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National Poetry Day 11:18 - Oct 3 with 5879 viewshubble

Well, we like a bit of culture on here, don't we?

I just saw this previously unpublished Laurie Lee poem in an email from Penguin books, thought I'd share it, because I think it's beautiful:

Ah Well

Ah well, I think, even the chestnuts are breaking,
there is a soft down upon the cry of birds,
and they slip covertly, with intent gentleness,
among the bushes;
life is full in the green ear
and brilliant with chance,
what of the mere grain blown out
and forgotten,
rotting or ripening in a shroud of grass?


Poll: Who is your player of the season?

4
National Poetry Day on 11:41 - Oct 3 with 4360 viewsDaBurgh

Been a fan of Mr. Poe since my teenage years. This, in my opinion, is one of his best poems.
2
National Poetry Day on 13:15 - Oct 3 with 4251 viewsEsox_Lucius

But it doesn't even rhyme!

The grass is always greener.

1
National Poetry Day on 14:57 - Oct 3 with 4136 viewsBoston

We were on the good ship Venus
...

Poll: Thank God The Seaons Over.

2
National Poetry Day on 15:28 - Oct 3 with 4080 viewsPhildo

One of my favourites:

I have lived in important places, times
When great events were decided, who owned
That half a rood of rock, a no-man's land
Surrounded by our pitchfork-armed claims.
I heard the Duffys shouting "Damn your soul!"
And old McCabe stripped to the waist, seen
Step the plot defying blue cast-steel -
"Here is the march along these iron stones."
That was the year of the Munich bother. Which
Was more important? I inclined
To lose my faith in Ballyrush and Gortin
Till Homer's ghost came whispering to my mind.
He said: I made the Iliad from such
A local row. Gods make their own importance.


Patrick Kavanagh
2
National Poetry Day on 15:48 - Oct 3 with 4059 viewsdmm

Westlin' Winds by the wonderful bard of Scotland, Robert Burns, is my favourite autumn poem. It's a fantastic song too, sung by many folk singers down the ages.

Now westlin winds and slaught’ring guns
Bring Autumn’s pleasant weather;
The moorcock springs on whirring wings
Amang the blooming heather:
Now waving grain, wide o’er the plain,
Delights the weary farmer;
And the moon shines bright, when I rove at night,
To muse upon my charmer.

The partridge loves the fruitful fells,
The plover loves the mountains;
The woodcock haunts the lonely dells,
The soaring hern the fountains:
Thro’ lofty groves the cushat roves,
The path of man to shun it;
The hazel bush o’erhangs the thrush,
The spreading thorn the linnet.

Thus ev’ry kind their pleasure find,
The savage and the tender;
Some social join, and leagues combine,
Some solitary wander:
Avaunt, away! the cruel sway,
Tyrannic man’s dominion;
The sportsman’s joy, the murd’ring cry,
The flutt’ring, gory pinion!

But, Peggy dear, the ev’ning’s clear,
Thick flies the skimming swallow,
The sky is blue, the fields in view,
All fading-green and yellow:
Come let us stray our gladsome way,
And view the charms of Nature;
The rustling corn, the fruited thorn,
And ev’ry happy creature.

We’ll gently walk, and sweetly talk,
Till the silent moon shine clearly;
I’ll grasp thy waist, and, fondly prest,
Swear how I love thee dearly:
Not vernal show’rs to budding flow’rs,
Not Autumn to the farmer,
So dear can be as thou to me,
My fair, my lovely charmer!
4
National Poetry Day on 16:03 - Oct 3 with 4041 viewsEsox_Lucius

Always been a fan of Cautionary Tales and this is by far my favourite... and it rhymes XD
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 Truth,
Attempted to Believe Matilda:
The effort very nearly killed her,
And would have done so, had not She
Discovered this Infirmity.
For once, towards the Close of Day,
Matilda, growing tired of play,
And finding she was left alone,
Went tiptoe to the Telephone
And summoned the Immediate Aid
Of London's Noble Fire-Brigade.
Within an hour the Gallant Band
Were pouring in on every hand,
From Putney, Hackney Downs, and Bow.
With Courage high and Hearts a-glow,
They galloped, roaring through the Town,
'Matilda's House is Burning Down!'
Inspired by British Cheers and Loud
Proceeding from the Frenzied Crowd,
They ran their ladders through a score
Of windows on the Ball Room Floor;
And took Peculiar Pains to Souse
The Pictures up and down the House,
Until Matilda's Aunt succeeded
In showing them they were not needed;
And even then she had to pay
To get the Men to go away!

It happened that a few Weeks later
Her Aunt was off to the Theatre
To see that Interesting Play
The Second Mrs. Tanqueray.
She had refused to take her Niece
To hear this Entertaining Piece:
A Deprivation Just and Wise
To Punish her for Telling Lies.
That Night a Fire did break out⁠—
You should have heard Matilda Shout!
You should have heard her Scream and Bawl,
And throw the window up and call
To People passing in the Street⁠—
(The rapidly increasing Heat
Encouraging her to obtain
Their confidence) ⁠— but all in vain!
For every time she shouted 'Fire!'
They only answered 'Little Liar!'
And therefore when her Aunt returned,
Matilda, and the House, were Burned.

The grass is always greener.

1
National Poetry Day on 16:06 - Oct 3 with 4032 viewsLanhoop

AA Milne's ode to finishing 16th.

Halfway Down.

Halfway down the stairs
is a stair
where i sit.
there isn't any
other stair
quite like
it.
i'm not at the bottom,
i'm not at the top;
so this is the stair
where
I always
stop.

Halfway up the stairs
Isn't up
And it isn't down.
It isn't in the nursery,
It isn't in town.
And all sorts of funny thoughts
Run round my head.
It isn't really
Anywhere!
It's somewhere else
Instead!
3
National Poetry Day on 16:11 - Oct 3 with 4025 viewsSimonJames

Here's one I wrote for my youngest son when he was about 6...

Podgy wodgy spider, clinging to the wall.
Podgy wodgy woman, sitting in the hall.
Podgy wodgy spider's web, melted by the sun.
Podgy wodgy spider fell, and landed on her tum.
Yelled podgy wodgy woman, shouting angily
"I'll not have podgy spiders landing on the wodgy parts of me!"

Aged 11, he subsequently plagiarised it for an English assignment, and the teacher loved it so much that he was asked to read in out in school assembley. Little git!
[Post edited 3 Oct 16:12]

100% of people who drink water will die.

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National Poetry Day on 16:37 - Oct 3 with 3969 viewsCroydonCaptJack

There was a young lady called Spickers


I'll get me coat.
1
National Poetry Day on 16:48 - Oct 3 with 3955 viewscolinallcars

Ogden Nash:

The rain it raineth every day, upon the just and the unjust fella
But more upon the just as the unjust has the just's umbrella.
4
National Poetry Day on 19:24 - Oct 3 with 3866 viewsjohncharles

Not Rab Burns

My darlin Flo I love ye so
I love you in yer nightie
As the moonlight flits across yer tits
Christ all fukcin mighty.

Strong and stable my arse.

2
National Poetry Day on 19:37 - Oct 3 with 3858 viewsted_hendrix

Big thanks to Spike Milligan.

''On The Ning Nang Nong''

''On the Ning Nang Nong
Where the Cows go Bong!
and the monkeys all say BOO!
There's a Nong Nang Ning
Where the trees go Ping!
And the tea pots jibber jabber joo.
On the Nong Ning Nang
All the mice go Clang
And you just can't catch 'em when they do!
So its Ning Nang Nong
Cows go Bong!
Nong Nang Ning
Trees go ping
Nong Ning Nang
The mice go Clang
What a noisy place to belong
is the Ning Nang Ning Nang Nong!''

My Father had a profound influence on me, he was a lunatic.

4
National Poetry Day on 20:14 - Oct 3 with 3815 viewsSAPilgrim

Leaving by Wendy Cope.

Next summer? The summer after?
With luck we've a few more years
Of sunshine and drinking and laughter
And airports and goodbyes and tears.
0
National Poetry Day on 20:33 - Oct 3 with 3795 viewsB_Wad

Haiku on a Corner Kick

A corner taken
Our hope and spirits all soar
It comes to nothing
[Post edited 3 Oct 23:26]
4
National Poetry Day on 20:45 - Oct 3 with 3783 viewsGosportHoops

1
National Poetry Day on 20:47 - Oct 3 with 3782 viewscolinallcars

Matthew Arnold's Oxford Elegy is wonderful and too long for me to put on here.
It was set to music by Vaughn Williams. It's been recorded four times and I have all four.
One is American with the narrator putting on an English accent which is weird but possibly my favourite.
0
National Poetry Day on 20:54 - Oct 3 with 3748 viewsqpr_1968

derby derby we're gonna score....
maybe 3..maybe 4..
all i can say is we will win....
please don't cry, take it on the chin...

Poll: how many games this season....home/away.

0
National Poetry Day on 22:10 - Oct 3 with 3670 viewsGosportHoops

National Poetry Day on 20:54 - Oct 3 by qpr_1968

derby derby we're gonna score....
maybe 3..maybe 4..
all i can say is we will win....
please don't cry, take it on the chin...


What one? I've got more than 1
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National Poetry Day on 22:56 - Oct 3 with 3610 viewsHantsR

The day my dog spontaneously combusted

there he was -
chasing sticks,
doing tricks,
and all that stuff

next minute, woof

Brian Bilston
5
National Poetry Day on 23:12 - Oct 3 with 3561 viewsqpr_1968

National Poetry Day on 16:06 - Oct 3 by Lanhoop

AA Milne's ode to finishing 16th.

Halfway Down.

Halfway down the stairs
is a stair
where i sit.
there isn't any
other stair
quite like
it.
i'm not at the bottom,
i'm not at the top;
so this is the stair
where
I always
stop.

Halfway up the stairs
Isn't up
And it isn't down.
It isn't in the nursery,
It isn't in town.
And all sorts of funny thoughts
Run round my head.
It isn't really
Anywhere!
It's somewhere else
Instead!



Poll: how many games this season....home/away.

1
National Poetry Day on 23:15 - Oct 3 with 3547 viewsqprxtc

If I could write a poem
I’d really show ‘em
How to write a poem.

But I can’t.
3
National Poetry Day on 23:29 - Oct 3 with 3530 viewscolinallcars



Don't forget ol' Sir Henry Newbolt…play up and play the game chaps.
1
National Poetry Day on 00:48 - Oct 4 with 3488 viewsBoston

National Poetry Day on 16:11 - Oct 3 by SimonJames

Here's one I wrote for my youngest son when he was about 6...

Podgy wodgy spider, clinging to the wall.
Podgy wodgy woman, sitting in the hall.
Podgy wodgy spider's web, melted by the sun.
Podgy wodgy spider fell, and landed on her tum.
Yelled podgy wodgy woman, shouting angily
"I'll not have podgy spiders landing on the wodgy parts of me!"

Aged 11, he subsequently plagiarised it for an English assignment, and the teacher loved it so much that he was asked to read in out in school assembley. Little git!
[Post edited 3 Oct 16:12]


Ha Ha Ha...I once wrote a short essay for my youngest girl when she was in elementary / primary school. It was supposed to be an example for a school competition she had entered, expecting herself to write her own stuff, or at least rearrange mine to suit her 10/11 year-old mind. The only thing she changed was adding her name to the bottom of the paper.

It won the school prize. They then put it forward to a State education board thingy -and er, she won again.

So, for a brief period of my life, I knew I wrote better than any 11 year old in Massachusetts.

I'll be running round Wembley with my willy hanging out...

Poll: Thank God The Seaons Over.

5
National Poetry Day on 08:49 - Oct 4 with 3346 viewsA40Bosh

Roses are Red
Violets are Blue
Some verses rhyme
This one doesn’t.

Poll: With no leg room, knees killing me, do I just go now or stay for the 2nd half o?

1
National Poetry Day on 09:03 - Oct 4 with 3322 viewsWokingR

National Poetry Day on 19:24 - Oct 3 by johncharles

Not Rab Burns

My darlin Flo I love ye so
I love you in yer nightie
As the moonlight flits across yer tits
Christ all fukcin mighty.


Now THAT, is poetry.
Not that other pretentious toss.
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