top 5 poems?
thank you! <3
1. ‘ozymandias’ by percy bysshe shelley
I met a traveller from an antique landWho said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stoneStand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,Tell that its sculptor well those passions readWhich yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:And on the pedestal these words appear:‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!’Nothing beside remains. Round the decayOf that colossal wreck, boundless and bareThe lone and level sands stretch far away.”
there’s nothing better than this poem - it’s been my favourite ever since i first read it.
2. ‘song’ - christina rossetti
When I am dead, my dearest,Sing no sad songs for me;Plant thou no roses at my head,Nor shady cypress tree:Be the green grass above meWith showers and dewdrops wet;And if thou wilt, remember,And if thou wilt, forget.
I shall not see the shadows,I shall not feel the rain;I shall not hear the nightingaleSing on, as if in pain:And dreaming through the twilightThat doth not rise nor set,Haply I may remember,And haply may forget.
rossetti is one of the greatest poets ever; she does so much with so little, in terms of words, lines, complexity - she was a true master.
3. ‘lamentation’ - lynette roberts (excerpt)
To the village of lace and stoneCame strangers. I was one of theseAlways observant and slightly obscure.
lynette roberts is a poet who was overwhelmingly talented, and is still massively underappreciated. this poem’s opening lines in particular are very special to me.
4. ‘neutral tones’ - thomas hardy
We stood by a pond that winter day,And the sun was white, as though chidden of God,And a few leaves lay on the starving sod;– They had fallen from an ash, and were gray.
Your eyes on me were as eyes that roveOver tedious riddles of years ago;And some words played between us to and froOn which lost the more by our love.
The smile on your mouth was the deadest thingAlive enough to have strength to die;And a grin of bitterness swept therebyLike an ominous bird a-wing….
Since then, keen lessons that love deceives,And wrings with wrong, have shaped to meYour face, and the God curst sun, and a tree,And a pond edged with grayish leaves.
there’s something so heart rending and poignant about this poem - i especially love the third stanza.
5. ‘night words’ - isabel meyrelles (excerpt)
I shall waituntil the nights glideover me andI am transformedinto a treeOnce againtime is shatteredin my handsonce againyou will be the silencearound me
this is a beautiful poem. i know nothing else about the poet, but this poem has stayed with me, and i come back to it from time to time.
