4.07.2012

favorite poems

In honor of National Poetry Month, I've compiled a list of some of my favorite poems. This is by no means comprehensive; just a few that make me smile.


>> Wild Geese by Mary Oliver
Mary Oliver is my favorite. Read this when you need cheering up, when everything is out of control and you need to feel okay again.

>> The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot
We read this in my English class earlier this year. It's quite confusing and quite brilliant.

>> Still I Rise by Maya Angelou
Strong and empowering and great rhythm.

>> Insomniac by Sylvia Plath
She just has a way with words.

>> Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
Because it's my childhood, that's why.

Also, check out W. H. Auden and Pablo Neruda (the latter shares my birthday :).

I'm ever so curious -- what are your favorite poems?

xx
Kendall

12 comments:

  1. my favorite poem is probably "do you carrot all for me?" because instead of using regular words, they use vegetables or fruits, and it's really cute. great post :))
    -jocee <3

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  2. Mary Oliver is great.
    Also e.e. cummings and there's this one really lovely poem by Lemn Sissay:
    You remind me
    define me
    incline me.

    If you died I'd.

    That's all it is, but it's gorgeous.

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  3. I love "Biography" by Shel Silverstein-

    First he was born,
    And then he was warned,
    And then he was taught how to swim,
    And then he was married,
    And then he was buried,
    And that’s all that happened to him


    He was the reason I came to adore poetry. Even though it's so silly. :)

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  4. I like (love) pretty much anything by shel silverstein. annabel lee by edgar allen poe is my favorite though. i also love robert frost and some e.e cummings and emily dickenson. and really just peoms in general.
    LF

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  5. thanks for sharing these! I'm terrible at seeking poetry out for myself, so having some good stuff presented to me makes my day. :)

    I'm a sucker for Robert Frost - he's one poet that grabs and holds my attention. The Later Minstrel is pure magic...I chant it to myself when I'm stressed or sad and then I feel ok. <3

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  6. My absolute favorite poem is actually just an excerpt from a really long story/poem. It's called "Come into the garden, Maud." and it's by Lord Alfred Tennyson♥

    xo,
    Jessica @ Diary of a Beautiful Soul

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  7. I kind of have a short attention span when it comes to poetry. I don't really write poetry, but when I do it's always goofy and rhyming. Same thing with reading poetry . . . I usually like the hilarious ones. Shel Silverstein is a good fit for me. =)
    I wish I was better at reading more serious poetry. I actually really, really like Emily Dickinson's poems. I'm excited because I got a book of her poems at a thrift store earlier this week. I'll have to carve out some time for reading them =)

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  8. Mine is "The Eagle" by Tennyson -

    "He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
    Close to the sun in lonely lands,
    Ringed with the azure world, he stands.

    The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
    He watches from his mountain walls,
    And like a thunderbolt he falls."

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  9. Lovely! Poetry is so beautiful. :)

    hugs,
    ~bree

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  10. Shel Silverstein was kind of my childhood hero. :) I love Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven"...I had it memorized at one point. And there's this one gorgeous French poem that just makes my heart melt. I can't remember the author right now, and obviously it's in French, but it's downright gorgeous. I love poetry so much. (:

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  11. I forgot! "If" by Rudyard Kipling is one of my favorite poems of all time. It's so, so beautiful and hopeful and feeling and epic. Do yourself a favor and read it. (:

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