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    • 'Why Add to the Suffering?' by Daniel Magdalen

      The Society
      January 4, 2018
      Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Poetry, The Environment
      4 Comments
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    • Poetry on Piero della Francesca’s ‘History of the True Cross,’ by Michael Coy

      The Society
      January 20, 2021
    • ‘Priam, King of Troy, Addresses Cassandra’s Concerns about the Horse’ by Michael Vanyukov

      The Society
      January 20, 2021
      2
    • ‘Stream’ and Other Poetry by Leland James

      The Society
      January 19, 2021
      2
    • ‘Childhood, 1919’ by David Whippman

      The Society
      January 19, 2021
      20
    • ‘Virtual Propitiation: Sacrifice of the Quarantined Caregiver’ by Bethany Mootsey

      The Society
      January 18, 2021
      3
    • ‘Meditation’ by Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867), Translated by Joshua Mincio

      The Society
      January 18, 2021
      3
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    • The Society of Classical Poets 2020 Poetry Competition

      The Society
      September 1, 2019
      High School Submissions, Poetry, Poetry Contests
      9 Comments
    Recent
    • Turn a Joke into a Poem—Poetry Challenge

      The Society
      December 8, 2020
      70
    • Winners of the ‘Napa Valley Winery’ Ekphrastic Poetry Contest

      The Society
      November 15, 2020
      13
    • Ekphrastic Contest: Write a Poem on This Photograph

      The Society
      October 8, 2020
      148
    • The Society of Classical Poets 2021 Poetry Competition

      The Society
      September 1, 2020
      10
    • 2021 High School Poetry Competition

      The Society
      September 1, 2020
    • 2021 Poetry Translation Competition

      The Society
      September 1, 2020
      2
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    • 'Briefs': A New Poetry Form

      The Society
      March 23, 2020
      Culture, Essays, Humor, Poetry, Poetry Contests, Poetry Forms
      20 Comments
    Recent
    • The Singing Lines of Theresa Rodriguez: A Review of Sonnets

      The Society
      January 12, 2021
      13
    • Two Poems Making Use of ‘Conceits,’ by Joseph S. Salemi

      The Society
      January 9, 2021
      26
    • The Struggle for the Formalist Tradition: An Essay by Joseph S. Salemi

      The Society
      December 13, 2020
      58
    • Essay: ‘Portrait of a Millennial Art Student’ by Sally Cook

      The Society
      October 24, 2020
      22
    • A Review of Juvenalia by Reid McGrath

      The Society
      October 12, 2020
      12
    • On Troublemakers: Two Translations from Phaedrus, by Terry L. Norton

      The Society
      September 24, 2020
      9
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  • Poetry on Piero della Francesca’s ‘History of the True Cross,’ by Michael Coy

    The Society
    January 20, 2021
    Art, Beauty, Culture, Ekphrastic, Poetry
  • ‘Priam, King of Troy, Addresses Cassandra’s Concerns about the Horse’ by Michael Vanyukov

    The Society
    January 20, 2021
    Culture, Poetry
    2 Comments
  • ‘Stream’ and Other Poetry by Leland James

    The Society
    January 19, 2021
    Beauty, Culture, Poetry
    2 Comments
  • ‘Childhood, 1919’ by David Whippman

    The Society
    January 19, 2021
    Culture, Poetry
    20 Comments
  • ‘Virtual Propitiation: Sacrifice of the Quarantined Caregiver’ by Bethany Mootsey

    The Society
    January 18, 2021
    Culture, Humor, Poetry
    3 Comments
  • ‘Meditation’ by Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867), Translated by Joshua Mincio

    The Society
    January 18, 2021
    Beauty, Poetry, Translation
    3 Comments
  • ‘Every Little Thing’ and Other Poetry by Daniel Kemper

    The Society
    January 18, 2021
    Beauty, Culture, Love Poems, Poetry, Poetry Forms
    58 Comments
  • ‘For Martin Luther King Jr. Day, 2021’ by Susan Jarvis Bryant

    The Society
    January 18, 2021
    Beauty, Culture, Poetry
    29 Comments
  • ‘Rosarium’: A Sestina and Other Poetry by Benjamin Thomas Cepican

    The Society
    January 17, 2021
    Beauty, Culture, Poetry, Poetry Forms
    7 Comments
  • ‘A Poet’s Strife’ by Sterling Osborne

    The Society
    January 17, 2021
    Beauty, Culture, Poetry
    11 Comments
  • ‘Malingerer’ by Ted Quarterman

    The Society
    January 16, 2021
    Culture, Humor, Poetry
    6 Comments
  • ‘Orchestra Tuning Up’ and Other Poetry by Cynthia Erlandson

    The Society
    January 16, 2021
    Beauty, Culture, Music, Poetry
    6 Comments

Three Summer Senryu by Matt O’Hays

The Society
September 14, 2020
Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Haiku and Senryu, Humor, Poetry
3 Comments
  July 4, 2020 A monument falls Rioters have no remorse What happened this fourth?     Summer 2020 Sunny days are...

‘London’s Docklands, Pre-Gentrification’ and Other Poetry by Peter Austin

The Society
September 13, 2020
Culture, Humor, Poetry
15 Comments
  London’s Docklands, Pre-Gentrification from a sonnet by Wordsworth Earth has not anything to show more foul Unless it be the same neath...

‘Losing It’ and Other Poetry by Jeff Eardley

The Society
September 12, 2020
Beauty, Coronavirus, Culture, Humor, Poetry
13 Comments
  Losing It He staggered round his living room in stunning disbelief As for the very umpteenth time, he’d gone and lost his teeth. He...

‘Remember 9/11’: A Rondeau by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
September 11, 2020
Culture, Poetry, Terrorism
29 Comments
  They tried and failed. They’re trying still To steal our freedom; break our will--- The terrorists who torment days With ire and fire...

A Poem on the Real Definition of Fascism: ‘Misdirection’ by Russel Winick

The Society
September 11, 2020
Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Poetry
28 Comments
  Misdirection Some dictionaries and encyclopedias still define “fascism” as a far-right system of rule. They need to look again. The...

A Poem for Nantes Cathedral, by Margaret Coats

The Society
September 10, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
23 Comments
For Nantes Cathedral Ravaged by Arson in July 2020, a Tribute  This holy place, where the enthusiasm of builders was succeeded by doubt...

A Poem on the Earliest Known English Poet: Caedmon

The Society
September 9, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
4 Comments
Poet's Note: The Venerable Bede tells us that in the 7th century Caedmon, “having lived in a secular habit till he was well advanced in years, had...

Poetry on the Passing of the Poet’s Wife, Part II, by Peter Hartley

The Society
September 8, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
26 Comments
  No Longer There I wonder if a change has come about. No longer do I feel that she is there As physical a being in her chair To me as I to...

‘To a Prisoner of Conscience’ by Martin Rizley

The Society
September 7, 2020
Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Human Rights in China, Poetry
8 Comments
In Response to an Article on the Persecution of Falun Gong Practitioners in China I read the other day about the pain That you endure in some...

A Poem on Nancy Pelosi’s Maskless Salon Trip, by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
September 6, 2020
Coronavirus, Deconstructing Communism, Humor, Poetry
30 Comments
  A Cut Above Why shouldn’t Nancy break a lockdown rule To bless us with her chestnut-tress finesse? As Speaker of the House she’d look...

‘Vote Joe’ by Wortley Clutterbuck

The Society
September 6, 2020
Deconstructing Communism, Humor, Poetry, Readings
3 Comments
    There’s lots of riots in the street or so I’ve heard from someone’s tweet; they’re pulling out all of the...

‘Before the Plague’ by Daniel Kemper

The Society
September 5, 2020
Beauty, Coronavirus, Culture, Poetry
17 Comments
  Before the plague I never knew my hands. The need to purify the human touch has turned my vision inward, but though much is taken; much...

‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game, 2020’ by Joe Tessitore

The Society
September 4, 2020
Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Humor, Poetry
27 Comments
  I am a cardboard cutout. I sit here in the stands. I do not think. I do not blink. I do not clap my hands. You are a cardboard...

A Cat Monologue by E.V. Wyler

The Society
September 3, 2020
Children's, Culture, Humor, Poetry
27 Comments
  'I Shall A Mighty Hunter Be!' “I shall a mighty hunter be, The King of Kills, by God’s decree! Savannahs always guarantee a vantage...

‘We Siblings Three’ and Other Poetry by Randal A. Burd, Jr.

The Society
September 2, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
17 Comments
  We Siblings Three Attempt to add the hours we have shared: One hundred thousand, maybe thousands more? Our paths conjoined for several...

‘Backyard Bliss’ and Other Poetry by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
September 1, 2020
Beauty, Poetry
36 Comments
  Backyard Bliss I hear hope’s song fill skies today __In trills beyond my door. Her citrus kiss burns through the grey __As martins dip...

The Society of Classical Poets 2021 Poetry Competition

The Society
September 1, 2020
From the Society, Poetry, Poetry Contests
10 Comments
  "Poetry ... is a more philosophical and a higher thing than history: for poetry tends to express the universal, history the particular."...

2021 High School Poetry Competition

The Society
September 1, 2020
From the Society, High School Submissions, Poetry, Poetry Contests
  "Poetry ... is a more philosophical and a higher thing than history: for poetry tends to express the universal, history the particular."...

2021 Poetry Translation Competition

The Society
September 1, 2020
From the Society, Poetry, Poetry Contests, Translation
2 Comments
"Poetry ... is a more philosophical and a higher thing than history: for poetry tends to express the universal, history the particular."...

‘My Sickness Is a Mistress’ by Kevin Blankinship

The Society
August 31, 2020
Coronavirus, Culture, Poetry
5 Comments
  I made her a bed with cushions and throws but she refused and slept in my bones. My skin, too tight for both my sighs and hers so she...

Three Poems on Drinking, by C.B. Anderson

The Society
August 30, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Humor, Poetry
13 Comments
  The Angels’ Share Oh many a peer of England brews Livelier liquor than the Muse, And malt does more than Milton can To justify God’s...

‘Barnes’ Owl in the Snow’ by William Glyn-Jones

The Society
August 29, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
5 Comments
rhymes written after reading Simon Barnes’ blog post "Barn Owl in the Snow" Across the marsh, white passing over white, The silent hunter flies...

‘The Wolves and the Sheep’ by Terry L. Norton

The Society
August 28, 2020
Children's, Culture, Poetry
32 Comments
adapted from Babrius, first century A.D., and Jean de La Fontaine, 1621-1695 __At least twelve thousand years (though likely more) Between the...

A Poem on the Oxford English Dictionary, by Maurice J. O’Sullivan

The Society
August 27, 2020
Culture, Humor, Poetry
9 Comments
  Editing with the OED for Rita Bornstein __Like a mental abattoir, the OED, With brumous exactitude, looms over me As my blue pen prunes...

Rhyme and Reason: Four Poems by James A. Tweedie

The Society
August 26, 2020
Culture, Humor, Poetry
36 Comments
  Abracadabra The written word is magical And not just something clerical. You scratch some marks into the sand; I see the marks and...

‘Corofin Dreaming’ by David Watt

The Society
August 25, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
11 Comments
  The potato blight and resultant Great Famine struck Ireland from 1845 to 1851. Potato crops didn’t recover until 1852, by which time at...

‘In Memory of My Grandmother’ by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
August 24, 2020
Beauty, Poetry
33 Comments
  Doris Evelyn Alice Falconer, born April 9, 1922, died August 24, 2004 You taught me the importance of good humour, the gravity of truth and...

‘The Falcon’: A Poem After Blake’s ‘Tyger,’ by Cynthia Erlandson

The Society
August 24, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
9 Comments
  The Falcon “In what distant deeps or skies Burnt the fire of thine eyes? On what wings dare he aspire? What the hand dare sieze the...

‘Angel Ship’ by C. David Hay

The Society
August 23, 2020
Beauty, Poetry
14 Comments
  Oh, to helm an angel ship __Adrift in a billowy sea With a specter crew in a sky of blue, __Just the vast beyond and me. Flying the...

The Rebirth of Epic: A Review of James Sale’s HellWard

The Society
August 22, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Epic, Essays, Poetry, Reviews
31 Comments
by Andrew Benson Brown James Sale’s HellWard is the first volume of a planned trilogy entitled The English Cantos. If the quality of the current...

‘Those Unknown’ by Camille Cechini

The Society
August 21, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
15 Comments
  a villanelle My heart goes out to those unknown, Whose life by Time’s cruel hand erased, Their ravaged, riven, nameless...

A Poem on Judgment Day and Other Poetry by Leo Zoutewelle

The Society
August 20, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Poetry
16 Comments
  Ab Initio Mundi* *ever since the beginning of the world At first the darkness reigned o’er all that was, Until a little point of light...

‘The Bell Now Tolls’ by Martin Rizley

The Society
August 19, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
24 Comments
  in memory of my father-in-law, Pietro Lorefice (1938-2020) The bell now tolls, dear Pietro, for this hour When we must bid your faithful...
Poem Rhet Butler

‘Hollywood Interview’ by David Whippman

The Society
August 18, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Humor, Poetry
20 Comments
  My marriage failed (they always do.) Emotionally unequipped To work things out without a script, We didn’t try to talk it...

‘Uncle Joe and the Virtual Convention’ by Jeff Kemper

The Society
August 17, 2020
Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Humor, Poetry
13 Comments
  When the wokest of folk virtually convoke In a year of elections and riots and fear, Uncle Joe from the basement the Nanny will...
Fishing in boat on ocean

‘Upon a Boat, by Ocean Bound’ by Alexander King Ream

The Society
August 17, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Ekphrastic, Poetry
3 Comments
  Upon a boat, by ocean bound, Below the sun, upon the sound, The bait, a line, a reel, a fish: Bound for butter, herbs and...

A Satire on Joe Biden Picking Kamala Harris, by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
August 16, 2020
Culture, Humor, Poetry
24 Comments
  Madcapfesto We’ll unlock prison gates and let the inmates saunter out. We’ll tear down wall and rule; we’ll sponsor every lug and...

Understanding Bad Poetry: The Verse of William Topaz McGonagall

The Society
August 16, 2020
Culture, Essays, Humor, Poetry
20 Comments
by Joseph S. Salemi The poetic effusions of some people are so incompetent that they cross the line into unexpected humor, and thereby become...

‘We Came Together With An Open Mind’ by James Allan Kennedy

The Society
August 15, 2020
Poetry
16 Comments
a villanelle We came together with an open mind No crass intolerance or blinkered view Is it too much to ask us to be kind? The streets in...

The 17 Best Haiku of 2020

The Society
August 15, 2020
Beauty, Culture, From the Society, Haiku and Senryu, Poetry, Poetry Contests
7 Comments
Winner and Runners-up of The Society of Classical Poets 2020 Haiku Competition Judged by Mike Bryant and Susan Jarvis Bryant See all entrants...
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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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