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      Beauty, Poetry
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      12
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Beauty

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Poetry
Beauty

Extract from Canto 9 of James Sale’s English Cantos

The Society
December 8, 2019
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
24 Comments
  In Canto 8 the poet and Dante, accompanying him, encounter the next-door neighbour, Peter, who brutally murdered his wife for money. Escaping from there, they enter a lower hell where they are about to...

‘Twas the Night Before Christmas’ and Other Poetry by Janice Canerdy

The Society
December 6, 2019
Beauty, Culture, Holidays, Humor, Poetry
9 Comments
’Twas the Night Before Christmas ’Twas the night before Christmas and all through the malls there was widespread confusion and hot, frenzied brawls. Many shoppers were wanting the same bloomin’...

‘Rosemary, Cypress, Cedar, and Pine’ and Other Poetry by Alexander King Ream

The Society
December 5, 2019
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
23 Comments
Rosemary, Cypress, Cedar, and Pine Rosemary and Cypress, and Cedar and Pine, Green waxen needles and skin of like kind, Deciduous Cypress asleep in the cold, Like Cedar, a hardwood to build a...

‘Morning in England’ and Other Poetry by Ian Williams

The Society
December 4, 2019
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
3 Comments
Morning in England Morning in England: web and dew. The county matters not in name, nor distant city hid from view, for this is Albion in her fame; Who—whether solitary lane, or verge astride the...

‘Rain’ by James Preston Pack

The Society
December 3, 2019
Beauty, Culture, High School Submissions, Poetry
9 Comments
  Rain, lapping at the windows fast, falls cold and ceaseless, painting lines of marble on the silvered glass while clouds cast dark and thunder whines; but these walls will not let it pass and...

An Advent Calendar Poem: Twenty-four Windows, by Theresa Zappe

The Society
December 1, 2019
Beauty, Culture, Holidays, Poetry
2 Comments
  My Adventskalender in Germany made Of paper and glitter has Heaven displayed Through twenty-four windows. Come open with me Each miniature vision of things heavenly. Behind the first window are...

‘To The Poet Leo Yankevich’ by Sally Cook

The Society
November 29, 2019
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
5 Comments
  Perhaps the color of your world was dun, And you sank in your couch when work was done, To calculate injustice, add the sum, Saw all was brown, but rays of silver light Which sent you out to...

‘Autumn Glides Away’ by Sarban Bhattacharya

The Society
November 28, 2019
Beauty, Poetry
4 Comments
  There lies a way to heaven by that lake. My sickness gone, I fear no chilly mist; A redwing calls me, dawn is now awake, The fragrant autumn air I can’t resist. There is my home far from this...

A Poem for Thanksgiving Day: ‘Gathered Together’ by C.B. Anderson

The Society
November 28, 2019
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
6 Comments
  From cradle to the grave, From womb to musty tomb, The sanity I crave Is in a dining room With family gathered there: Thanksgiving, on a chill November day—no tare Subtracted, if good...

‘There Is a River’ and Other Poetry by Martin Rizley

The Society
November 27, 2019
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
15 Comments
  There Is a River There is a river that I know that flows through quiet meadowland Nearby a row of cottages which by a levee quaintly stand. I saw that river long ago, when one day, to amuse...

‘The Plight of Animals’ and Other Poetry by Peter Hartley

The Society
November 25, 2019
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
94 Comments
The Plight of Animals The plight of animals, how must it be Ordained thus, either by a just God or A merciful? By nature meek and poor, They have no hopes, no future can they see And all they own their...

‘Whither Thou Goest…’ by Leo Zoutewelle

The Society
November 23, 2019
Beauty, Poetry
6 Comments
  As I was strolling in a glade of green And paid but little thought to anything, I hardly knew what vistas filled the scene Of birds intensely hast’ning on the wing. What forceful aim...

Two Whale Poems, by James A. Tweedie

The Society
November 22, 2019
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
21 Comments
Reflections on a Dead Whale The sound of surf; the scratch of sand on feet; The sight of distant ships; the taste of salt; And on the gentle springtime ocean breeze The putrid, pungent, rotting stench of...

‘On Antonello Da Messina’s The Annunciation’ by Joseph S. Salemi

The Society
November 21, 2019
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
9 Comments
  Palermo’s great basilica is still— All prayers are tongueless for a lonely hour. Here high and holy silence can be breathed Like incense from the smoking thuribles Swung by acolytes at solemn...

‘The Sonnet of the Reluctant Mariner’ by Emmanuel Flores

The Society
November 20, 2019
Beauty, Classical Literature, Culture, Poetry
9 Comments
  What might, what gold does Ithaca hold to vex us; Enthralled ‘till when, by whom, for what, and where? Do not the mermaids sing the song that wakes us to pleasured, pampered mornings in their...

Five Translations of Aesop’s Fables (from Phaedrus, First Century AD Latin Poet)

The Society
November 19, 2019
Beauty, Children's, Classical Literature, Culture, Humor, Poetry, Translation
16 Comments
Translations by Terry L. Norton. Original Latin by Phaedrus follows each. The Red Kite and the Doves When doves had from a certain kite fled And by the swiftness of their wings escaped, The wily bird of...

‘Theatre,’ ‘Opera,’ ‘Sculpture’ and Other Poems by Michael Coy

The Society
November 18, 2019
Beauty, Culture, Humor, Poetry
11 Comments
  1. THEATRE Strolling Players Dancers, actors, acrobats! Stripey trousers, floppy hats! They weren’t born to swing a scythe, pay a toll or weigh a tithe. Not for them the horny hand, tied to...

‘Winter’s Call’ and Other Poetry by Angel L. Villanueva

The Society
November 17, 2019
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
14 Comments
Winter's Call O, can you hear her? Yonder autumn days? A siren's voice, as silent steps she takes? Her nuanced hymn brings frosty morning haze, And warns the trees to brace for pearly flakes. Her...

Two Odes to Leonidas, Spartan King

The Society
November 16, 2019
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
10 Comments
Ode to Leonidas, King of Sparta by Ian Williams Stern Sire and Father of the ancient West! Sacred, your primogeniture appears before the pride of Xerxes’ bloodied Best, “Immortals” bowed before...

‘Still Going’ and Other Acrostic Poems by Anna J. Arredondo

The Society
November 14, 2019
Acrostic, Beauty, Culture, Poetry
15 Comments
Still Going It may appear that I’ve run out of chances, No more to rise from absolute defeat, Victim of most hostile circumstances— I laugh, and drag myself back to my feet. Never assume you’ve...

‘Moloch’ and Other Poetry by Richard Jordan

The Society
November 13, 2019
Beauty, Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Poetry
8 Comments
Moloch Beneath the sands and salted fields there lies A desert land of men once prosperous And proud. They raised a gilded city With their queen, a grander one than any Left behind, free and full of...

‘Quasimodo’ by Theresa Rodriguez

The Society
November 12, 2019
Beauty, Classical Literature, Culture, Poetry
12 Comments
“Look not on the face, young girl, look at the heart.” —Quasimodo, The Hunchback of Notre Dame A vile, lumbering mass, so hideous, Rejected and despised by every eye That fears and is repulsed by...

Two Poems for Veterans Day 2019

The Society
November 11, 2019
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
10 Comments
Two original poems for Veterans Day 2019: "Veterans Day" by Roy E. Peterson and "Glory Glimpsed" by T.M. Moore

‘The Journey Home’ and Other Poetry by C.B. Anderson

The Society
November 10, 2019
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
13 Comments
  The Journey Home Enwrapped in flesh we come to earth, Created in our Maker's image, Where from the moment of our birth We're parties to a mortal scrimmage. Just where the days ahead will find...

‘The Sound of Sunset’ by James A. Tweedie

The Society
November 8, 2019
Beauty, Poetry
19 Comments
  The gold-etched clouds of evensong intone A whisper of rhapsodic melody; Kaleidoscopic shards of psalmody Aflame with facet-fire of precious stone. The heavens declare God’s glory from on...

‘Reparations’ by T.M. Moore

The Society
November 7, 2019
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
  Owe no one anything but to love one another. —Romans 13.8 What shallowness, what an impoverished view of human life, that reckons men to be machines that will dispense whatever we desire if only...

‘Black Cat’: Derived from ‘Schwarze Katze’ by Rainer Maria Rilke

The Society
November 6, 2019
Beauty, Culture, Essays, Poetry, Translation
7 Comments
Black Cat a poem derived from "Schwarze Katze" by Rainer Maria Rilke, as translated by Martin Hill Ortiz A crash! I spot a ghost that bumps Eliciting my startled stare. A shadow shifts; a black pelt...

A Villanelle and Video by Joseph Charles MacKenzie

The Society
November 5, 2019
Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Readings, Video
originally published on MacKenzie Lyric Poetry Oh, run with the sun and the wind in your hair! Before the day-star sets in the west: Love flowers best in the wide, open air. Behold! The noon-tide waxes...

‘On the Untimely Demise of My Hair’ and Other Poetry by Rob Crisell

The Society
November 4, 2019
Beauty, Culture, Humor, Poetry
12 Comments
On the Untimely Demise of My Hair In days gone by when life for me looked bright, And I rejoiced in the clear dawn of youth, My hair filled my soul with such sweet delight That soon my locks became my...

‘Sarnia Bound’ and Other Poetry by Martin Rizley

The Society
November 3, 2019
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
11 Comments
  Sarnia Bound To the Sarnian shores, I´ll set my course when the sky at dawn turns pale, And the sea waves glow with sun-streaked foam and a chill wind fills the sail. Till the end of day, I'll...

‘Mysterium Tremendum’ by Peter Venable

The Society
November 2, 2019
Beauty, Poetry
7 Comments
  Mysterium Tremendum is a central idea in Rudolf Otto's "The Idea of the Holy" I muse upon the sea’s expanse And soar into a troubled trance. A distant storm front drowns the sun— Light fades...

Write a Poem on One of These Photographs

The Society
November 1, 2019
Beauty, Culture, Ekphrastic, Humor, Poetry, Poetry Contests
39 Comments
The above photographs were taken and submitted by New York City poet Joe Tessitore. We invite readers to pick one of the images (or both) and write a poem. Post your poem in the comments section...

‘Mailied’ by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Translated and Read by David B. Gosselin

The Society
October 31, 2019
Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Readings, Translation
5 Comments
Mailied by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) How brightly nature Shines this morning! What radiant sun! How the fields sing! The buds burst forth From each green frond! A thousand...

‘Sonnet For All Who Follow Me’ by Leo Yankevich

The Society
October 30, 2019
Beauty, Poetry
12 Comments
  Leo Yankevich passed away in December 2018. This poem was submitted by Sally Cook. Crows and leaves beyond the windowpane, a cup of steaming coffee on the stool, my lines reflected in your eyes,...

‘The Constant Truth’ by Tod Benjamin

The Society
October 28, 2019
Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Short Stories
10 Comments
  The Constant Truth A Reflection on the Times of My Life   I. The Old Days A sheep filled meadow lay adjacent to our street Where from March throughout spring one could hear the lambs...

A Poem by Michelangelo, ‘The Woman Who Passed Me’ by Charles Baudelaire: Translations by Michael Coy

The Society
October 27, 2019
Beauty, Poetry, Translation
39 Comments
He Wishes to Immortalise His Mistress by Michelangelo Buonarroti How is it, ma mignonne, (as we all know) that figures carved in mountain marble stay exquisite, pristine, everlasting, though the hand...

Sonnets on the Four Seasons and Other Poetry by Peter Hartley

The Society
October 26, 2019
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
17 Comments
Spring In spring the crocuses broke out as bold As brass from refuge in their barren clay. They speared the air in colourful array And blazoned they their petals proudly told Of azure and of purpure and...

‘Destiny in Blue’ by David Watt

The Society
October 25, 2019
Beauty, Poetry
14 Comments
  In a town by the sea, where the salt air’s free, Lived a widower and his daughter. She was known as Claire-Kate; or by title First Mate On those days when their boat sailed the water. And it...

‘Campaign of 1940-1952’ and Other Poetry by Christopher Fried

The Society
October 24, 2019
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
11 Comments
Campaign of 1940-1952 True Cincinnati spirit is the love of hearth, the principles of isolation, a life in works of service to the nation. Could he reverse the course and release the doves of peace,...

‘In Memory of the Lake’ by James Christy

The Society
October 24, 2019
Beauty, Culture, Poetry, The Environment
4 Comments
  I hear Boeung Kak has now been filled with gritty sand, turned mud, now earth. The lake’s become a dusty field, yet memory preserves a berth for fishermen in long canoes, just toothpicks...
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Trending Poems

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Resources

       1. How to Write a Sonnet

       2. How to Write a Haiku

       3. Poetry Lesson Plan

       4. A Timeline of English Poetry

       5. Poems by High School Students

       6. What Is Poetry?

       7. Ten Great Class Novels

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