And the ardent onrush of armies
Throbs and throbs in my head.
Why, in this calm, sweet place,
Where only silence is heard,
Am I ware of the crash of conflict,—
Is my blood to battle... |
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The Forging of the Anchor |
Samuel Ferguson |
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English |
Come, see the Dolphin’s anchor forged; ’t is at a white heat now:
The bellows ceased, the flames decreased; though on the forge’s brow
The little flames still fitfully play through the sable mound:
And fitfully you still may see the grim smiths ranking round,
All... |
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The Forsaken Merman |
Matthew Arnold |
1842 |
English |
Come, dear children, let us away;
Down and away below.
Now my brothers call from the bay;
Now the great winds shorewards blow;
Now the salt tides seaward flow;
Now the wild white horses play,
Champ and chafe and toss in the spray.
... |
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The Fortunate One |
Harriet Monroe |
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English |
Beside her ashen hearth she sate her down,
Whence he she loved had fled,—
His children plucking at her sombre gown
And calling for the dead.
One came to her clad in the robes of May,
And said sweet words of cheer,
Bidding her bear the... |
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The Four Winds |
Charles Henry Luders |
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English |
Wind of the North,
Wind of the Norland snows,
Wind of the winnowed skies, and sharp, clear stars,—
Blow cold and keen across the naked hills,
And crisp the lowland pools with crystal films,
And blur the casement squares with glittering ice,
But go... |
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The Friar of Orders Gray |
Thomas Percy |
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English |
Adapted from old ballads
IT was a friar of orders gray
Walked forth to tell his beads;
And he met with a lady fair
Clad in a pilgrim’s weeds.
“Now Christ thee save, thou reverend friar;
I pray thee tell to me,
If ever at yon holy... |
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The Friend |
Nicholas Grimald |
1539 |
English |
From “On Friendship”
OF all the heavenly gifts that mortal men commend,
What trusty treasure in the world can countervail a friend?
Our health is soon decayed; goods, casual, light and vain;
Broke have we seen the force of power, and honor suffer stain.
In... |
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The Friend of Humanity and the Knife-Grinder |
George Canning |
1790 |
English |
Friend of Humanity
NEEDY 1 knife-grinder! whither are you going?
Rough is the road; your wheel is out of order.
Bleak blows the blast;—your hat has got a hole in ’t;
So have your breeches!
Weary knife-grinder! little think the proud ones,... |
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The Fringilla Melodia |
Henry Beck Hirst |
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English |
Happy song-sparrow, that on woodland side
Or by the meadow sits, and ceaseless sings
His mellow roundelay in russet pride,
Owning no care between his wings.
He has no tax to pay, nor work to do:
His round of life is ever a pleasant one;
For... |
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The Frost |
Hannah Flagg Gould |
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English |
The Frost looked forth, one still, clear night,
And he said, “Now I shall be out of sight;
So through the valley and over the height
In silence I ’ll take my way.
I will not go like that blustering train,
The wind and the snow, the hail and the rain,... |
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The Frost of Death was on the Pane — |
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English |
The Frost of Death was on the Pane —
"Secure your Flower" said he.
Like Sailors fighting with a Leak
We fought Mortality.
Our passive Flower we held to Sea —
To Mountain — To the Sun —
Yet even on... |
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The Frost was never seen — |
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The Frost was never seen —
If met, too rapid passed,
Or in too unsubstantial Team —
The Flowers notice first
A Stranger hovering round
A Symptom of alarm
In Villages remotely set
But... |
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The Fugitive Slave's Apostrophe to the North Star |
John Pierpont |
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English |
Star of the North! though night winds drift
The fleecy drapery of the sky
Between thy lamp and me, I lift,
Yea, lift with hope, my sleepless eye
To the blue heights wherein thou dwellest,
And of a land of freedom tellest.
Star of the North!... |
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The Funeral (Dickinson) |
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English |
That short, potential stir
That each can make but once,
That bustle so illustrious
'T is almost consequence,
Is the éclat of death.... |
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The Funeral (Donne) |
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English |
WHOEVER comes to shroud me, do not harm,
Nor question much,
That subtle wreath of hair, which crowns my arm;
The mystery, the sign, you must not touch;
... |
