what is the best poem out there to read?

Answer 1

Lord Randal
(by an anonymous author)

"O where ha you been, Lord Randal, my son?
And where ha you been, my handsome young man?"
"I ha been at the greenwood; mother, mak my bed soon,
For I'm wearied wi hunting, and fain wad lie down."

"An wha met ye there, Lord Randal, my son?
And wha met ye there, my handsome young man?"
"O I met wi my true-love; mother, mak my bed soon,
For I'm wearied wi huntin, and fain wad lie down."

"And what did she give you, Lord Randal, My son?
And wha did she give you, my handsome young man?"
"Eels fried in a pan; mother, mak my bed soon,
For I'm wearied wi huntin, and fein wad lie down."

"And what gat your leavins, Lord Randal my son?
And wha gat your leavins, my handsome young man?"
"My hawks and my hounds; mother, mak my bed soon,
For I'm wearied wi huntin, and fein wad lie down."

"And what becam of them, Lord Randal, my son?
And what becam of them, my handsome young man?"
"They stretched their legs out and died; mother mak my bed soon,
For I'm wearied wi huntin, and fain wad lie down."

"O I fear you are poisoned, Lord Randal, my son!
I fear you are poisoned, my handsome young man!"
"O yes, I am poisoned; mother, mak my bed soon,
For I'm sick at the heart, and fain wad lie down."

"What d'ye leave to your mother, Lord Randal, my son?
What d'ye leave to your mother, my handsome young man?"
"Four and twenty milk kye; mother, mak my bed soon,
For I'm sick at the heart, and I fain wad lie down."

"What d'ye leave to your sister, Lord Randal, my son?
What d'ye leave to your sister, my handsome young man?"
"My gold and my silver; mother mak my bed soon,
For I'm sick at the heart, an I fain wad lie down."

"What d'ye leave to your brother, Lord Randal, my son?
What d'ye leave to your brother, my handsome young man?"
"My houses and my lands; mother, mak my bed soon,
For I'm sick at the heart, and I fain wad lie down."

"What d'ye leave to your true-love, Lord Randal, my son?
What d'ye leave to your true-love, my handsome young man?"
"I leave her hell and fire; mother mak my bed soon,
For I'm sick at the heart, and I fain wad lie down."
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--from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Randall#Full_text
which also offers an explanation for this poem

Answer 2

Try these...

A Work of Artifice by Marge Piercy
Dog's Death by John Updike
Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas
Fern Hill by Dylan Thomas
The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

Answer 3

The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes

Excellent poem with a tearful end. I cry everytime I read it.
It's rather long, but worth every word

Answer 4

I love the poems of Edna St. Vincent Milay.
Here's one:

My candle burns at both ends,
It will not last the night,
but ah my foes and ooh my friends
it gives a lovely light.

Here's another:

There was a road went by our house.
Too lovely to explore.
I asked my mother once, she said,
that if you followed where it led,
it brings you to the milkman's door.
That's why I have not traveled more.

Answer 5

Try one of these by Rainer Maria Rilke
(these are translated from German)
______________


Love Song

How can I keep my soul in me, so that
it doesn't touch your soul? How can I raise
it high enough, past you, to other things?
I would like to shelter it, among remote
lost objects, in some dark and silent place
that doesn't resonate when your depths resound.
Yet everything that touches us, me and you,
takes us together like a violin's bow,
which draws one voice out of two separate strings.
Upon what instrument are we two spanned?
And what musician holds us in his hand?
Oh sweetest song.

_______________________

Do you know, I would quietly
slip from the loud circle,
when first I know the pale
stars above the oaks
are blooming.

Ways will I elect
that seldom any tread
in pale evening meadows—
and no dream but this:
You come too.

Answer 6

The best poem in the entire world is called Oh Pointy Bird, it goes like this:

Oh pointy bird,

Pointy, pointy,

Anoint my head,

Anointy-nointy.

Answer 7

Here are they,

1.Let Me Not To The Marriage Of True Minds by WILLIAM SHKESPEARE
2.Daffodils by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH
3.Tintern Abbey by WILLIAM WORDWORTH
4.Colours by NAMITA KRISHNAMURTHY(ME!!)
5.The Road Not Taken by ROBERT FROST

Answer 8

Anything by Robert Bly.

Answer 9

Sick by: Shel Silverstein

Answer 10

"Howl" by Alan Ginsberg.

Answer 11

"If" by Rudyard Kipling