Today is National Poet’s Day! I’m a writer, and appreciate poetry, although I don’t write poetry. Do you have a favorite poem? Please share for your chance to win a copy of Seeking Patience, my sweet romance historical.

I’ll begin: “Roses are Red, Violets are Blue…”poetry-688368_1280

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13 Responses

  1. One of my favorites has always been th “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost

    Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
    And sorry I could not travel both
    And be one traveler, long I stood
    And looked down one as far as I could
    To where it bent in the undergrowth;

    Then took the other, as just as fair,
    And having perhaps the better claim,
    Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
    Though as for that the passing there
    Had worn them really about the same,

    And both that morning equally lay
    In leaves no step had trodden black.
    Oh, I kept the first for another day!
    Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
    I doubted if I should ever come back.

    I shall be telling this with a sigh
    Somewhere ages and ages hence:
    Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
    I took the one less traveled by,
    And that has made all the difference.

    Another one of my favorites from childhood on is Wyken, Blyken and Nod by Eugene Field

    Wynken, Blynken, and Nod
    Eugene Field

    Wynken, Blynken, and Nod one night
    Sailed off in a wooden shoe,—
    Sailed on a river of crystal light
    Into a sea of dew.
    “Where are you going, and what do you wish?”
    The old moon asked the three.
    “We have come to fish for the herring-fish
    That live in this beautiful sea;
    Nets of silver and gold have we,”
    Said Wynken,
    Blynken,
    And Nod.

    The old moon laughed and sang a song,
    As they rocked in the wooden shoe;
    And the wind that sped them all night long
    Ruffled the waves of dew;
    The little stars were the herring-fish
    That lived in the beautiful sea.
    “Now cast your nets wherever you wish,—
    Never afraid are we!”
    So cried the stars to the fishermen three,
    Wynken,
    Blynken,
    And Nod.

    All night long their nets they threw
    To the stars in the twinkling foam,—
    Then down from the skies came the wooden shoe,
    Bringing the fishermen home:
    ‘Twas all so pretty a sail, it seemed
    As if it could not be;
    And some folk thought ’twas a dream they’d dreamed
    Of sailing that beautiful sea;
    But I shall name you the fishermen three:
    Wynken,
    Blynken,
    And Nod.

    Wynken and Blynken are two little eyes,
    And Nod is a little head,
    And the wooden shoe that sailed the skies
    Is a wee one’s trundle-bed;
    So shut your eyes while Mother sings
    Of wonderful sights that be,
    And you shall see the beautiful things
    As you rock in the misty sea
    Where the old shoe rocked the fishermen three:—
    Wynken,
    Blynken,
    And Nod.

    1. I thought I replied, so forgive me if this comment shows up twice. I love the Robert Frost poem. Not familiar with Eugene Field. Thanks for sharing!

  2. How Do I Love Thee?

    How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
    I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
    My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
    For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
    I love thee to the level of every day’s
    Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
    I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
    I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
    I love with a passion put to use
    In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.
    I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
    With my lost saints, — I love thee with the breath,
    Smiles, tears, of all my life! — and, if God choose,
    I shall but love thee better after death.

    by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

    1. Hi Camilla,
      This poem is a familiar favorite. (and one of the few poems I know (almost!) by memory. Thanks for sharing!

  3. Ithaca by C.P. Cavafy

    As you set out for Ithaca
    Hope the voyage is a long one,
    full of adventure, full of discovery,
    Laistrygonians and Cyclops,
    angry Poseidon–don’t be afraid of them:
    you’ll never find things like that on your way
    as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
    as long as a rare excitement
    stirs your spirit and your body.
    Laistrygonians and Cyclops,
    wild Poseidon–you won’t encounter them
    unless you bring them along inside your soul,
    unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

    Hope the voyage is a long one.
    May there be many a summer morning when,
    with what pleasure, what joy,
    you come into harbors seen for the first time;
    may you stop at Phoenician trading stations
    to buy fine things,
    mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
    sensual perfume of every kind–
    as many sensual perfumes as you can;
    and may you visit many Egyptian cities
    to gather stones of knowledge from their scholars.

    Keep Ithaca always in your mind.
    Arriving there is what you are destined for.
    But do not hurry the journey at all.
    Better if it lasts for years,
    so you are old by the time you reach the island,
    wealthy with all you have gained on the way,
    not expecting Ithaca to make you rich.

    Ithaca gave you the marvelous journey.
    Without her you would not have set out.
    She has nothing left to give you now.

    And if you find her, poor, Ithaca won’t have fooled you.
    Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
    you will have understood by then what these Ithacas really mean.

  4. The Footprints Prayer

    One night I had a dream…

    I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord, and Across the sky flashed scenes from my life. For each scene I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand; One belonged to me, and the other to the Lord. When the last scene of my life flashed before us, I looked back at the footprints in the sand. I noticed that many times along the path of my life, There was only one set of footprints.

    I also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in my life This really bothered me, and I questioned the Lord about it. “Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you, You would walk with me all the way; But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life, There is only one set of footprints. I don’t understand why in times when I needed you the most, you should leave me.

    The Lord replied, “My precious, precious child. I love you, and I would never, never leave you during your times of trial and suffering. When you saw only one set of footprints, It was then that I carried you.

  5. I’m not sure you would think these are poems, but the book is a rhyme ..The Cat in the Hat… I love it!