Poem

Explore 920 quotes from the following medium: Poem

Of all the questions you might want to ask
about angels, the only one you ever hear
is how many can dance on the head of a pin.

No curiosity about how they pass the eternal time
besides circling the Throne chanting in Latin
or delivering a crust of bread to a hermit on earth
or guiding a boy and a girl across a rickety wooden bridge.

Billy Collins

Read Questions About Angels at Poetry Foundation

More information about this quote

Topic

Angels

Author

Billy Collins

Source

Questions About Angels

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1991 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Collins, Billy. Questions About Angels. Quill, 1991.

Though I
have not been here long, I can
look up at the sky at night and tell
how things are likely to go for
the next hundred million years:
the universe will probably not find
a way to vanish nor I
in all that time reappear.

A.R. Ammons

Rapids

Buy a book containing this poem at Amazon Buy a book containing this poem at Amazon
Read this poem at allpoetry.com

More information about this quote

Topic

Man and the universe

Author

A.R. Ammons

Source

Rapids A Coast of Trees

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1981 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Ammons, Archie Randolph. "Rapids." A Coast of Trees. W. W. Norton & Company, 1981, I. 5.

There is nothing worse for mortals than a wandering life.

Homer

The Odyssey

Buy The Odyssey at Amazon Buy The Odyssey at Amazon
Read The Odyssey at MIT's classics department website

More information about this quote

Topic

Wandering Aimlessness

Author

Homer

Source

The Odyssey

Medium

Poem

Genre

Epic poem

Language

Greek

Time

700 BC 700s BC 8th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Homer. Ὀδύσσεια [Odyssey]. c. 710 BC, bk. 15, l. 343.

Current Citation

Homer. The Odyssey, edited by Bernard Knox, translated by Robert Fagles. Penguin Classics, 2006, bk. 15, l. 343.

Ocean, who is the source of all.

Homer

The Iliad

Buy The Iliad at Amazon Buy The Iliad at Amazon
Read The Iliad at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Ocean and sea

Author

Homer

Source

The Iliad

Medium

Poem

Genre

Epic poem

Language

Greek

Time

700 BC 700s BC 8th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Homer. Ἰλιάς [The Iliad], edited by Demetrius Chalcondyles. Florence: Bernardus Nerlius and Demetrius Damilas, 1489, bk. 14, l. 246.

Current Citation

Homer. The Iliad, translated by Robert Fitzgerald. Oxford University Press, 2014, bk. 14, l. 246.

Sleep, the brother of Death.

Homer

The Iliad

Buy The Iliad at Amazon Buy The Iliad at Amazon
Read The Iliad at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Sleep

Author

Homer

Source

The Iliad

Medium

Poem

Genre

Epic poem

Language

Greek

Time

700 BC 700s BC 8th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Homer. Ἰλιάς [The Iliad], edited by Demetrius Chalcondyles. Florence: Bernardus Nerlius and Demetrius Damilas, c. 1489, bk. 14, I. 231.

Current Citation

Homer. The Iliad, translated by Robert Fitzgerald. Oxford University Press, 2014, bk. 14, I. 231.

Hades is relentless and unyielding.

Homer

The Iliad

Buy The Iliad at Amazon Buy The Iliad at Amazon
Read The Iliad at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Hades Hell

Author

Homer

Source

The Iliad

Medium

Poem

Genre

Epic poem

Language

Greek

Time

700 BC 700s BC 8th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Homer. Ἰλιάς [The Iliad], edited by Demetrius Chalcondyles. Florence: Bernardus Nerlius and Demetrius Damilas, 1489, bk. 9, l. 158.

Current Citation

Homer. The Iliad, translated by Robert Fitzgerald. Oxford University Press, 2014, bk. 9, l. 158.

A dream, too, is from Zeus.

Homer

The Iliad

Buy The Iliad at Amazon Buy The Iliad at Amazon
Read The Iliad at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Dreams

Author

Homer

Source

The Iliad

Medium

Poem

Genre

Epic poem

Language

Greek

Time

700 BC 700s BC 8th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Homer. Ἰλιάς [The Iliad], edited by Demetrius Chalcondyles. Florence: Bernardus Nerlius and Demetrius Damilas, 1489, bk. 1, l. 63.

Current Citation

Homer. The Iliad, translated by Robert Fitzgerald. Oxford University Press, 2014, bk. 1, l. 63.

Her walk revealed her as a true goddess.

Virgil

Aeneid

Buy The Aeneid at Amazon Buy The Aeneid at Amazon
Read The Aeneid at MIT's classics department website

More information about this quote

Topic

Women's attractiveness

Author

Virgil

Source

Aeneid

Medium

Poem

Genre

Epic poem

Language

Latin

Time

19 BC 10s BC 1st century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Virgil. Aenē̆is [Aeneid]. 19 BC, bk. 1.

Current Citation

Virgil. The Aeneid, translated by Robert Fagles. Penguin Classics, 2010, bk. 1.

Thou art thy mother's glass, and she in thee
Calls back the lovely April of her prime.

William Shakespeare

Sonnet 3

Buy Shakespeare's Sonnets at Amazon Buy Shakespeare's Sonnets at Amazon
Read the Sonnets at The Folger Shakespeare Library

More information about this quote

Topic

Women's attractiveness Mothers and daughters

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

Sonnet 3 Shakespeare's Sonnets

Medium

Sonnet Poem

Language

English

Time

1609 1600s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. Shake-speares Sonnets. London: Thomas Thorpe, 1609, sonnet 3, I. 9.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "The Sonnets." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, sonnet 3.

If it be true that any beautiful thing raises the pure and just desire of man from earth to God, the eternal fount of all, such I believe my love.

Michelangelo

More information about this quote

Topic

Beauty

Author

Michelangelo

Medium

Poem

Language

Italian

Time

1525 1520s 16th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Michelangelo. Madrigals. c. 1525.

When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes...
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;
For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

William Shakespeare

Shakespeare's Sonnets

Buy Shakespeare's Sonnets at Amazon Buy Shakespeare's Sonnets at Amazon
Read the Sonnets at The Folger Shakespeare Library

More information about this quote

Topic

Love

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

Sonnet 29 Shakespeare's Sonnets

Medium

Sonnet Poem

Statement Type

Profession of love

Language

English

Time

1609 1600s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. Shake-speares Sonnets. London: Thomas Thorpe, 1609, sonnet 29, I. 1.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "The Sonnets." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, sonnet 29.

Laugh, and the world laughs with you;
Weep, and you weep alone.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Solitude

More information about this quote

Topic

Crying

Author

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Source

Solitude

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1883 1880s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler. "Solitude." The New York Sun, Feb. 1883.

An honest man's the noblest work of God.

Alexander Pope

An Essay on Man

More information about this quote

Topic

Honesty Character

Author

Alexander Pope

Source

An Essay on Man

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1733 1730s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Pope, Alexander. "An Essay on Man." London: J. Wilford, 1733, ep. 4, l. 248.

Current Citation

Pope, Alexander. "An Essay on Man." The Major Works, edited by Pat Rogers. Oxford University Press, 2009, ep. 4, I. 248.

There's a certain Slant of light,
Winter Afternoons--
That oppresses, like the Heft
Of Cathedral Tunes.

Emily Dickinson

More information about this quote

Topic

Winter

Author

Emily Dickinson

Source

Winter Poems

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1886 1880s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Dickinson, Emily. "Winter." Poems. Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1890, I. 1.

Current Citation

Dickinson, Emily. "There's a certain Slant of light." Emily Dickinson’s Poems: As She Preserved Them, edited by Cristanne Miller. Belknap Press, 2016, I. 1.

The sea, the ever renewing sea!

Paul Valéry

The Graveyard by the Sea

Read The Graveyard by the Sea at allpoetry.com

More information about this quote

Topic

Ocean and sea

Author

Paul Valéry

Source

The Graveyard by the Sea Charmes

Medium

Poem

Language

French

Time

1922 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Valéry, Paul. "Le cimetiere marin [The Graveyard by the Sea]." Charmes ou poèmes. Nouvelle Revue Francaise, 1922.

Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?
Think not of them, thou hast thy music too.

John Keats

To Autumn

Buy Keats's Complete Poems and Selected Letters at Amazon Buy Keats's Complete Poems and Selected Letters at Amazon
Read To Autumn at Poetry Foundation

More information about this quote

Topic

Autumn

Author

John Keats

Source

To Autumn

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1820 1820s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Keats, John. "To Autumn." Lamia, Isabella, the Eve of St Agnes and Other Poems. London: Taylor and Hessey, 1820, I. 23.

Current Citation

Keats, John. "To Autumn." John Keats: Selected Poems, edited by John Barnard. Penguin Classics, 2007, I. 23.

Who ran to help me when I fell,
And would some pretty story tell,
Or kiss the place to make it well?
My mother.

Ann Taylor

My Mother

More information about this quote

Topic

Mothers and children

Author

Ann Taylor

Source

My Mother

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1804 1800s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Taylor, Ann. "My Mother." Original Poems, for Infant Minds. London: Darton and Harvey, 1804, I. 21.

Slow and steady wins the race.

Robert Lloyd

The Hare and Tortoise

More information about this quote

Topic

Persistence

Author

Robert Lloyd

Source

The Hare and Tortoise

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1762 1760s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Lloyd, Robert. "The Hare and Tortoise." Poems. London: T. Davies, 1762.

Now it is autumn and the falling fruit
and the long journey towards oblivion.

D.H. Lawrence

Last Poems

More information about this quote

Topic

Autumn

Author

D.H. Lawrence

Source

The Ship of Death Last Poems

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1930 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Lawrence, D.H. "The Ship of Death." Last Poems, edited by Richard Aldington and Giuseppe Orioli. The Viking Press, 1932, stanza 1.

His brow is wet with honest sweat,
He earns whate'er he can,
And looks the whole world in the face,
For he owes not any man.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The Knickerbocker

Buy a Longfellow's Poems and Other Writings at Amazon Buy a Longfellow's Poems and Other Writings at Amazon
Read The Village Blacksmith at poets.org

More information about this quote

Topic

Dignity of work Work

Author

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Source

The Village Blacksmith The Knickerbocker

Medium

Poem Magazine

Language

English

Time

1840 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. "The Village Blacksmith." The Knickerbocker. New York City: Lewis Gaylord Clark, Nov. 1840, I. 9.

Current Citation

Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. "The Village Blacksmith." Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Poems and Other Writings, edited by J. D. McClatchy. Library of America, 2000, I. 9.