Do you have a favourite poem? If so, what makes it so special to you?

[Rhymester]

Hey everyone, would love to hear your favorite pieces of poetry and why they are special to you. My personal favourite is "A Dream Within A Dream" by Edgar Allan Poe. This poem is special to me because I find it truly relatable. Each line is soaked with beauty and the poem is heartfelt. In a way, everything in my life feels both real and unreal—beautiful but at the same time tragic. As cliché as it sounds, sometimes everything in life feels like a beautiful tragedy.

 

[fwompie]

Very stereotypical and mundane but one of my favorites will always be "The Two-Headed Calf" by Laura Gilpin.

"Tomorrow when the farm boys find this
freak of nature, they will wrap his body
in newspaper and carry him to the museum.

But tonight he is alive and in the north
field with his mother. It is a perfect
summer evening: the moon rising over
the orchard, the wind in the grass. And
as he stares into the sky, there are
twice as many stars as usual."

That's what I feel like in a weird way. I've been wanting to die for so long and after finding some proper methods and being able to talk about suicide, I feel serene. Most days I'm extremely anxious and depressed but there are some small moments where I get the exact feeling this poem also gives me. Where everything is just okay for now, because you know it will all end sooner than later. Not that the poem is about that necessarily but that's what it means to me.

I also like the poem you shared. Time moves so fast, important beautiful moments slip by without being able to appreciate it. His writing is beautiful and it's so relatable and sad.

 

[rationaltake]

Hey everyone, would love to hear your favorite pieces of poetry and why they are special to you. My personal favourite is "A Dream Within A Dream" by Edgar Allan Poe. This poem is special to me because I find it truly relatable. Each line is soaked with beauty and the poem is heartfelt. In a way, everything in my life feels both real and unreal—beautiful but at the same time tragic. As cliché as it sounds, sometimes everything in life feels like a beautiful tragedy.

Thanks for this interesting thread. I like this poem as I've always felt life was a dream.

This is my favourite poem by William Blake.

The Sick Rose

O Rose thou art sick.
The invisible worm,
That flies in the night
In the howling storm:
Has found out thy bed
Of crimson joy:
And his dark secret love
Does thy life destroy.

I relate to that sense of something being wrong at the very heart of things. The way life and death are intertwined.

Very stereotypical and mundane but one of my favorites will always be "The Two-Headed Calf" by Laura Gilpin.

"Tomorrow when the farm boys find this
freak of nature, they will wrap his body
in newspaper and carry him to the museum.

But tonight he is alive and in the north
field with his mother. It is a perfect
summer evening: the moon rising over
the orchard, the wind in the grass. And
as he stares into the sky, there are
twice as many stars as usual."

That's what I feel like in a weird way. I've been wanting to die for so long and after finding some proper methods and being able to talk about suicide, I feel serene. Most days I'm extremely anxious and depressed but there are some small moments where I get the exact feeling this poem also gives me. Where everything is just okay for now, because you know it will all end sooner than later. Not that the poem is about that necessarily but that's what it means to me.

I also like the poem you shared. Time moves so fast, important beautiful moments slip by without being able to appreciate it. His writing is beautiful and it's so relatable and sad.

I love this poem. It's new to me. I find it heart-wrenching and absolutely true. The way animals are treated as disposable objects. The bit about twice as many stars as usual is wonderful to me. Superb. The calf experiences life in his own unique way just as any other sentient being does. I like your choice of poem better than mine. I understand your feelings about it.

I'm too low to say much. Just wanted to say how much I appreciate both your posts.

 

[Aergia]

Great post idea!

If I had to pick a favourite, I think it would be Lord Alfred Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott". It's long, so I've just linked it. This is certainly not the conventional way of viewing the poem, and admittedly a superficial one, but given the anhedonia and dissociation I often experience, I relate to the lady being imprisoned— cursed to watched other people living their lives through a mirror and having no life of her own besides the weaving she does of these sights. It's also easy to appreciate the poem in an aesthetic sense.

'I am half sick of shadows,' said
The Lady of Shalott.

And then there's the ending.

Another one of my favourites is Emily Brontë's "The night is darkening around me".

 

[Ruma]

Charles Bukoski - My cats.

When I am feeling low
All I have to do is watch my cats
And my courage returns

I study these creatures
They are my teachers.

 

[Rhymester]

Very stereotypical and mundane but one of my favorites will always be "The Two-Headed Calf" by Laura Gilpin.

"Tomorrow when the farm boys find this
freak of nature, they will wrap his body
in newspaper and carry him to the museum.

But tonight he is alive and in the north
field with his mother. It is a perfect
summer evening: the moon rising over
the orchard, the wind in the grass. And
as he stares into the sky, there are
twice as many stars as usual."

That's what I feel like in a weird way. I've been wanting to die for so long and after finding some proper methods and being able to talk about suicide, I feel serene. Most days I'm extremely anxious and depressed but there are some small moments where I get the exact feeling this poem also gives me. Where everything is just okay for now, because you know it will all end sooner than later. Not that the poem is about that necessarily but that's what it means to me.

I also like the poem you shared. Time moves so fast, important beautiful moments slip by without being able to appreciate it. His writing is beautiful and it's so relatable and sad.

Thank you for sharing this poem. It makes me feel truly at peace. The language is so gentle. I can imagine myself just lying down among the soft grass and feeling the warmth of the shining stars. This image in my mind is so still and serene—a great one when feeling anxious and depressed.

Thanks for this interesting thread. I like this poem as I've always felt life was a dream.

This is my favourite poem by William Blake.

The Sick Rose

O Rose thou art sick.
The invisible worm,
That flies in the night
In the howling storm:
Has found out thy bed
Of crimson joy:
And his dark secret love
Does thy life destroy.

I relate to that sense of something being wrong at the very heart of things. The way life and death are intertwined.



I love this poem. It's new to me. I find it heart-wrenching and absolutely true. The way animals are treated as disposable objects. The bit about twice as many stars as usual is wonderful to me. Superb. The calf experiences life in his own unique way just as any other sentient being does. I like your choice of poem better than mine. I understand your feelings about it.

I'm too low to say much. Just wanted to say how much I appreciate both your posts.

Ah no, roses are my favourite flowers but reading about a sick rose is just truly sad. The language in this poem is absolutely beautiful. The sick rose in this poem makes me think of losing the ability to love because the "invisible worm" or perhaps some kind of poisonous outer force has crept into such a beautiful rose (assuming the rose symbolises love itself). I am happy that you found some solace in reading the posts.

Charles Bukoski - My cats.

When I am feeling low
All I have to do is watch my cats
And my courage returns

I study these creatures
They are my teachers.

I absolutely love Bukowski's poetry. His writing is so raw and striking. Cats and their apparent 9 lives, while we only have one. Thank you for sharing this poem.

 

[Kerrtu]

Kennelly recited this poem to a woman who called in for a game show contest - her daughter had put a ticket in for her mum and the mum won. When she is called to be told, she tells them what became of that daughter

If, by Rudyard Kipling



Recited by Sir Michael Caine

People Aren't Homes by Nikita Gill



Grief is love with nowhere to go
No one to touch
Nothing to feel
Grief is love with nowhere to go
Making it all too real

Grief is two arms with no one to hold
No one to call or ever grow old
I try to keep standing strong and bold
But grief left me with no one to hold

Grief is a mountain that you cannot climb
No way over, no reason or rhyme
I'm stuck in this valley of space and time
Because grief is a mountain I cannot climb

It's all dressed up in roses and
Maybe a string of pearls
But when that casket closes
It will stop my world

Because grief is love with nowhere to go
There is no high, only the lows
If you've lost someone, you already know
That grief is love with nowhere to go

(author debated/unknown)

♡

Do not go gentle into that good night by Dylan Thomas, performed by Michael Sheen



Do not stand at my grave and weep -
author uncertain

 

[Rhymester]

Thanks for this interesting thread. I like this poem as I've always felt life was a dream.

This is my favourite poem by William Blake.

The Sick Rose

O Rose thou art sick.
The invisible worm,
That flies in the night
In the howling storm:
Has found out thy bed
Of crimson joy:
And his dark secret love
Does thy life destroy.

I relate to that sense of something being wrong at the very heart of things. The way life and death are intertwined.



I love this poem. It's new to me. I find it heart-wrenching and absolutely true. The way animals are treated as disposable objects. The bit about twice as many stars as usual is wonderful to me. Superb. The calf experiences life in his own unique way just as any other sentient being does. I like your choice of poem better than mine. I understand your feelings about it.

I'm too low to say much. Just wanted to say how much I appreciate both your posts.

Great post idea!

If I had to pick a favourite, I think it would be Lord Alfred Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott". It's long, so I've just linked it. This is certainly not the conventional way of viewing the poem, and admittedly a superficial one, but given the anhedonia and dissociation I often experience, I relate to the lady being imprisoned— cursed to watched other people living their lives through a mirror and having no life of her own besides the weaving she does of these sights. It's also easy to appreciate the poem in an aesthetic sense.



And then there's the ending.

Another one of my favourites is Emily Brontë's "The night is darkening around me".

Thank you for sharing this poem. I can also relate to the poem and to you. In the past, I have struggled with depersonalisation and currently, I am experiencing anhedonia too on a regular basis. The poem carries some great messages and its length just adds to its beauty. The length of it reminds me of the length of "The Raven" written by Edgar Allan Poe. I also like the poems of Emily Brontë. My favourite poem of hers is "I Shall Not Care."

View attachment 117968

Kennelly recited this poem with a woman who called in to a game show contest - her daughter had put a ticket in for her mum and the mum won. When she is called to be told, she tells them what became of that daughter

If, by Rudyard Kipling



Recited by Sir Michael Caine

Wow, I am lost for words. I have never come upon that poem before. It's truly inspirational and there is so much beauty in every line: "conclusion/ insists that we forever begin." Thank you for sharing this gem. "If" is another poem that holds inspiration in every line: "If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster/ And treat those two impostors just the same." Thank you for linking the video too.

 

[Kerrtu]

Wow, I am lost for words. I have never come upon that poem before. It's truly inspirational and there is so much beauty in every line: "conclusion/ insists that we forever begin." Thank you for sharing this gem. "If" is another poem that holds inspiration in every line: "If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster/ And treat those two impostors just the same." Thank you for linking the video too.

You're most welcome. Amazing how Byrne didn't think they should continue through the game, considering the circumstances, and the mother wanted to play anyway. Byrne was a real one. And the small ripples of claps for the mother, which got stronger, supporting her.

To begin again, herself.

♡

 

[brainwormz]

I don't know a lot of classical poetry but I like this one as a Puerto Rican

 

[CrazyDiamond04]

Ozymandias and O' Captain! My Captain! are my two favorite poems.

 

[esthe]

Giacomo Leopardi's "The Infinite" is a personal favorite of mine, this is the most spot on translation I could find of it. From when I first read it, I was always fascinated by the sense of self annulment, perhaps acceptation it conveys, especially in the end. Then, it helps me with being more rational, as I'm the complete opposite haha, overly emotional. For me, it's a reminder to look at the big picture, and of how small we are in, well, literally, the infinite; and that doesn't mean we should dismiss our personal problems as useless because of that, but rather see them from a different perspective and not make them bigger than they already are, and understand that in one way or another, everything will pass.

 

[Eyler]

Hey everyone, would love to hear your favorite pieces of poetry and why they are special to you. My personal favourite is "A Dream Within A Dream" by Edgar Allan Poe. This poem is special to me because I find it truly relatable. Each line is soaked with beauty and the poem is heartfelt. In a way, everything in my life feels both real and unreal—beautiful but at the same time tragic. As cliché as it sounds, sometimes everything in life feels like a beautiful tragedy.

Personally, one of my favorite pieces would be "I felt a Funeral, in my Brain." By Emily Dickinson

While for some people it could be a little confusing, I think the way that Emily wrote it shows some expectant sparkle for me, It speaks something that I could verbally myself would not be composed to express. It's neat and quite understandable, as well can be relatable in some ways.

Which represents this way.

I felt a Funeral, in my Brain,
And Mourners to and fro
Kept treading - treading - till it seemed
That Sense was breaking through -

And when they all were seated,
A Service, like a Drum -
Kept beating - beating - till I thought
My mind was going numb -

And then I heard them lift a Box
And creak across my Soul
With those same Boots of Lead, again,
Then Space - began to toll,

As all the Heavens were a Bell,
And Being, but an Ear,
And I, and Silence, some strange Race,
Wrecked, solitary, here -

And then a Plank in Reason, broke,
And I dropped down, and down -
And hit a World, at every plunge,
And Finished knowing - then -

Neat? Am I right?

 

[rationaltake]

Charles Bukoski - My cats.

When I am feeling low
All I have to do is watch my cats
And my courage returns

I study these creatures
They are my teachers.

I just love this. And so true. Somehow conveying the different aspects of cats. The first three lines make me think of cats sleeping. The last two lines remind me of a cat scratching.

Here is another cat poem I love.

My cat, Jeoffry - Poetry Archive

For I will consider my Cat Jeoffry. For he is the servant of the Living God, duly and daily serving him. For at the first glance of the glory of God in the East he worships in his way. For...

poetryarchive.org

For I will consider my cat Jeoffry by Christopher Smart. It's long and is one section of a poem called Jubilate Agno. It portrays the essence and mannerisms of a cat so well. And it's poignant seeing as Christopher Smart wrote this poem while he was incarcerated in St Luke's Hospital because he was considered mad. He spent seven years there. I can relate. My only friend when I was very young was a cat. I still miss her.

Some background about Christopher Smart together with the poem again.

‘My Cat Jeoffry’: From Christopher Smart’s Jubilate Agno

In this week’s Dispatches from The Secret Library, Dr Oliver Tearle revels in a classic cat poem written by a man in confinement Who invented ‘free verse’? Walt Whitman (1819-92) often gets the cre…

interestingliterature.com

 

[Rhymester]

Personally, one of my favorite pieces would be "I felt a Funeral, in my Brain." By Emily Dickinson

While for some people it could be a little confusing, I think the way that Emily wrote it shows some expectant sparkle for me, It speaks something that I could verbally myself would not be composed to express. It's neat and quite understandable, as well can be relatable in some ways.

Which represents this way.

I felt a Funeral, in my Brain,
And Mourners to and fro
Kept treading - treading - till it seemed
That Sense was breaking through -

And when they all were seated,
A Service, like a Drum -
Kept beating - beating - till I thought
My mind was going numb -

And then I heard them lift a Box
And creak across my Soul
With those same Boots of Lead, again,
Then Space - began to toll,

As all the Heavens were a Bell,
And Being, but an Ear,
And I, and Silence, some strange Race,
Wrecked, solitary, here -

And then a Plank in Reason, broke,
And I dropped down, and down -
And hit a World, at every plunge,
And Finished knowing - then -

Neat? Am I right?

Emily Dickinson's poetry is just something else. Do you like Plath by any chance? I find that her poems speak the most to me. Also did you study this poem in school or how did you come across it?

Giacomo Leopardi's "The Infinite" is a personal favorite of mine, this is the most spot on translation I could find of it. From when I first read it, I was always fascinated by the sense of self annulment, perhaps acceptation it conveys, especially in the end. Then, it helps me with being more rational, as I'm the complete opposite haha, overly emotional. For me, it's a reminder to look at the big picture, and of how small we are in, well, literally, the infinite; and that doesn't mean we should dismiss our personal problems as useless because of that, but rather see them from a different perspective and not make them bigger than they already are, and understand that in one way or another, everything will pass.View attachment 117992

Thank you for sharing this lovely poem. Speaking of being rational, I'm also the polar opposite. I have never been one of those logical/rational folks but rather a person heavily dominated by my emotional and creative side.

Ozymandias and O' Captain! My Captain! are my two favorite poems.

Dead Poets Society! :)

 

[Kerrtu]

One more for the thread

I started getting into Ginsberg when I was about 17 or 18 - in HS I was allowed to take the University of Rhode Island* writing course which, looking back, I'm surprised they let me considering my school attendance overall was fairly inconsistent.

*I grew up in Rhode Island hence the course being offered at my HS at the time. The professor was cool AF. I find this poem apropos as he absolutely took me under his wing and lead me to Ginsberg

 

[Kerrtu]

Alone by Edgar Allan Poe, read by Tom 'o Bedlam

 

[outatime_85]

I have too many, but here is one: From Charles Bukowski

Friends Within The Darkness
I can remember starving in a
small room in a strange city
shades pulled down, listening to
classical music
I was young I was so young it hurt like a knife
inside
because there was no alternative except to hide as long
as possible—
not in self-pity but with dismay at my limited chance:
trying to connect.

the old composers — Mozart, Bach, Beethoven,
Brahms were the only ones who spoke to me and
they were dead.

finally, starved and beaten, I had to go into
the streets to be interviewed for low-paying and
monotonous
jobs
by strange men behind desks
men without eyes men without faces
who would take away my hours
break them
piss on them.

now I work for the editors the readers the
critics

but still hang around and drink with
Mozart, Bach, Brahms and the
Bee
some buddies
some men
sometimes all we need to be able to continue alone
are the dead
rattling the walls
that close us in.

 

[Jealous Blackheart]

PLEAD FOR ME

Oh, thy bright eyes must answer now,
When Reason, with a scornful brow,
Is mocking at my overthrow!
Oh, thy sweet tongue must plead for me
And tell why I have chosen thee!

Stern Reason is to judgment come,
Arrayed in all her forms of gloom:
Wilt thou, my advocate, be dumb?
No, radiant angel, speak and say,
Why I did cast the world away.

Why I have persevered to shun
The common paths that others run;
And on a strange road journeyed on,
Heedless, alike of wealth and power—
Of glory's wreath and pleasure's flower.

These, once, indeed, seemed Beings Divine;
And they, perchance, heard vows of mine,
And saw my offerings on their shrine;
But careless gifts are seldom prized,
And MINE were worthily despised.

So, with a ready heart, I swore
To seek their altar-stone no more;
And gave my spirit to adore
Thee, ever-present, phantom thing—
My slave, my comrade, and my king.

A slave, because I rule thee still;
Incline thee to my changeful will,
And make thy influence good or ill:
A comrade, for by day and night
Thou art my intimate delight,—

My darling pain that wounds and sears,
And wrings a blessing out from tears
By deadening me to earthly cares;
And yet, a king, though Prudence well
Have taught thy subject to rebel

And am I wrong to worship where
Faith cannot doubt, nor hope despair,
Since my own soul can grant my prayer?
Speak, God of visions, plead for me,
And tell why I have chosen thee! -Emily Bronte.​

The things Emily Bronte wrote makes me think she would have been a good person to get to know. But also that she wouldn't want to be known.