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Poetry
Culture

Three Poems by Mikhail Yu. Lermontov, Translated by Don Mager

The Society
May 22, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Translation
8 Comments
All poems translated from Russian. The Rock A gold cloud rested the whole night Upon the breast of a huge rock; And cheerfully at dawn it dashed Into the blue not to come back Wet traces in the...

‘Prince Harry to Meghan Markle on Their 20th Wedding Anniversary’ by Joe Tessitore

The Society
May 19, 2018
Culture, Poetry
8 Comments
I remember our marriage the horses, the carriage the millions we spent on your gown we threw out the book the foundations we shook as traditions came tumbling down twas a modern affair each sex...

‘The Archaeological Gardens at Giardini-Naxos’ and Other Poetry by William Ruleman

The Society
May 19, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
12 Comments
The Archaeological Gardens at Giardini-Naxos 7 March 2018 The stones are overgrown with clover now, Drowned by daisies, fresh cape sorrel too; Orange or lemon globes gleam from each bough; Mankind’s...

‘The Devil’s Details’ and Other Poetry by Ron L. Hodges

The Society
May 14, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Poetry
12 Comments
The Devil’s Details There’s a devil in the details, Those traits we like to sort; There’s a devil in the details, The minutiae we contort. We once marched for color-blindness; Now we muster into...

A Poem for Mother’s Day: ‘Birth Pangs’ by Rohini Sunderam

The Society
May 12, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
29 Comments
  The painful birth of motherhood So few have really understood Is but a shadow that foretells The pain our parents knew so well Of children singing out farewell As to their freedom they rush...

Essay: A Defense of Poetry

The Society
May 11, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Essays, Poetry
7 Comments
''A good poem helps to change the shape and significance of the universe, helps to extend everyone’s knowledge of himself and the world around him.'' —Dylan Thomas By Gideon Cecil We are living in...

‘Am-air-ica’ and Other Poetry by Bruce Dale Wise

The Society
May 9, 2018
Culture, Humor, Poetry, The Environment
17 Comments
 (All poetry by Bruce Dale Wise) Am-air-ica by Eber L. Aucsidew Die Welt proclaimed the biggest drop in CO2 was in America, in the first year of Donald Trump—no spin. Though worldwide emissions...

‘The Composition Teacher Addresses His Class’ by Joseph S. Salemi

The Society
May 6, 2018
Culture, Education, Poetry
13 Comments
  When naming things, you have to use a noun; A verb shows action or a state of being. An adjective describes—that is, marks down The qualities of objects that you’re seeing. An adverb tells...

‘The Bluebonnet Sonnet’ by Fr. Richard Libby

The Society
May 4, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
18 Comments
When spring arrives, the wildflow’rs start to grow In woods and fields, and by the country lanes. In reds and yellows, see the vernal show, Inaugurated by the winter rains! But in the state of Texas,...

‘The Birdman of Gdansk’ by Leo Yankevich

The Society
May 1, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
10 Comments
  When cathedral bells toll through the morning and sunlight touches steeples with its glare, and arrows on the town hall clock stop turning, you will find him on the market square, sweeping leaves...

‘The Curse of Charles the Bold’ by Morgan Downs

The Society
April 30, 2018
Culture, Poetry
5 Comments
Charles the Bold was the last independent Duke of Burgundy. Killed at the Battle of Nancy by the Swiss, his realm was partitioned in subsequent decades by France and by the ascendant House of Habsburg, setting...

Pastoral Poetry: Arcadia Through the Ages

The Society
April 29, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Education, Essays, Poetry
6 Comments
  by James Green “Come live with me and be my Love, And we will all the pleasures prove That hills and valleys, dale and field, And all the craggy mountains yield.” —Christopher...

‘Goose Sense’ and Other Poetry by Thomas Schmidt

The Society
April 27, 2018
Culture, Humor, Poetry
8 Comments
  Goose Sense A burden and a bore I must have been; As handy as another leg, I'd slouch The farm in borrowed overalls, and when My chores were done I'd nap on grandpa's couch. I thought of books and...
poem/buchheit/poetry reading

Rhyming Poems for Poem in Your Pocket Day

The Society
April 22, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Education, From the Society, Poetry
5 Comments
April 26 is Poem in Your Pocket Day, part of National Poetry Month. On this day, people are encouraged to carry a poem in their pockets and share it with others. Below are recommended rhyming poems for this...

‘Fear’ and Other Poetry by Amy Foreman

The Society
April 20, 2018
Culture, Poetry, Short Stories
31 Comments
Fear A ballad I said to Fear, “Away from here!” And, softly, he withdrew. But, lost in thought, I plain forgot To bar the door anew. So Faith and I sat down to try And chat the night away. But...

‘Heroes, Victims, and Poseidon’ and Other Poetry by Phillip Whidden

The Society
April 13, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
5 Comments
  Heroes, Victims, and Poseidon The metre of ancient Greek poetry succeeds in “achieving a length and complexity that are unusual in the heroic verse of other literatures.” ~ Michael Grant, The Rise...

‘Obituary’ and Other Poetry by C.B. Anderson

The Society
April 12, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
13 Comments
Obituary Late summer, when the bumblebees begin to die, You’ll see them clinging to the petals of a flower For dear life—or at least it seems so to an eye Untrained in entomology. They’ve had their...

10 Greatest Shakespeare Sonnets: An Immortal Series

The Society
April 8, 2018
Beauty, Best Poems, Culture, Education, Essays, Poetry, Shakespeare
9 Comments
By David B. Gosselin William Shakespeare (baptized April 26, 1564 - died April 23, 1616) is arguably the greatest writer in any language. His poetry is not only one of the most exalted examples of what an...

‘The Children’s Crusade’ and Other Poetry by Bruce Dale Wise

The Society
April 5, 2018
Culture, Poetry, Terrorism
6 Comments
(All poetry by Bruce Dale Wise) The Children's Crusade Amendment II of the US Constitution: A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and...

‘Soldier’s Son’ by Robert Piazza

The Society
April 5, 2018
Culture, Poetry
20 Comments
Leatherneck, you’re still my childhood hero With tales of firing flack at Jap Zeroes— After training camp in San Diego, You rode the railway home on furlough To elope with Rita in the Poconos. The...

‘Socialism Kills’ by David Welch

The Society
April 4, 2018
Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Human Rights in China, Poetry
23 Comments
  Young people go marching, the boys and the girls, They’re thinking like once we did, they’ll change the world. They claim government is a cure for our ills, They seem to forget, in fact,...

‘April Fools Easter: April 1, 2018’ and Other Poetry by James A. Tweedie

The Society
April 1, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
6 Comments
April Fools Easter: April 1, 2018 In dark Gethsemane I was betrayed By Judas’ kiss. I was arrested, tried, Found guilty, beaten, thorn-crowned, mocked, and flayed. Then nailed to the cross on which I...

‘On Secretaries of State: Falling from Grace’ and Other Poetry by Bruce Dale Wise

The Society
March 31, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
6 Comments
(All poetry by Bruce Dale Wise)   On Secretaries of State: Falling from Grace by Brice U. Lawseed Across the World in India, while touring for her book, the former Secretary Clinton, trying to look...

‘Longinus, Spearman’ by Joseph S. Salemi

The Society
March 30, 2018
Beauty, Blank Verse, Culture, Poetry, Short Stories
18 Comments
Miles hastatus (spearman) of the Legio Decima Fretensis, stationed in Roman Judaea, A.D. 33 Vere, filius Dei erat iste. —Roman centurion at the crucifixion, noted in Matthew 27:54. They say he was the...

‘This Collar, Blue’ and Other Poetry by Zachary Dilks

The Society
March 29, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
28 Comments
This Collar, Blue My elbows leak with grease And all my toes are laid with steel I'm rough of neck My knuckles specked with cuts that never heal The world I mend The swirls on plastic lens paints...

‘The Ride of Godiva’ by David E. Müller

The Society
March 27, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Short Stories
7 Comments
About the Lady Godiva and her famed naked ride through Coventry Once in the town of Coventry, Leofric Earl had held decree; Too great the tax that he appealed, Greater than his folk could yield. They...

Essay: On George Herbert’s ‘Easter Wings’

The Society
March 25, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Essays, Poetry, Shape Poems
5 Comments
by Jane Blanchard George Herbert was born into a well-to-do and well-doing family of Montgomery, Wales, in 1593. When he was three years old, his father died, leaving a wife and ten children. Herbert...

‘The Maid of Orleans’ and Other Poetry by Nicky Hetherington

The Society
March 22, 2018
Culture, Poetry, Riddles, Villanelle
10 Comments
  The Maid of Orleans A villanelle on Joan of Arc As I gazed at the flames of the fire my heart, with all there that day, broke – such strength could not help but inspire. A young woman burnt as...

Seasonal Sonnets (Acrostic) by Mark A. Doherty

The Society
March 20, 2018
Acrostic, Beauty, Culture, Poetry
17 Comments
Winter’s Nocturn       When angles of the sun are shining low, Intuition tells us we must sleep. Nocturnal tracks appear now in the snow To mark the chilly vigil some must keep. Enlightened...

‘Statues’ and Other Poetry by Charles Bauer

The Society
March 19, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Villanelle
24 Comments
Statues A Villanelle Two Buddhas now a lost reality, A crowd chants loudly near a pile of stone; Across the South you won’t find General Lee. The temples fell despite UNESCO’s plea And ISIS’...

‘Ode to the Great Highland Pipes’ by Joseph Charles MacKenzie

The Society
March 17, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
29 Comments
For Bill Horn Send up on wings of blood our fathers’ cry, Though the unhearing dead brook not your sound, And flesh yet binds us to the groaning ground, Release your paeans to the boundless sky, And...

‘A Consolation’ by Christine Ann Cuccio

The Society
March 16, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
5 Comments
At night I hear Prokofiev and Liszt and dream of playing baby grands as sly Euterpe lures me towards the melodies of pianists. My fingers cannot meet the demands of Mendelssohn’s complicated...

‘Theological’ and Other Poetry by Andrew Miller

The Society
March 15, 2018
Culture, Poetry
15 Comments
Theological But there’s a God, white-knuckled, jealous, His heart an anvil, and his mind a bomb. Take the crew of The Indianapolis,* Torn limb from sculling limb inside a storm Of sharks. There is no...

‘Sonnet I: Liu Haixiao’ and Other Poetry by Evan Mantyk

The Society
March 14, 2018
Alexandroid, Beauty, Culture, Human Rights in China, Poetry
24 Comments
Sonnet I: Liu Haixiao Mr. Liu Haixiao (pronounced Leo High-shaow) is serving a 16-year prison sentence in Jilin Province, China, where he was arrested for tapping into the local TV network to broadcast...

‘Taiwan in Rough Words’ by Ana Varela

The Society
March 13, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Human Rights in China, Poetry, Rhupunt
A rhupunt A modern place that maintains grace a safer place for all who come The airplanes fly the city sky the mountains high you're never numb never alone away from home in temples roam to...

‘You Decide’ and Other Poetry by Lorna Davis

The Society
March 12, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Poetry, The Environment
8 Comments
  You Decide Some know me as Destiny, The weaver of the cloth of Time. Although my looms are never stilled, They say I choose how high you’ll climb, How fast you’ll fall, how great your name; I...

‘The Day the Poetry Died’ and Other Poetry by Steven Shaffer

The Society
March 7, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
11 Comments
The Day the Poetry Died Wonder why poetry is in decline, While not ever writing one lyric line? There is no experience more perverse, Than self-indulgent poems in free verse. Your pain, your angst, and...

‘Political Correctness’ by Margaret Coats

The Society
March 6, 2018
Culture, Humor, Poetry
4 Comments
After Joachim du Bellay’s "Les Regrets LXVIII" I hate the Florentines' foul avarice, I hate lewd Sienese profanity, I hate Geneva's glib duplicity, I hate malign Venetian artifice, I hate whate'er...

‘The Cymbal Player’ and Other Poetry by Martin Elster

The Society
March 4, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Humor, Poetry
24 Comments
The Cymbal Player As bows and fingers quiver strings, as lungs and lips whip up the air, as notes soar on great falcon wings, one player, seated in his chair like a finch hid in a maple tree, as if...

Thirty-one Sonnets: Renaissance to New Millennial

The Society
March 3, 2018
Culture, Education, Essays, Poetry, Poetry Forms
7 Comments
by Lew Icarus Bede "A sonnet is a coin: its face reveals The soul—its converse, to what Power 'tis due: Whether for tribute to the august appeals Of Life, or dower in Love's high retinue, It serve; or,...
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  1. Priscilla King on ‘Living Dead’: A Poem by James A. TweedieJuly 18, 2025

    It has a formal rhythm. Isn't it possible to think of *bad* classical poetry? (Not that this is what comes…

  2. Erin Zampaglione on The Society of Classical Poets 2025 Haiku CompetitionJuly 18, 2025

    avocado tree wide and low, heavy with fruit invites small climbers red rose petals fall do I mourn lost youth…

  3. Joseph S. Salemi on ‘Living Dead’: A Poem by James A. TweedieJuly 18, 2025

    There were exactly 60 respondents in that survey, of which about one third (20) were non-members of the SCP. And…

  4. Roy Eugene Peterson on ‘Living Dead’: A Poem by James A. TweedieJuly 18, 2025

    A consensus seems to exist in the literature I have recently read that autobiographical/biographical verse follows a formula and rely…

  5. Raewyn Hutchinson on The Society of Classical Poets 2025 Haiku CompetitionJuly 18, 2025

    Birds dart like arrows Shot from tree to tree to tree Bullets of bird fire Stop Mum wait keep right…

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