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    • 'Passage in Venice': A Poem by Royal Rhodes

      The Society
      November 29, 2020
      Beauty, Culture, Poetry
      4 Comments
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    • ‘One Dumb Mistake’: A Sestina by M.D. Skeen

      The Society
      July 19, 2025
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      The Society
      July 18, 2025
    • ‘Living Dead’: A Poem by James A. Tweedie

      The Society
      July 18, 2025
      7
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      July 17, 2025
      5
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      July 16, 2025
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      July 16, 2025
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      Winners of Friends of Falun Gong Poetry Competition Announced

      The Society
      May 13, 2023
      Human Rights in China, Pantoum, Poetry, Poetry Contests, Villanelle
      14 Comments
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    • The Society of Classical Poets 2025 Haiku Competition

      The Society
      June 21, 2025
      186
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      The Society
      May 13, 2025
      1
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      The Society
      March 31, 2025
    • The Best Poems of 2024: Winners of SCP International Poetry Competition

      The Society
      February 1, 2025
      28
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      February 1, 2025
      2
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      September 29, 2024
      14
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  • ‘One Dumb Mistake’: A Sestina by M.D. Skeen

    The Society
    July 19, 2025
    Culture, Poetry, Sestina
  • ‘Not All Angels Play the Harp’: A Poem by Roy E. Peterson

    The Society
    July 18, 2025
    Culture, Poetry
  • ‘Living Dead’: A Poem by James A. Tweedie

    The Society
    July 18, 2025
    Blank Verse, Culture, Poetry
    7 Comments
  • ‘Martha’: A Poem by Scharlie Meeuws

    The Society
    July 17, 2025
    Beauty, Culture, Poetry
    5 Comments
  • ‘The Harvest’: A Poem by Peter Venable

    The Society
    July 16, 2025
    Beauty, Poetry
    3 Comments
  • ‘Unspoken Moments’: A Poem by Michael Pendragon

    The Society
    July 16, 2025
    Beauty, Poetry
    8 Comments
  • ‘The Hokey-Cokey—Chaucer Style’: A Poem by Paul A. Freeman

    The Society
    July 15, 2025
    Chaucer, Culture, Poetry
    14 Comments
  • ‘Poetic Influences’: A Poem by Margaret Brinton

    The Society
    July 15, 2025
    Beauty, Poetry
    8 Comments
  • ‘Of a Feather’ and Other Poems by C.B. Anderson

    The Society
    July 14, 2025
    Culture, Humor, Poetry
    7 Comments
  • ‘Vesper’ and Other Poetry by Martin Briggs

    The Society
    July 14, 2025
    Beauty, Poetry
    16 Comments
  • ‘Lasting Karma’: A Poem by Thomas Beckman

    The Society
    July 13, 2025
    Beauty, Culture, Poetry
    4 Comments
  • ‘Three Philosophical Quatrains’ by Ian Allaby

    The Society
    July 13, 2025
    Culture, Humor, Poetry
    4 Comments

‘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...

‘The Neologist’ by Arthur Lamar Mitchell

The Society
March 6, 2018
Humor, Poetry
4 Comments
The neologist bakes the cake, The iconoclast shreds the recipe Deems the structure all a fake, But powerless against euphony, Leaves empty...

‘Barney-Hill Moss Revisited’ by Sam Gilliland

The Society
March 5, 2018
Beauty, Poetry
9 Comments
  The unchanging moor, but heeds season’s call To don her different well-coloured weeds, My heart is cold, left lonely; waterfall And...

‘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,...

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...

‘Self-Love’ and Other Poetry by Ron L. Hodges

The Society
March 2, 2018
Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Poetry
6 Comments
  Self-Love Some tenderhearted people claim We’re deficient self-esteem; Yes, a collective sense of shame Made despondency...

‘Wordsworth’s Lament’ and Other Poetry by James A. Tweedie

The Society
March 1, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Humor, Poetry
4 Comments
Wordsworth’s Lament I wandered lonely as a cloud—Oh dear! I watched the dance of daffodils—Oh my! When on my couch in vacant mood I lie I...

‘Made in China’ by Fr. Richard Libby

The Society
February 28, 2018
Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Human Rights in China, Poetry
8 Comments
  The toys we buy at Christmastime (The decorations, too), Don’t come from elves in Santa’s shop, As we’ve been told they do. The...

‘A Lively Hope: Sonnets on Sir Hubert Parry’s Youth’ by Phillip Whidden

The Society
February 27, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Music, Poetry
19 Comments
On the occasion of his birthday, 160 years ago, on February 27, 1848  At the Solitary Age of Twelve—Seven and Twelve Being Holy Numbers The...

‘Evening Prayer’ by Sandy Stert Benjamin

The Society
February 26, 2018
Beauty, Poetry, The Environment
7 Comments
  Budding darkness, in your starkness, void of noise and light, deliver me from what I see ’fore day turns into night. Guide me through...

‘Living with Omnibenevolence’ and Other Poetry by C.B. Anderson

The Society
February 25, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
8 Comments
  Living with Omnibenevolence Each one of us is furnished with an expiration date, And no one living has the power to elude his fate. There...

‘Confucius Institute Workers’ and Other Poetry by Damian Robin

The Society
February 24, 2018
Poetry
9 Comments
Confucius Institute Workers (Excerpt) For Xinqun Note: Confucius Institutes are being or have been set up at major universities throughout America...

‘SOS’ by Joe Tessitore

The Society
February 23, 2018
Deconstructing Communism, Poetry
5 Comments
gone the time for finding fault for finger-pointing and assault frantic now the SOS our ship of state is in distress taking water, sinking...

‘A Sonnet?’ by Carly Britt

The Society
February 23, 2018
Culture, Humor, Poetry
5 Comments
It’s a vicious process, sonnet writing. It seems as every time I near the goal a syllable or rhyme eludes me, rendering my poetry somewhat...

‘A History Lesson’ by Joseph S. Salemi

The Society
February 22, 2018
Blank Verse, Culture, Humor, Poetry
14 Comments
He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. The misreporting of great Caesar’s death Errs by one gross omission. We’re not told That when...

‘The Parkland, Florida, School Shooting’ by Bruce Dale Wise

The Society
February 20, 2018
Culture, Poetry, Terrorism
16 Comments
This life—O, how much more of it remains? The night is brief. Toward those short trees, we saw a bird, descending with our grief. Chris Hixon,...

‘ Which Is the Grandest Name of All?’ and Other Poetry by Ted Hayes

The Society
February 20, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Human Rights in China, Humor, Poetry, Short Stories
7 Comments
Which Is the Grandest Name of All? Which is the grandest name of all? Churchill, Churchill, Churchill! Winter sere or crimson fall Churchill,...

‘Ballade on the Man Who Could Have Killed George Washington’ by Ron L. Hodges

The Society
February 19, 2018
Culture, Poetry, Short Stories
8 Comments
“But it was not pleasant to fire at the back of an unoffending individual…so I let him alone.” —Major Patrick Ferguson, British Expeditionary...

‘Night Watch’ by Jordan Hege

The Society
February 18, 2018
Beauty, Poetry
19 Comments
Tonight, I saw the moon Stalking me, watching me Hiding surreptitiously. She knows I know she's there She knows I do not care Reasons for and...

‘Limerick’ by Annie Acho Tartoni

The Society
February 18, 2018
High School Submissions, Humor, Limerick, Poetry
6 Comments
There once was a girl named Shelly. who bought a pet fish by the deli. But to her surprise, with fear in her eyes, she saw the fish dead on its...

‘Insomnia’ and Other Poetry by Joe Tessitore

The Society
February 17, 2018
Beauty, Humor, Poetry
23 Comments
Insomnia Many's the night I lie in bed with words to write that fill my head. They twist and turn and jump and shout. Oh how I yearn to get them...

‘Lost in Thought’ by Marie Davids

The Society
February 16, 2018
Beauty, Poetry
4 Comments
She sits in thoughtful silence, chin in hand, That old blue skirt hem covers her thin knees. Gazing west, the sunset’s  silvery...

The Power of Poetry: A Traditional Chinese Story

The Society
February 15, 2018
Culture, Short Stories, Translation
6 Comments
Fenghan Gao was an outstanding artist of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912 AD). He had profound wisdom and was multi-talented; he was good at writing poems...

‘Sonnet for Elizabeth’ by Joseph Charles MacKenzie (with Audio)

The Society
February 14, 2018
Beauty, Poetry, Readings
23 Comments
  I fear no more the settling of the night Or mind its grey, evaporating shades; Mine ears are deaf to time’s lost serenades, Mine...

‘Swallows’ by Leo Yankevich (with Video)

The Society
February 13, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Readings, Video
8 Comments
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjc_6R0ang8&feature=youtu.be   It was once thought that swallows wintered on the moon, or morphed...

Essay: On Edgar Allan Poe’s Search for Supernal Beauty and His Five Greatest Poems

The Society
February 12, 2018
Best Poems, Essays, Poetry, The Raven
6 Comments
. by David Bellemare Gosselin Today, seldom is Edgar Allan Poe's voice heard as it's drowned out by the popular notions of Poe as some sort of...

‘Brother Be’ by Andrew Todd Ramirez

The Society
February 12, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
12 Comments
  Like feathered tip of swooping sparrow Our kinship cuts like that of arrows A brother’s love has weakened me I’ll take the slice, so...

‘William Blake’ by David Paul Behrens

The Society
February 11, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
3 Comments
In another lifetime I was William Blake When I saw his work That was my take He wrote about love And the human heart I thought I was...

‘The Harvest’ by Teri Skultety

The Society
February 10, 2018
Beauty, Poetry
4 Comments
The sparkle on the river, the lights from distant shore, the cold and bitter glitter, the beckoning of more, Is beautiful to look at, ‘tis a...

‘Those Days and These’ and Other Poetry by Jane Blanchard

The Society
February 9, 2018
Culture, Humor, Poetry
6 Comments
Those Days and These “‘. . . Macbeth does murther sleep.’” —William Shakespeare If only such a villain were __Alone in this regard, The...

‘Between the Trees, Along the Path – Monon Trail, Carmel IN’ by Rosaleen Crowley

The Society
February 8, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
  Between the trees, along the path I hear the woodpecker tap tap tap. Beneath the bridge, cyclists roll through Pedaling and laughing two...

‘Flower of Choice’ and Other Poetry by David Watt

The Society
February 7, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Humor, Poetry, Short Stories
16 Comments
Flower of Choice On native Australian flowers The wattle bears her gold in early spring As luminescent beads on woody strings, Spreading perfume...

‘Cutting Remarks’ by Jennifer Hinders

The Society
February 6, 2018
Humor, Poetry
2 Comments
  How wonderful of God to hold us together, When man is prone to tear us part, Said the surgical student thoughtfully, As he practiced his...

Essay: Unmerited Neglect: A Look at Three Longfellow Poems

The Society
February 5, 2018
Beauty, Culture, Education, Essays, Poetry
5 Comments
By Carter Davis Johnson In a period where American literature was considered peripheral and amateur, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)...

‘The Fall of Jerusalem’ by Ron L. Hodges

The Society
February 4, 2018
Poetry
2 Comments
Jeremiah 52 When Judah rebelled against the Chaldean horde, They sought to gain freedom without help from the Lord, Trusting, instead, in the...

On ‘Hylas and the Nymphs’ Removal from a British Art Museum and Other Poetry by Bruce Dale Wise

The Society
February 3, 2018
Art, Beauty, Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Poetry
8 Comments
(All poetry by Bruce Dale Wise) Hylas and the Nymphs by Beau Ecs Wilder John William Waterhouse's "Hylas and the Nymphs" must go; enchanting,...

‘A Sonnet Riddle’ by Sharon Zhou

The Society
February 3, 2018
Poetry, Riddles
11 Comments
I’m born from a forked tongue’s hissing mutter, An ungrounded half-truth, forceless and tame. Just like a spark struck from flint I shudder At...

‘The Deer Crossing’ by Ken Allan Dronsfield

The Society
February 2, 2018
Beauty, Poetry
6 Comments
  Sun slowly dipping in the western sky; the winds are light and the pine boughs tossing. From their warm, peaceful beds the meek and...

‘A Robin’s Song’ by Connie Phillips

The Society
February 1, 2018
Beauty, Poetry
6 Comments
  A robin should fly south before the snow, With others in the flocks of migrant birds, Quite safe amid this seas’nal ebb and flow— To...

2018 Poetry Competition Winners Announced

The Society
February 1, 2018
Poetry, Poetry Contests
8 Comments
First Place ($500 Prize): C.B. Anderson, Massachusetts “Stonewalls Sometimes a Prison Make” “Praise for the Mother of Summer”...
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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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