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").

Ode Iii: To The Cuckow

I.O rustic herald of the spring,At length in yonder woody valeFast by the brook I hear thee sing;And, studious of thy homely tale,Amid the vespers of..

© Mark Akenside

The Complaint

AWAY! away!Tempt me no more, insidious Love:Thy soothing swayLong did my youthful bosom prove:At length thy treason is discern'd,At length some..

© Mark Akenside

Ode On A Sermon Against Glory

Come then, tell me, sage divine,Is it an offence to ownThat our bosoms e'er inclineToward immortal glory's throne?For with me nor pomp, nor..

© Mark Akenside

Inscriptions: Ix: Me Tho' In Life's Sequester'D Vale

Me tho' in life's sequester'd valeThe Almighty sire ordain'd to dwell,Remote from glory's toilsome ways,And the great scenes of public praise;Yet let..

© Mark Akenside

Ode Xi: On Love, To A Friend

I.No, foolish youth—To virtuous fameIf now thy early hopes be vow'd,If true ambition's nobler flameCommand thy footsteps from the croud,Lean not to..

© Mark Akenside

Ode I: The Preface

I.On yonder verdant hilloc laid,Where oaks and elms, a friendly shade,O'erlook the falling stream,O master of the Latin lyre,Awhile with thee will i..

© Mark Akenside

Inscriptions: Iv: O Youths And Virgins

O youths and virgins: o declining eld:O pale misfortune's slaves: o ye who dwellUnknown with humble quiet; ye who waitIn courts, or fill the golden..

© Mark Akenside

Inscriptions: Vi: For A Column At Runnymede

Thou, who the verdant plain dost traverse here,While Thames among his willows from thy viewRetires; o stranger, stay thee, and the sceneAround..

© Mark Akenside

A British Philippic

Occasioned by the insults of the Spaniards, and the present preperations for war. 1738.Whence this unwonted transport in my breast?Why glow my..

© Mark Akenside

Pleasures Of Imagination, The

BOOK IWith what attractive charms this goodly frameOf Nature touches the consenting heartsOf mortal men; and what the pleasing storesWhich beauteous..

© Mark Akenside

The Nightingale

To-night retired, the queen of heavenWith young Endymion stays;And now to Hesper it is givenAwhile to rule the vacant sky,Till she shall to her lamp..

© Mark Akenside

Ode To The Country Gentlemen Of England

Thou, heedless Albion, what, alas, the whileDost thou presume? O inexpert in arms,Yet vain of freedom, how dost thou beguile,With dreams of hope..

© Mark Akenside

Nightingale, The

To-night retired, the queen of heavenWith young Endymion stays;And now to Hesper it is givenAwhile to rule the vacant sky,Till she shall to her lamp..

© Mark Akenside

Friendship And Love

A DIALOGUE: Addressed to a young Lady.Friendship:In vain thy lawless Fires contend with mine,Tho' Crouds unnumber'd fall before thy Shrine;Let..

© Mark Akenside

The Pleasures Of Imagination

BOOK IWith what attractive charms this goodly frameOf Nature touches the consenting heartsOf mortal men; and what the pleasing storesWhich beauteous..

© Mark Akenside

Amoret

If rightly tuneful bards decide,If it be fix'd in Love's decrees,That Beauty ought not to be triedBut by its native power to please,Then tell me..

© Mark Akenside

Love: An Elegy

Too much my heart of Beauty's power hath known,Too long to Love hath reason left her throne;Too long my genius mourn'd his myrtle chain,And three..

© Mark Akenside

Complaint, The

Away! away!Tempt me no more, insidious Love:Thy soothing swayLong did my youthful bosom prove:At length thy treason is discern'd,At length some..

© Mark Akenside

Female Beauty

Felices ter et ampliusQuos irrupta tenet Copula, nec malisDivulsus querimoniis,Suprema citius solvet amor die.What's Female Beauty, but an Art..

© Mark Akenside

For A Column At Runnymede

Thou, who the verdant plain dost traverse hereWhile Thames among his willows from thy viewRetires; O stranger, stay thee, and the sceneAround..

© Mark Akenside

Hymn To Science

Science! thou fair effusive rayFrom the great source of mental day,Free, generous, and refin'd!Descend with all thy treasures fraught,Illumine each..

© Mark Akenside

Youth Penetrant

I shall grow calm in a little while,But now, youth yearns in me to laugh;Cruel as cinematographI show life up to you ... and smile.I shall be calm in..

© Conrad Potter Aiken

Variations: X

Queen cleopatra, now grown old,Watched the green grass turning brown ...The river is shrunk to half its size:Now I will lay me down.Queen Cleopatra..

© Conrad Potter Aiken

The Trenches

IAll night long, it has seemed for many years,We have heard the terrible sound of guns,All night long we have lain and watched the calm stars.We..

© Conrad Potter Aiken

The Quarrel

Suddenly, after the quarrel, while we waited,Disheartened, silent, with downcast looks, nor stirredEyelid nor finger, hopeless both, yet..

© Conrad Potter Aiken