Dictionary Poems

Pain has an element of blank;It cannot recollectWhen it began, or if there wereA day when it was not. It has no future but itself,Its infinite realms containIts past, enlightened to perceiveNew periods of pain. – THE MYSTERY OF PAIN – Pain has an element of blank by Emily Dickinson

My mother bore me in the southern wild, And I am black, but oh my soul is white! White as an angel is the English child, But I am black, as if bereaved of light. My mother taught me underneath a tree, And, sitting down before the heat of day, She took me on her … Continued

HIS chosen comrades thought at schoolHe must grow a famous man;He thought the same and lived by rule,All his twenties crammed with toil;‘What then?’ sang Plato’s ghost. ‘What then?’ Everything he wrote was read,After certain years he wonSufficient money for his need,Friends that have been friends indeed;‘What then?’ sang Plato’s ghost. ‘ What then?’ All … Continued

Endure what life God gives and ask no longer span;Cease to remember the delights of youth, travel-wearied aged man;Delight becomes death-longing if all longing else be vain. Even from that delight memory treasures so,Death, despair, division of families, all entanglements of mankind grow,As that old wandering beggar and these God-hated children know. In the long … Continued

SURPRISED by joy–impatient as the Wind ; ; ;I turned to share the transport–O! with whom ; ; ;But Thee, deep buried in the silent tomb, That spot which no vicissitude can find? Love, faithful love, recall’d thee to my mind– ; ; ;But how could I forget thee? Through what power, ; ; ;Even … Continued

I measure every grief I meet With analytic eyes;I wonder if it weighs like mine, Or has an easier size. I wonder if they bore it long, Or did it just begin?I could not tell the date of mine, It feels so old a pain. I wonder if it hurts to live, And if they … Continued

TWO lengths has every day,Its absolute extent–And area superiorBy hope or heaven lent.Eternity will beVelocity, or pause,At fundamental signalsFrom fundamental laws.To die, is not to go–On doom’s consummate chartNo territory new is staked,Remain thou as thou art. – TWO lengths has every day by Emily Dickinson

I count each day a little life, With birth and death complete;I cloister it from care and strife And keep it sane and sweet. With eager eyes I greet the morn, Exultant as a boy,Knowing that I am newly born To wonder and to joy. And when the sunset splendours wane And ripe for rest … Continued

I envy seas whereon he rides, I envy spokes of wheelsOf chariots that him convey, I envy speechless hills That gaze upon his journey; How easy all can seeWhat is forbidden utterly As heaven, unto me! I envy nests of sparrows That dot his distant eaves,The wealthy fly upon his pane, The happy, happy leaves … Continued

My mother groaned, my father wept:Into the dangerous world I leapt,Helpless, naked, piping loud,Like a fiend hid in a cloud. Struggling in my father’s hands,Striving against my swaddling bands,Bound and weary, I thought bestTo sulk upon my mother’s breast. – INFANT SORROW by William Blake