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 False Heart
I said to Heart, 'How goes it?' Heart replied:'Right as a Ribstone Pippin!' But it lied.
© Hilaire Belloc
The Face
A face Sir Joshua might have painted! Yea:Sir Joshua painted anything for pay . . .And after all you're painted every day.
© Hilaire Belloc
The Evenlode
I will not try to reach again,I will not set my sail alone,To moor a boat bereft of menAt Yarnton's tiny docks of stone.But I will sit beside the..
© Hilaire Belloc
The Elm
This is the place where Dorothea smiled.I did not know the reason, nor did she.But there she stood, and turned, and smiled at me:A sudden glory had..
© Hilaire Belloc
The Elephant
When people call this beast to mind,They marvel more and moreAt such a little tail behind,So large a trunk before.
© Hilaire Belloc
The Early Morning
The moon on the one hand, the dawn on the other:The moon is my sister, the dawn is my brother.The moon on my left and the dawn on my right.My..
© Hilaire Belloc
The Dromedary
The Dromedary is a cheerful bird:I cannot say the same about the Kurd.
© Hilaire Belloc
The Diamond
This diamond, Juliet, will adornEphemeral beauties yet unborn.While my strong verse, for ever new,Shall still adorn immortal you.
© Hilaire Belloc
The Death And Last Confession Of Wandering Peter
When Peter Wanderwide was youngHe wandered everywhere he would:All that he approved was sung,And most of what he saw was good.When Peter Wanderwide..
© Hilaire Belloc
The Catholic Sun
Wherever the Catholic sun doth shine,There’s always laughter and good red wine.At least I’ve always found it so.Benedicamus Domino!
© Hilaire Belloc
The Bison
The Bison is vain, and (I write it with pain)The Door-mat you see on his headIs not, as some learned professors maintain,The opulent growth of a..
© Hilaire Belloc
The Birds
When Jesus Christ was four years oldThe angels brought Him toys of gold,Which no man ever had bought or sold.And yet with these He would not play.He..
© Hilaire Belloc
Tarantella
Do you remember an Inn,Miranda?Do you remember an Inn?And the tedding and the spreadingOf the straw for a bedding,And the fleas that tease in the..
© Hilaire Belloc
Talking (And Singing) Of The Nordic Man
IBehold, my child, the Nordic man,And be as like him, as you can;His legs are long, his mind is slow,His hair is lank and made of tow.IIAnd here we..
© Hilaire Belloc
Song
Inviting the influence of a young lady upon the opening yearYou wear the morning like your dressAnd are with mastery crown’d;When as you walk your..
© Hilaire Belloc
Sarah Byng, Who Could Not Read And Was Tossed Into A Thorny Hedge By A Bull
Some years ago you heard me singMy doubts on Alexander Byng.His sister Sarah now inspiresMy jaded Muse, my failing fires.Of Sarah Byng the tale is..
© Hilaire Belloc
Rebecca
Who Slammed Doors For Fun And Perished MiserablyA trick that everyone abhorsIn little girls is slamming doors.A wealthy banker's little daughterWho..
© Hilaire Belloc
On Vital Statistics
Ill fares the land to hast'ning ills a prey (1)Where wealth accumulates and men decay.'But how much more unfortunate are thoseWhere wealth declines..
© Hilaire Belloc
On Two Ministers Of State
Lump says that Caliban's of gutter breed,And Caliban says Lump's a fool indeed,And Caliban and Lump and I are all agreed.
© Hilaire Belloc
On Torture: A Public Singer
Torture will give a dozen pence or moreTo keep a drab from bawling at his door.The public taste is quite a different thingTorture is positively paid..
© Hilaire Belloc
On The Little God
Of all the gods that gave me all their gloriesTo-day there deigns to walk with me but one.I lead him by the hand and tell him stories.It is the Queen..
© Hilaire Belloc
On The Ladies Of Pixton
Three Graces; and the mother were a Grace,But for profounder meaning in her face.
© Hilaire Belloc
On The Gift Of A Book To A Child
Child! do not throw this book about!Refrain from the unholy pleasureOf cutting all the pictures out!Preserve it as your chiefest treasure.Child, have..
© Hilaire Belloc
Matilda Who Told Lies, And Was Burned To Death
Matilda told such Dreadful Lies,It made one Gasp and Stretch one's Eyes;Her Aunt, who, from her Earliest Youth,Had kept a Strict Regard for..
© Hilaire Belloc
Lord Roehampton
During a late election LordRoehampton strained a vocal chordFrom shouting, very loud and high,To lots and lots of people whyThe Budget in his own..
© Hilaire Belloc