Society of Classical Poets logo
  • About Us
  • Join
  • Donate
  • Poetry
    Random
    • Fishing in boat on ocean

      'Upon a Boat, by Ocean Bound' by Alexander King Ream

      The Society
      August 17, 2020
      Beauty, Culture, Ekphrastic, Poetry
      4 Comments
    Recent
    • ‘Spring Has Sprung’: A Poem by Roy E. Peterson

      The Society
      May 20, 2025
    • ‘The Poppy’: A Poem by Akiane Kramarik

      The Society
      May 19, 2025
      2
    • ‘Young Catherine’s Vision’ and Other Poetry by Mary Jane Myers

      The Society
      May 19, 2025
      4
    • Cat Poems by Gigi Ryan

      The Society
      May 18, 2025
      16
    • ‘Today Like Yesterday’: A Poem by Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, Translated by Paul Burgess

      The Society
      May 18, 2025
      10
    • ‘Bonanza’: A Poem by Jonathan Kinsman

      The Society
      May 17, 2025
      8
  • Submit
  • Contests
    Random
    • poetry/bryant/poetry contests

      Poem of Passion Challenge 

      The Society
      August 16, 2023
      Culture, Poetry, Poetry Challenge, Poetry Contests
      88 Comments
    Recent
    • Winners of Friends of Falun Gong 2025 Poetry Competition Announced

      The Society
      May 13, 2025
      1
    • 2025 Friends of Falun Gong Poetry Competition

      The Society
      March 31, 2025
    • The Best Poems of 2024: Winners of SCP International Poetry Competition

      The Society
      February 1, 2025
      28
    • Winners of 2024 SCP International High School Poetry Competition Announced

      The Society
      February 1, 2025
      2
    • The Best Haiku of 2024: Winners of the 2024 SCP Haiku Competition

      The Society
      September 29, 2024
      14
    • The 2024 Society of Classical Poets International Poetry Competition

      The Society
      August 31, 2024
      16
  • Journal
  • Books
  • Poetry Contests
  • Donate
  • About Us
  • Submit
  • Poetry

Monthly Archives January 31, 2018

‘Thoughts on January 31, 2018’s Complete Lunar Eclipse’ and Other Poetry by Amy Foreman

The Society
January 31, 2018
Poetry
21 Comments
Read about last night's lunar eclipse here. Thoughts on January 31, 2018’s Complete Lunar Eclipse Reflected Glory, full and bright, Transforming inky, blackest night To wonderland of silver-grey, A...

‘The Drunken’ (A Raven Parody) by J. Simon Harris

The Society
January 30, 2018
Humor, Poetry, The Raven
6 Comments
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I wandered, drunk and weary, Over many a quaint and dimlit alley of forgotten doors— While I plodded, barely standing, suddenly I heard a chanting, As of someone softly...

‘The Last Time I Saw Paris’ and Other Poetry by David Whippman

The Society
January 30, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
10 Comments
  The Last Time I Saw Paris You have imagined how it was, I expect: Troy’s famous towers burning, the city wrecked, the lines of weeping captives marched away, the streets strewn with corpses, the...

‘Sort of Old’ and Other Poetry by Heidi Griminger Blanke

The Society
January 29, 2018
Culture, Humor, Poetry
6 Comments
    Sort of Old I take my senior discount at restaurants and stores. I cover up my gray hairs with Clairol reservoirs My bathroom’s filled with potions I slather on my face. AHAs and...

‘At Lincoln’s Tomb’ and Other Poetry by Adam Sedia

The Society
January 28, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Poetry
11 Comments
At Lincoln’s Tomb Springfield, Illinois, 2016 Be glad you cannot rise to life and stand Outside that tomb to die again from shame At Illinois, your home, your prairieland, Transformed, yet quick to...

‘Firing Truman Capote on a Snowy Evening’ by Con Chapman

The Society
January 27, 2018
Culture, Humor, Poetry
9 Comments
Truman Capote was fired from his job as a copy boy for The New Yorker after he angered Robert Frost. Whose kid this is, I do not know, He seems to have a job here, though. He’s irritating, and quite...

Translation of Dante Canzoni ‘Amor che ne la mente mi ragiona’

The Society
January 26, 2018
Beauty, Dante, Poetry, Translation
3 Comments
By David B. Gosselin The nature of the subject matter discussed in Dante Alighieri’s lyric poetry, his canzoni, has been debated time after time, generation after generation. While the Dantisti as they...

Rediscovering Percy Shelley’s Greatest Work: ‘Prometheus Unbound, with Other Poems’

The Society
January 25, 2018
Beauty, Best Poems, Culture, Essays, Poetry, Reviews
8 Comments
By Brett Forester Writing but one fine, enduring poem is a remarkable achievement. Writing a book of great poems is an even rarer triumph. Yet in 1820, British Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (born...

‘Stone Walls Sometimes a Prison Make’ by C.B. Anderson

The Society
January 24, 2018
Beauty, Human Rights in China, Poetry
5 Comments
  Stone Walls Sometimes a Prison Make What might have happened once in Carolina To folks whose only wish was for some peace Is commonplace within the Wall of China, Where persons are abused without...

‘The Garden of the Gods’ and Other Poetry by Elizabeth Spencer Spragins

The Society
January 23, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
2 Comments
  The Garden of the Gods A Cywydd Llosgyrnog When storm clouds hid the Manitou*, They cloaked invaders from his view: Giants* who engendered fright With fearsome height and thundered tread. Their...

‘Perked Coffee’ and Other Poetry by Bob McGinness

The Society
January 22, 2018
Culture, Humor, Poetry
7 Comments
  Perked Coffee Things today are bad and getting worse, examples always seem to us abound: service for consumers seems perverse, and music does not have that vinyl sound. My garden pruners, they...

Translation of the Iliad’s Beginning by J. Simon Harris

The Society
January 21, 2018
Culture, Education, Epic, Homer, Poetry, Translation
7 Comments
Homer’s Iliad I.1-47. Translation in the epic hexameter, the meter of the Greek. Sing of the wrath, my goddess, of Peleus’ son Achilles, doomed and destructive, which gave the Achaeans numberless...

‘The Breaking Season’ by Annabelle Fuller

The Society
January 21, 2018
Beauty, High School Submissions, Poetry
9 Comments
  Lips, soft as velvet, primrose pink, Are rent the blue of bruising ink. They rive and crackle in the cold, Retract in tissue paper folds; Corroded strips as flayed as zinc Teased grey and gaunt,...

‘On Reading Ginsburg’s “Howl”’ and Other Poetry by Gregory Spicer

The Society
January 20, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Humor, Poetry
13 Comments
  On Reading Ginsburg’s “Howl” Once, I possessed an open mind, Which I assure you was my own. I used it to read Ginsberg’s “Howl” Well, I don’t wish to be unkind But those words seemed...

Review: What Is Shen Yun All About?

The Society
January 19, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Essays, Human Rights in China, Music, Performing Arts, Poetry, Reviews
42 Comments
By Evan Mantyk Advertising for it is everywhere. If you haven’t seen it, you just haven’t been paying attention. A brilliantly colored image depicts a Chinese woman striking an airborne pose. But what is...

‘On President Trump’s First Year in Office’ and Other Poetry by Evan Mantyk

The Society
January 19, 2018
Deconstructing Communism, Humor, Poetry, Riddles
16 Comments
  On President Trump’s First Year in Office An earlier version of this poem was published with an explication in The Epoch Times. In Donald Trump we’ve found a man Who can the tides of time...

‘The Old Westerns’ and Other Poetry by Linda Imbler

The Society
January 18, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
  The Old Westerns No more heroes on horses named Trigger No more rugged, chapped, white hatted figures The bad guys today do not always wear masks At least not the exact kind they did in the...

‘New York Villanelle’ by Michele Herman

The Society
January 17, 2018
Culture, Humor, Poetry, Villanelle
2 Comments
We New Yorkers love our real estate. We measure our bliss by the size of our rooms. We all need a place to park our freight. We apartment hunt on our first date in vacated spaces swept with a broom New...

‘The Oddity’ and Other Poetry by Mark Stevick

The Society
January 16, 2018
Beauty, Humor, Poetry
2 Comments
  The Oddity My pen and me set off to sea but washed up feeling useless; the cadent swell invoked a spell and story of Odysseus. While pen-wrecked there I would not hear those rhythmic words...

‘Dreams as a Child’ and Other Poetry by David Hollywood

The Society
January 15, 2018
Beauty, Poetry
8 Comments
  Dreams as a Child Remember our lives in dreams as a child, When tingled excitement tickled inside, Surging in giggles which shivered our nerves, As hands clasped in joining’s which laughs only...

Essay: The Wit of William Cowper

The Society
January 14, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Essays, Humor, Poetry
17 Comments
By James A. Tweedie These days, William Cowper (November 26, 1731 - April 25, 1800) isn’t likely to be found on anyone’s list of “Top Twenty English Poets.” Fifty years after his death, however,...

‘Glacier’ and Other Poetry by Francis Flavin

The Society
January 13, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Humor, Poetry
6 Comments
  Glacier Sleeping mistress of the land, Whose long repose the ages span, We tread across your fissured gown Until we find in looking down, We can at last discern and trace The chiseled beauty of...

‘To Winter’ by David Gosselin

The Society
January 12, 2018
Beauty, Poetry
17 Comments
When Horae's icy carpets sweep the dale And the heavy boughs shed their frozen tears, The earth is covered with her icy veil And mortals lashed with Time’s cold sneers. Yet let us not run from such...

‘A Great Divide’ and Other Poetry by Joe Tessitore

The Society
January 11, 2018
Beauty, Deconstructing Communism, Humor, Poetry
8 Comments
  A Great Divide "...to form a more perfect union" I walk to the edge of a great divide and I try to talk with the other side but they do not reciprocate they tell me that I'm filled with hate I...

‘The Night When Heaven Cried’ by Sam Gilliland

The Society
January 10, 2018
Beauty, Poetry
19 Comments
  I have been here before, when heaven cried, All my love and longing locked up inside, Where the green grass glowed in the falling rain, So why have I come to this place again? To the place where...

‘The Filtering of English in Iran’ and Other Poetry by Bruce Dale Wise

The Society
January 9, 2018
Culture, Human Rights in China, Poetry
4 Comments
(All poetry by Bruce Dale Wise) The Filtering of English in Iran by Delir Ecwabeus "...nor did anything terrify the people so much as those encomiums on his Majesty's mercy..." -Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's...

‘Jax Beach 1950s’ by Lucy Giardino Cortese

The Society
January 9, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
3 Comments
  Beauties sashay across the sand Norma Jean look-a-likes hand in hand Times before bikinis and thongs Transistor radios blaring songs Sunny shoreline lush and palmy Simpler times when thoughts...

‘Whenever Terror Strikes’ and Other Poetry by André Le Mont Wilson

The Society
January 8, 2018
Beauty, Poetry, Terrorism
Whenever Terror Strikes Whenever terror strikes, wherever death enshrouds the land, its people live in fright of crowded places. Masses hold their breath. Perhaps another truck will crash tonight. We...

‘Where Have the Roses Gone’ by Leonard Dabydeen

The Society
January 7, 2018
Beauty, Poetry
5 Comments
Where have the roses gone from my garden? Look how those left freeze in cold winter wind; Nothing I can do nor ask for pardon To save the lovely petals as they’re thinned. Here in the kitchen I gaze in...

A Sonnet for the Feast of the Three Kings (with Audio) by Joseph Charles MacKenzie

The Society
January 6, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Readings
16 Comments
Sonnet XLI - Gifts of the Magi A grander throne than Solomon’s of old, Though wrought of rough-hewn wood and winter hay, Received the royal deference of gold From one who watched a star, by night and...

‘Winter Wore a Raiment White’ and Other Poetry by Neal Dachstadter

The Society
January 5, 2018
Beauty, Humor, Poetry
6 Comments
  Winter Wore a Raiment White Winter wore a raiment white, Checkered blue as snow in shade, As he worked, amid the leaves, In the Autumn golden sheaves, Soon my season’s time will come, Ever...

‘Why Add to the Suffering?’ by Daniel Magdalen

The Society
January 4, 2018
Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Poetry, The Environment
4 Comments
  Nature’s pillars, which have borne Earth’s breath for ages, Are now crumbling into dust... Still, more keep falling, Shattered by our storm of wants, as outer changes Echo those inside us,...

‘The Exclusive Inclusive’ and Other Poetry by Ron L. Hodges

The Society
January 3, 2018
Deconstructing Communism, Humor, Poetry, Short Stories
4 Comments
  The Exclusive Inclusive I heard about a tender troop, Whose commission was to give Love like a ministry serves soup; They seemed, oh, so inclusive. This sounded like the group for me; Yes, I...

10 Greatest Poems by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The Society
January 2, 2018
Beauty, Best Poems, Culture, Essays, Poetry
51 Comments
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (born February 27, 1807 - died March 24, 1882) was an American poet of the Romantic period. He served as a professor at Harvard University and was an adept linguist, traveling...

‘Lights’ and Other Poetry by Connie Phillips

The Society
January 1, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
4 Comments
  Lights The shining Santas smile in silver sleighs, With dazzling reindeer poised on roofs, midair; The phosphorescent elves stare in a daze, While shim’ring tinsel hangs from angels’ hair. The...
  1. Gigi Ryan on Cat Poems by Gigi RyanMay 19, 2025

    It is a good point that we will pay the “price of love” many times in our lifetimes. Your Zoe…

  2. Gene Branaman on ‘Bonanza’: A Poem by Jonathan KinsmanMay 19, 2025

    Jonathan, I love the imagery you use in this piece - the colors, textures, & sounds are so effective! So…

  3. Gigi Ryan on Cat Poems by Gigi RyanMay 19, 2025

    Indeed they do, Cheryl! Gigi

  4. Adam Sedia on ‘Size Lies’ and Other Poems by Russel WinickMay 19, 2025

    You tackle a subject in “Size Lies” that has frustrated many a man who has ever bought clothes for a…

  5. Adam Sedia on ‘Today Like Yesterday’: A Poem by Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, Translated by Paul BurgessMay 19, 2025

    Bravo on an excellent translation! You’ve managed to remain faithful to the original in both language and form, which is…

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.

Daily Poems

Subscribe to receive updates in your email inbox

poetry/benson brown/reading

Poetry Challenges

Click here to select from a wide range of free, fun, and creative poetry challenges.

Categories

  • Acrostic
  • Alexandroid
  • Alliterative
  • Art
  • Beauty
  • Best Poems
  • Blank Verse
  • Chant Royal
  • Chaucer
  • Children's
  • Classical Poets Live
  • Clerihew
  • Covid-19
  • Culture
  • Dante
  • Deconstructing Communism
  • Education
  • Ekphrastic
  • Epic
  • Epigrams and Proverbs
  • Essays
  • Featured
  • Found Poem
  • From the Society
  • Haiku and Senryu
  • High School Submissions
  • Homer
  • Human Rights in China
  • Humor
  • Interviews
  • Limerick
  • Love Poems
  • Music
  • Pantoum
  • Performing Arts
  • Poetry
  • Poetry Challenge
  • Poetry Contests
  • Poetry Forms
  • Popular Poetry Archives
  • Readings
  • Reviews
  • Rhupunt
  • Riddles
  • Rondeau
  • Rondeau Redoublé
  • Rondel
  • Rubaiyat
  • Sapphic Verse
  • Satire
  • Science
  • Sestina
  • Shakespeare
  • Shape Poems
  • Short Stories
  • Song Lyrics
  • Symposium
  • Terrorism
  • Terza Rima
  • The Environment
  • The Raven
  • Translation
  • Triolet
  • Video
  • Villanelle

Poetry Archive

  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • Poetry Resources
  • Poetry Readings
  • High School Poetry
  • Translation
  • Poetry Contests
  • Poetry Forms
  • From the Society
  • Poetry Archive
  • Education
  • Humor
  • Reviews
  • About Us
  • The Raven
  • Riddles
  • Journal
  • Members
  • Terms of Use
  • The Society of Classical Poets © 2024