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 Weight of a Kiss
Your kiss was gentle, yet it stayed,Like moonlight resting on the sea.It held the weight of all our days,Of what we were and hoped to be.A single..
© Kiss Day
Where Lips Meet Silence
Between the pause of breath and thought,Your kiss found me without a sound.No need for vows or grand displays,Just hearts that finally felt..
© Kiss Day
A Kiss Remembered
A kiss once lingered upon my skin,Soft as a promise, warm as truth.It carried words we never spoke,And held the quiet fire of youth.In that small..
© Kiss Day
Wealth
From what old ballad, or from what rich frameDid you descend to glorify the earth?Was it from Chaucer's singing book you came?Or did Watteau's small..
© Alfred Joyce Kilmer
Waverley
1814-1914When, on a novel's newly printed pageWe find a maudlin eulogy of sin,And read of ways that harlots wander in,And of sick souls that writhe..
© Alfred Joyce Kilmer
Vision
Homer, they tell us, was blind and could not see the beautiful facesLooking up into his own and reflecting the joy of his dream,Yet did he seemGifted..
© Alfred Joyce Kilmer
To Certain Poets
Now is the rhymer's honest tradeA thing for scornful laughter made.The merchant's sneer, the clerk's disdain,These are the burden of our pain.Because..
© Alfred Joyce Kilmer
To A Blackbird And His Mate Who Died In The Spring
(For Kenton)An iron hand has stilled the throatsThat throbbed with loud and rhythmic gleeAnd dammed the flood of silver notesThat drenched the world..
© Alfred Joyce Kilmer
The White Ships And The Red
With drooping sail and pennantThat never a wind may reach,They float in sunless watersBeside a sunless beach.Their mighty masts and funnelsAre white..
© Alfred Joyce Kilmer
The Visitation
There is a wall of flesh before the eyesOf John, who yet perceives and hails his King.It is Our Lady's painful bliss to bringBefore mankind the Glory..
© Alfred Joyce Kilmer
The Twelve-Forty-Five
Within the Jersey City shedThe engine coughs and shakes its head,The smoke, a plume of red and white,Waves madly in the face of night.And now the..
© Alfred Joyce Kilmer
The Thorn
The garden of God is a radiant place,And every flower has a holy face:Our Lady like a lily bends above the cloudy sod,But Saint Michael is the thorn..
© Alfred Joyce Kilmer
The Snowman In The Yard
The Judge's house has a splendid porch, with pillars and steps of stone,And the Judge has a lovely flowering hedge that came from across the seas;In..
© Alfred Joyce Kilmer
The Singing Girl
There was a little maidenIn blue and silver drest,She sang to God in HeavenAnd God within her breast.It flooded me with pleasure,It pierced me like a..
© Alfred Joyce Kilmer
The Rosary
Not on the lute, nor harp of many stringsShall all men praise the Master of all song.Our life is brief, one saith, and art is long;And skilled must..
© Alfred Joyce Kilmer
The Robe Of Christ
At the foot of the Cross on CalvaryThree soldiers sat and diced,And one of them was the DevilAnd he won the Robe of Christ.When the Devil comes in..
© Alfred Joyce Kilmer
The Proud Poet
One winter night a Devil came and sat upon my bed,His eyes were full of laughter for his heart was full of crime.'Why don't you take up fancy work..
© Alfred Joyce Kilmer
The New School
The halls that were loud with the merry tread of young and careless feetAre still with a stillness that is too drear to seem like holiday,And never a..
© Alfred Joyce Kilmer
The House With Nobody In It
Whenever I walk to Suffern along the Erie trackI go by a poor old farmhouse with its shingles broken and black.I suppose I've passed it a hundred..
© Alfred Joyce Kilmer
The Fourth Shepherd
(For Thomas Walsh)IOn nights like this the huddled sheepAre like white clouds upon the grass,And merry herdsmen guard their sleepAnd chat and watch..
© Alfred Joyce Kilmer
The Cathedral Of Rheims
He who walks through the meadows of ChampagneAt noon in Fall, when leaves like gold appear,Sees it draw nearLike some great mountain set upon the..
© Alfred Joyce Kilmer
The Big Top
The boom and blare of the big brass band is cheering to my heartAnd I like the smell of the trampled grass and elephants and hay.I take off my hat to..
© Alfred Joyce Kilmer
The Apartment House
Severe against the pleasant arc of skyThe great stone box is cruelly displayed.The street becomes more dreary from its shade,And vagrant breezes..
© Alfred Joyce Kilmer
The Annunciation
'Hail Mary, full of grace,' the Angel saith.Our Lady bows her head, and is ashamed;She has a Bridegroom Who may not be named,Her mortal flesh bears..
© Alfred Joyce Kilmer
Thanksgiving
The roar of the world is in my ears.Thank God for the roar of the world!Thank God for the mighty tide of fearsAgainst me always hurled!Thank God for..
© Alfred Joyce Kilmer