Section: «Poems»
Verse (ancient Greek ὁ στίχος — row, structure), a term in versification used in several meanings:
artistic speech organized by division into rhythmically commensurate segments; poetry in the narrow sense; in particular, it implies the properties of versification of a particular tradition ("antique verse", "Akhmatova's verse", etc.);
a line of poetic text organized according to a certain rhythmic pattern ("My uncle of the most honest rules").
The Falconer Of God
I flung my soul to the air like a falcon flying.I said, “Wait on, wait on, while I ride below!I shall start a heron soonIn the marsh beneath the..
© Stephen Vincent Benet
Three Day's Ride
'From Belton Castle to Solway side,Hard by the bridge, is three days' ride.'We had fled full fast from her father's keep,And the time was come that..
© Stephen Vincent Benet
Portrait Of A Boy
After the whipping he crawled into bed,Accepting the harsh fact with no great weeping.How funny uncle's hat had looked striped red!He chuckled..
© Stephen Vincent Benet
The General Public
"Ah, did you once see Shelley plain?" -- Browning."Shelley? Oh, yes, I saw him often then,"The old man said. A dry smile creased his faceWith many..
© Stephen Vincent Benet
The City Revisited
The grey gulls drift across the baySoftly and still as flakes of snowAgainst the thinning fog. All dayI sat and watched them come and go;And now at..
© Stephen Vincent Benet
Portrait Of A Baby
He lay within a warm, soft worldOf motion. Colors bloomed and fled,Maroon and turquoise, saffron, red,Wave upon wave that broke and whirledTo vanish..
© Stephen Vincent Benet
The Drug-Shop, Or, Endymion In Edmonstoun
"Oh yes, I went over to Edmonstoun the other day and saw Johnny, mooning around as usual! He will never make his way."Letter of George Keats..
© Stephen Vincent Benet
The Fiddling Wood
Gods, what a black, fierce day! The clouds were iron,Wrenched to strange, rugged shapes; the red sun winkedOver the rough crest of the hairy woodIn..
© Stephen Vincent Benet
Robert E. Lee
The man was loved, the man was idolized,The man had every just and noble gift.He took great burdens and he bore them well,Believed in God but did not..
© Stephen Vincent Benet
The Congressmen Came Out To See Bull Run
The congressmen came out to see Bull Run,The congressmen who like free shows and spectacles.They brought their wives and carriages along,They brought..
© Stephen Vincent Benet
The Hemp
(A Virginia Legend.)The Planting of the Hemp.Captain Hawk scourged clean the seas(Black is the gap below the plank)From the Great North Bank to the..
© Stephen Vincent Benet
The White Peacock
(France -- Ancient Regime.)I.Go away!Go away; I will not confess to you!His black biretta clings like a hangman's cap; under his twitching fingers..
© Stephen Vincent Benet
Winged Man
The moon, a sweeping scimitar, dipped in the stormy straits,The dawn, a crimson cataract, burst through the eastern gates,The cliffs were robed in..
© Stephen Vincent Benet
Talk
Tobacco smoke drifts up to the dim ceilingFrom half a dozen pipes and cigarettes,Curling in endless shapes, in blue rings wheeling,As formless as our..
© Stephen Vincent Benet
Campus Sonnets: May Morning
I lie stretched out upon the window-seatAnd doze, and read a page or two, and doze,And feel the air like water on me close,Great waves of sunny air..
© Stephen Vincent Benet
The Quality Of Courage
Black trees against an orange sky,Trees that the wind shook terribly,Like a harsh spume along the road,Quavering up like withered arms,Writhing like..
© Stephen Vincent Benet
Road And Hills
I shall go awayTo the brown hills, the quiet ones,The vast, the mountainous, the rolling,Sun-fired and drowsy!My horse snuffs delicatelyAt the..
© Stephen Vincent Benet
Young Blood
"But, sir," I said, "they tell me the man is like to die!" The Canon shook his head indulgently. "Young blood, Cousin," he boomed. "Young blood!..
© Stephen Vincent Benet
Ghosts Of A Lunatic Asylum
Here, where men's eyes were empty and as brightAs the blank windows set in glaring brick,When the wind strengthens from the sea - and nightDrops like..
© Stephen Vincent Benet
The Breaking Point
It was not when temptation came,Swiftly and blastingly as flame,And seared me white with burning scars;When I stood up for age-long warsAnd held the..
© Stephen Vincent Benet
Campus Sonnets: Before An Examination
The little letters dance across the page,Flaunt and retire, and trick the tired eyes;Sick of the strain, the glaring light, I riseYawning and..
© Stephen Vincent Benet
Alexander Vi Dines With The Cardinal Of Capua
Next, then, the peacock, giltWith all its feathers. Look, what gorgeous dyesFlow in the eyes!And how deep, lustrous greens are splashed and..
© Stephen Vincent Benet
The Innovator
(A Pharaoh Speaks.)I said, "Why should a pyramidStand always dully on its base?I'll change it! Let the top be hid,The bottom take the apex-place!"And..
© Stephen Vincent Benet
The Mountain Whippoorwill
Up in the mountains, it's lonesome all the time,(Sof' win' slewin' thu' the sweet-potato vine.)Up in the mountains, it's lonesome for a..
© Stephen Vincent Benet
Campus Sonnets: Talk
Tobacco smoke drifts up to the dim ceilingFrom half a dozen pipes and cigarettes,Curling in endless shapes, in blue rings wheeling,As formless as our..
© Stephen Vincent Benet