Genius, like gold and precious stones

Genius, like gold and precious stones,is chiefly prized because of its rarity.Geniuses are people who dash off weird, wild,incomprehensible poems with astonishing facility,and get booming drunk and sleep in the gutter.--from "Genius" by Mark Twain.Sp...

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Aug 16, 2025
a damsel with a dulcimer

A damsel with a dulcimer   In a vision once I saw:   It was an Abyssinian maid   And on her dulcimer she played,--From Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor ColeridgeWeave a circle round me thrice and close your eye...

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Aug 01, 2025
Men were deceivers ever; one foot in the sea

Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more,Men were deceivers ever;One foot in sea, and one on shore,To one thing constant never.Then sigh not so,But let them go,And be you blith and bonny,Converting all your sounds of woeInto Hey nonny, nonny.--ShakespeareT...

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Jul 16, 2025
But from the trance she sudden broke

But from the trance she sudden broke- The trance, or death into promoted life;At her feet a shivered yoke,And in her aspect turned to heaven No trace of passion or of strife-A clear calm look.--From "America" by Herman MelvilleAnother antho...

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Jul 02, 2025
He rose at dawn, and fired with hope

He rose at dawn and, fired with hope,Shot o'er the seething harbour-bar,And reach'd the ship and caught the rope,And whistled to the morning star.And while he whistled long and loudHe heard a fierce mermaiden cry,"O boy, tho' thou are young and proud...

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Jun 15, 2025
Once I walked at eventide, when a silent

In these rapid, restless shadows,Once I walked at eventide,When a gentle, silent maiden,Walked in beauty at my side.She alone there walked beside meAll in beauty, like a bride.--From "The Village Street" by Edgar Allan PoeIn contrast to Poe's romanti...

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Jun 01, 2025
Ah, what can ail thee, wretched wight

Ah, what can ail thee, wretched wight,   Alone and palely loitering?The sedge is withered from the lake,   And no birds sing....I saw their starved lips in the gloam,   With horrid warning gaped wide,And I...

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May 02, 2025
They never fail who die in a great

They never fail who die  In a great cause. The block may soak their gore;  Their heads may sodden in the sun; their limbs  Be strung to city gates and castle walls;  But still their spirit walks abroad. &n...

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Apr 16, 2025
A Whirl-Blast from behind the hill

A Whirl-Blast from behind the hillRushed o'er the wood with startling sound;Then—all at once the air was still,And showers of hailstones pattered round.--From "A Whirl-Blast From Behind the Hill" - William WordsworthThe whirl-blast that took me from...

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Apr 02, 2025