The Procession

Related poetry:

1. There were many who went in huddled procession There were many who went in huddled procession, They knew not whither; But, at any rate, success or calamity Would attend all in equality. There was one who sought a new road. He went into direful thickets, And ultimately he died thus, alone; But they said he had courage....
2. Gentle Gaoler Being a gaoler I’m supposed To be a hard-boiled guy; Yet never prison walls enclosed A kinder soul than I: Passing my charges precious pills To end their ills. And if in gentle sleep they die, And pass to pleasant peace, No one suspects that it is I Who gave them their release: No matter […]...
3. Science-fiction Cradlesong By and by Man will try To get out into the sky, Sailing far beyond the air From Down and Here to Up and There. Stars and sky, sky and stars Make us feel the prison bars. Suppose it done. Now we ride Closed in steel, up there, outside Through our port-holes see the vast […]...
4. The Unexplorer There was a road ran past our house Too lovely to explore. I asked my mother once-she said That if you followed where it led It brought you to the milk-man’s door. (That’s why I have not travelled more.)...
5. Lost Anchors Like a dry fish flung inland far from shore, There lived a sailor, warped and ocean-browned, Who told of an old vessel, harbor-drowned, And out of mind a century before, Where divers, on descending to explore A legend that had lived its way around The world of ships, in the dark hulk had found Anchors, […]...
6. Psalm 49 part 2 v.14,15 C. M. Death and the resurrection. Ye sons of pride, that hate the just And trample on the poor, When death has brought you down to dust, Your pomp shall rise no more. The last great day shall change the scene; When will that hour appear? When shall the just revive, and reign O’er […]...
7. Cooney Potter I inherited forty acres from my Father And, by working my wife, my two sons and two daughters From dawn to dusk, I acquired A thousand acres. But not content, Wishing to own two thousand acres, I bustled through the years with axe and plow, Toiling, denying myself, my wife, my sons, my daughters. Squire […]...
8. Apostrophe Of RISPAH. (who had been the concubine of King SAUL) when DAVID hanged her children, because their father had done amiss. From morn to eve from eve to rosy morn, On this bleak rock I’ll lay me all forlorn; Here will I stay, tho’ tempests frown around, Fierce lightnings glare, or earthquakes rock the ground. […]...
9. With a Bouquet of Twelve Roses I saw Lord Buddha towering by my gate Saying: “Once more, good youth, I stand and wait.” Saying: “I bring you my fair Law of Peace And from your withering passion full release; Release from that white hand that stabbed you so. The road is calling. With the wind you go, Forgetting her imperious disdain […]...
10. Limited I AM riding on a limited express, one of the crack trains Of the nation. Hurtling across the prairie into blue haze and dark air Go fifteen all-steel coaches holding a thousand people. (All the coaches shall be scrap and rust and all the men And women laughing in the diners and sleepers shall Pass […]...
11. The Pilgrims An uphill path, sun-gleams between the showers, Where every beam that broke the leaden sky Lit other hills with fairer ways than ours; Some clustered graves where half our memories lie; And one grim Shadow creeping ever nigh: And this was Life. Wherein we did another’s burden seek, The tired feet we helped upon the […]...
12. Hymn 156 Presumption and despair; or, Satan’s various temptations. I hate the tempter and his charms, I hate his flatt’ring breath; The serpent takes a thousand forms To cheat our souls to death. He feeds our hopes with airy dreams, Or kills with slavish fear; And holds us still in wide extremes, Presumption or despair. Now he […]...
13. EVER AND EVERYWHERE FAR explore the mountain hollow, High in air the clouds then follow! To each brook and vale the Muse Thousand times her call renews. Soon as a flow’ret blooms in spring, It wakens many a strain; And when Time spreads his fleeting wing, The seasons come again. 1820.*...
14. Doors of Daring The mountains that enfold the vale With walls of granite, steep and high, Invite the fearless foot to scale Their stairway toward the sky. The restless, deep, dividing sea That flows and foams from shore to shore, Calls to its sunburned chivalry, “Push out, set sail, explore!” And all the bars at which we fret, […]...
15. Psalm 91 part 1 v.1-7 L. M. Safety in public diseases and dangers. He that hath made his refuge God Shall find a most secure abode, Shall walk all day beneath his shade, And there at night shall rest his head. Then will I say, “My God, thy power Shall be my fortress and my tower; I, that am […]...
16. Psalm 35 part 1 v.1-9 C. M. Prayer and faith of persecuted saints. Now plead my cause, Almighty God, With all the sons of strife; And fight against the men of blood, Who fight against my life. Draw out thy spear and stop their way, Lift thine avenging rod; But to my soul in mercy say, “I am thy […]...
17. March Evening Blue through the window burns the twilight; Heavy, through trees, blows the warm south wind. Glistening, against the chill, gray sky light, Wet, black branches are barred and entwined. Sodden and spongy, the scarce-green grass plot Dents into pools where a foot has been. Puddles lie spilt in the road a mass, not Of water, […]...
18. The Helmet All the way On the road to Gary He could see Where the sky shone Just out of reach And smell the rich Smell of work As strong as money, But when he got there The night was over. People were going To work and back, The sidewalks were lakes No one walked on, The […]...
19. Resurgam Exiled afar from youth and happy love, If Death should ravish my fond spirit hence I have no doubt but, like a homing dove, It would return to its dear residence, And through a thousand stars find out the road Back into earthly flesh that was its loved abode....
20. To my son You will realize this wisdom, When you are my age, and experience, Gained from being in vexing situations, Yet, being out of it. You do the same, There is a joy in detachment, Forsaking instant pleasures, pains, For things deeper and enduring. Don’t be a slave to the work, Of smart slave-drivers in cubicles, Instead […]...
21. A Song of the Republic Sons of the South, awake! arise! Sons of the South, and do. Banish from under your bonny skies Those old-world errors and wrongs and lies. Making a hell in a Paradise That belongs to your sons and you. Sons of the South, make choice between (Sons of the South, choose true), The Land of Morn […]...
22. That after Horror that 'twas us That after Horror that ’twas us That passed the mouldering Pier Just as the Granite Crumb let go Our Savior, by a Hair A second more, had dropped too deep For Fisherman to plumb The very profile of the Thought Puts Recollection numb The possibility to pass Without a Moment’s Bell Into Conjecture’s presence Is […]...
23. Roadways ONE road leads to London, One road leads to Wales, My road leads me seawards To the white dipping sails. One road leads to the river, And it goes singing slow; My road leads to shipping, Where the bronzed sailors go. Leads me, lures me, calls me To salt green tossing sea; A road without […]...
24. Hymn 100 Believe and be saved. John 3:16-18. Not to condemn the sons of men, Did Christ, the Son of God, appear; No weapons in his hands are seen, No flaming sword nor thunder there. Such was the pity of our God, He loved the race of man so well, He sent his Son to bear our […]...
25. Father Death Blues (Don't Grow Old, Part V) Hey Father Death, I’m flying home Hey poor man, you’re all alone Hey old daddy, I know where I’m going Father Death, Don’t cry any more Mama’s there, underneath the floor Brother Death, please mind the store Old Aunty Death Don’t hide your bones Old Uncle Death I hear your groans O Sister Death how […]...
26. A Fence NOW the stone house on the lake front is finished and the Workmen are beginning the fence. The palings are made of iron bars with steel points that Can stab the life out of any man who falls on them. As a fence, it is a masterpiece, and will shut off the rabble And all […]...
27. The Toy Band A Song of the Great Retreat Dreary lay the long road, dreary lay the town, Lights out and never a glint o’ moon: Weary lay the stragglers, half a thousand down, Sad sighed the weary big Dragoon. “Oh! if I’d a drum here to make them take the road again, Oh! if I’d a fife […]...
28. It's This Way I stand in the advancing light, My hands hungry, the world beautiful. My eyes can’t get enough of the trees They’re so hopeful, so green. A sunny road runs through the mulberries, I’m at the window of the prison infirmary. I can’t smell the medicines Carnations must be blooming nearby. It’s this way: Being captured […]...
29. Outcast For the dim regions whence my fathers came My spirit, bondaged by the body, longs. Words felt, but never heard, my lips would frame; My soul would sing forgotten jungle songs. I would go back to darkness and to peace, But the great western world holds me in fee, And I may never hope for […]...
30. The Vine & Oak, A Fable A vine from noblest lineage sprung And with the choicest clusters hung, In purple rob’d, reclining lay, And catch’d the noontide’s fervid ray; The num’rous plants that deck the field Did all the palm of beauty yield; Pronounc’d her fairest of their train And hail’d her empress of the plain. A neighb’ring oak whose spiry […]...
31. Psalm 107 part 2 Correction for sin, and release by prayer. From age to age exalt his name; God and his grace are still the same; He fills the hungry soul with food, And feeds the poor with every good. But if their hearts rebel and rise Against the God that rules the skies; If they reject his heav’nly […]...
32. The Curse of Kehama I charm thy life, From the weapons of strife, From stone and from wood, From fire and from flood, From the serpent’s tooth, And the beast of blood. From sickness I charm thee, And time shall not harm thee; But earth, which is mine, Its fruits shall deny thee; And water shall hear me, And […]...
33. Autumn I Saw old Autumn in the misty morn Stand shadowless like Silence, listening To silence, for no lonely bird would sing Into his hollow ear from woods forlorn, Nor lowly hedge nor solitary thorn;- Shaking his languid locks all dewy bright With tangled gossamer that fell by night, Pearling his coronet of golden corn. Where […]...
34. Death Death is a road our dearest friends have gone; Why with such leaders, fear to say, “Lead on?” Its gate repels, lest it too soon be tried, But turns in balm on the immortal side. Mothers have passed it: fathers, children; men Whose like we look not to behold again; Women that smiled away their […]...
35. A Happy Man When these graven lines you see, Traveller, do not pity me; Though I be among the dead, Let no mournful word be said. Children that I leave behind, And their children, all were kind; Near to them and to my wife, I was happy all my life. My three sons I married right, And their […]...
36. Examination at the Womb-Door Who owns those scrawny little feet? Death. Who owns this bristly scorched-looking face? Death. Who owns these still-working lungs? Death. Who owns this utility coat of muscles? Death. Who owns these unspeakable guts? Death. Who owns these questionable brains? Death. All this messy blood? Death. These minimum-efficiency eyes? Death. This wicked little tongue? Death. This […]...
37. The Charge of the Second Iowa Cavalry Comrades, many a year and day Have fled since that glorious 9th of May When we made the charge at Farmington. But until our days on earth are done Our blood will burn and our hearts beat fast As we tell of the glorious moments we passed, When we rode on the guns with a […]...
38. A Song of the White Men 1899 Now, this is the cup the White Men drink When they go to right a wrong, And that is the cup of the old world’s hate Cruel and strained and strong. We have drunk that cup and a bitter, bitter cup And tossed the dregs away. But well for the world when the White […]...
39. On Hearing O stay, harmonious and sweet sounds, that die In the long vaultings of this ancient fane! Stay, for I may not hear on earth again Those pious airs that glorious harmony; Lifting the soul to brighter orbs on high, Worlds without sin or sorrow! Ah, the strain Has died even the last sounds that lingeringly […]...
40. Sonnet XX: Fly, Fly, My Friends Fly, fly, my friends, I have my death wound; fly! See there that boy, that murthering boy I say, Who like a thief, hid in dark bush doth lie, Till bloody bullet get him wrongful prey. So tyrant he no fitter place could spy, Nor so fair level in so secret stay, As that sweet […]...