Poem Lake | Page 2 | The Greatest Poems of All Time

Ah, Be Not False Ah, be not false, sweet Splendor! Be true, be good; Be wise as thou art tender; Be all that Beauty should. Not lightly be thy citadel subdued; Not ignobly, not untimely. Take praise in solemn mood; Take love sublimely. Poet: Richard Watson Gilder	Of One Who Neither Sees Nor Hears She lives in light, not shadow; Not silence, but the sound Which thrills the stars of heaven And trembles from the ground. She breathes a finer ether, Beholds a keener sun; In her supernal being Music and light are one. ... Poet: Richard Watson Gilder	The Birds of Bethlehem I heard the bells of Bethlehem ring— Their voice was sweeter than the priests’; I heard the birds of Bethlehem sing Unbidden in the churchly feasts. They clung and sung on the swinging chain High in the dim and incensed air; The priests,... Poet: Richard Watson Gilder	Noel Star-dust and vaporous light,— The mist of worlds unborn,— A shuddering in the awful night Of winds that bring the morn. Now comes the dawn: the circling earth; Creatures that fly and crawl; And Man, that last, imperial birth; And... Poet: Richard Watson Gilder
The Song of a Heathen If jesus Christ is a man,— And only a man,—I say That of all mankind I cleave to him, And to him will I cleave alway. If Jesus Christ is a God,— And the only God,—I swear I will follow Him through heaven and hell, The earth, the... Poet: Richard Watson Gilder	The Heroic Age He speaks not well who doth his time deplore, Naming it new and little and obscure, Ignoble and unfit for lofty deeds. All times were modern in the time of them, And this no more than others. Do thy part Here in the living day, as did the great Who... Poet: Richard Watson Gilder	After-Song Through love to light! Oh wonderful the way That leads from darkness to the perfect day! From darkness and from sorrow of the night To morning that comes singing o’er the sea. Through love to light! Through light, O God, to thee, Who art the love of love,... Poet: Richard Watson Gilder	Dawn THE Night was dark, though sometimes a faint star A little while a little space made bright. The night was long and like an iron bar Lay heavy on the land: till o’er the sea Slowly, within the East, there grew a light Which half was starlight, and half... Poet: Richard Watson Gilder
The Sonnet What is a sonnet? ’T is the pearly shell That murmurs of the far-off murmuring sea; A precious jewel carved most curiously; It is a little picture painted well. What is a sonnet? ’T is the tear that fell From a great poet’s hidden ecstasy; A two-... Poet: Richard Watson Gilder	The Cello When late I heard the trembling cello play, In every face I read sad memories That from dark, secret chambers where they lay Rose, and looked forth from melancholy eyes. So every mournful thought found there a tone To match despondence: sorrow knew its... Poet: Richard Watson Gilder