Poetry Catalog

White as a white sail on a dusky sea,When half the horizon's clouded and half free,Fluttering between the dun wave and the sky,Is Hope's last gleam in Man's extremity.Her anchor parts; but still her snowy sailAttracts our eye amidst the rudest gale:Though every wave she climbs divides us more,The heart still follows from the loneliest shore. Not distant from the isle of … [Read more...] about The Island: Canto the Fourth, By: Lord Byron

How pleasant were the songs of Toobonai,When Summer's Sun went down the coral bay!Come, let us to the islet's softest shade,And hear the warbling birds! the damsels said:The wood-dove from the forest depth shall coo,Like voices of the Gods from Bolotoo;We'll cull the flowers that grow above the dead,For these most bloom where rests the warrior's head;And we will sit in … [Read more...] about The Island: Canto the Second, By: Lord Byron

The "good old times"—all times when old are good—Are gone; the present might be if they would;Great things have been, and are, and greater stillWant little of mere mortals but their will:A wider space, a greener field, is givenTo those who play their "tricks before high heaven."I know not if the angels weep, but menHave wept enough—for what?—to weep again! All is exploded—be … [Read more...] about The Age of Bronze, By: Lord Byron

Saint Peter sat by the celestial gate:His keys were rusty, and the lock was dull,So little trouble had been given of late;Not that the place by any means was full,But since the Gallic era "eighty-eight"The Devils had ta'en a longer, stronger pull,And "a pull altogether," as they sayAt sea—which drew most souls another way. The Angels all were singing out of tune,And hoarse … [Read more...] about The Vision of Judgment, By: Lord Byron

In the beginning was the Word next God;God was the Word, the Word no less was He:This was in the beginning, to my modeOf thinking, and without Him nought could be:Therefore, just Lord! from out thy high abode,Benign and pious, bid an angel flee,One only, to be my companion, whoShall help my famous, worthy, old song through. And thou, oh Virgin! daughter, mother, bride,Of the … [Read more...] about The Morgante Maggiore of Pulci: Canto the First, By: Lord Byron