# Most Famous (English language) Poems **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 20, 2005, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-english-language-poems/300246 "2005-04-20T16:04:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hamish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a5b964/32.png) [@Hamish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamish)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-english-language-poems/300246/21 "2005-04-20T19:18:48Z")
> [@CapnPitt](#): > > **Hamish** are you looking for extra credit? 😉 Excellent list. Well, I’m goofing off from the 15-page essay I have due on Monday (on gender, sexuality, and _Sir Gawain and the Green Knight_), and the essays I have to mark for next Friday (for the Canadian Literature Survery course I’m TA-ing), so I figured I’d feel less guilty if I goofed off on something in my field 😃 I can’t think opf a single famous poem the 15th Century produced. Nor can I think of anything between \*\*Beowulf \*\*and **Piers Plowman** (I can think of a few little-known examples, but nothing famous). ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-english-language-poems/300246/22 "2005-04-20T21:16:09Z")
_The Pied Piper of Hamelin_ by Robert Browning ---
**Author:** ![Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f19dbf/32.png) [@Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Only_Mostly_Dead)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-english-language-poems/300246/23 "2005-04-21T02:33:42Z")
Eliot’s “Wasteland” mentioned twice, but my vote on him would go to “Lovesong of J Alfred Prufrock”. His most famous line from a poem from neither of those, but the end of “The Hollow Men”: “This is the way the world ends / This is the way the world ends / This is the way the world ends / Not with a bang but a whimper.” Pretty much anything else I’d suggest has been mentioned. Including things I would have never thought of if my memory hadn’t been jogged. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-english-language-poems/300246/24 "2005-04-21T04:04:51Z")
> [@Only Mostly Dead](#): > > Eliot’s “Wasteland” mentioned twice, but my vote on him would go to “Lovesong of J Alfred Prufrock”. His most famous line from a poem from neither of those, but the end of “The Hollow Men”: “This is the way the world ends / This is the way the world ends / This is the way the world ends / Not with a bang but a whimper.” I dunno
 I’d say his most famous line from a poem would be “April is the cruelest month” from The Waste-Land. (Although my personal favorite is from Prufrock: I have measured out my life in coffee spoons) ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-english-language-poems/300246/25 "2005-04-21T05:18:30Z")
Maybe they’re not being taught as much today, but Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s [_Paul Revere’s Ride_](http://eserver.org/poetry/paul-revere.html), [_Village Blacksmith_](http://www.theotherpages.org/poems/longf02.html), and [li]Song of Hiawatha\*]([http://www.theotherpages.org/poems/hiawatha.html](http://www.theotherpages.org/poems/hiawatha.html)) are certainly familiar to Americans of my parents’ generation.[/li] Whenever a sports figure meets an untimely demise, somebody will trot out A.E. Housman’s [_To an Athlete Dying Young_](http://www.amherst.edu/~rjyanco/literature/alfrededwardhousman/poems/ashropshirelad/toanathletedyingyoung.html). ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-english-language-poems/300246/26 "2005-04-21T05:26:15Z")
The opening lines of Felicia Hemans’ \*\*Casabianca \*\* would be among some of the best known, even if the rest of the poem isn’t: _The boy stood on the burning deck Whence all but he had fled._ ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-english-language-poems/300246/27 "2005-04-21T06:52:39Z")
Just remembered: Robert Burns, “Auld Lang Syne”. Definitely one of the most well-known poems in English. Some of his lines from his other poems are often quoted as well: “For the best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men/Gang aft’ agley” and “Tae see oorsels as ithers sees us” are two lines that come to mind. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-english-language-poems/300246/28 "2005-04-21T07:07:40Z")
Two oft-quoted (at least in SF literature) poems no-one has mentioned yet: _Ulysses_ - Tennyson. _The Second Coming_ - Yeats. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-english-language-poems/300246/29 "2005-04-21T08:11:07Z")
I never saw a purple cow, I never hope to see one; But I can tell you, anyhow, I’d rather see than be one. ``` -- Gelett Burgess ``` ---
**Author:** ![Aankh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@Aankh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aankh)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-english-language-poems/300246/30 "2005-04-21T11:26:56Z")
_[The Highwayman](http://www.cs.pdx.edu/~trent/ochs/lyrics/highwayman-orig.html)_ - Alfred Noyes. \*[Jabberwocky](http://www.jabberwocky.com/carroll/jabber/jabberwocky.html) \* - Lewis Carroll. _[The Brook](http://wwwcsif.cs.ucdavis.edu/~bharathi/poetry/atb.htm)_ - Alfred Lord Tennyson. ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-english-language-poems/300246/31 "2005-04-21T12:48:02Z")
> [@ouryL](#): > > I never saw a purple cow, > I never hope to see one; > But I can tell you, anyhow, > I’d rather see than be one. > > ``` > -- Gelett Burgess > > ``` Also: Candy is dandy, But liquor is quicker. -Ogden Nash ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-english-language-poems/300246/32 "2005-04-21T21:52:31Z")
> [@](#): > > Eliot’s “Wasteland” mentioned twice, but my vote on him would go to “Lovesong of J Alfred Prufrock”. His most famous line from a poem from neither of those, but the end of “The Hollow Men”: “This is the way the world ends / This is the way the world ends / This is the way the world ends / Not with a bang but a whimper.” Agreed. I memorized “The Hollow Men”, just for the sake of those last lines. I’d also agree that “Prufrock” is better known than “Wasteland”, in terms of the poem itself, at least, though more folks have probably heard of the latter title. The Practical Cats poems are also pretty well known, but that’s mostly due to the musical forms of them, so I’m not sure if they count. I also note that nobody yet has nominated “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time”, by Robert Herrick (that’s the one that starts with “Gather ye rosebuds while ye may”). One should also mention Marlowe’s “The passionate shepherd to his love”, and Raleigh’s “The nymph’s reply to the shepherd”. Also Joyce Kilmer’s “Trees” (I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree). And e. e. cummings’ “in Just-” (spring when the world is puddle-wonderful) As well as many already nominated, of course. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-english-language-poems/300246/33 "2005-04-21T23:35:33Z")
> [@](#): > > I also note that nobody yet has nominated “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time”, by Robert Herrick (that’s the one that starts with “Gather ye rosebuds while ye may”). This reminded me (for some weird reason): Donne’s “The Flea” also seems like a pretty well-known English poem. Er, how about Yeat’s “Lake Isle of Innisfree”? ---
**Author:** ![Tracy\_Lord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@Tracy\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracy_Lord)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-english-language-poems/300246/34 "2005-04-22T02:26:21Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Two oft-quoted (at least in SF literature) poems no-one has mentioned yet: > > _Ulysses_ - Tennyson. > > _The Second Coming_ - Yeats. _cough Post 7 cough_ ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-english-language-poems/300246/35 "2005-04-22T03:00:11Z")
I don’t _think_ anybody has mentioned “I wandered lonely as a cloud” I was going to say “Dulce et decorum est” for the 20th century, but somebody beat me to it. How about the William Carlos Williams one about the plums? I know somebody’s mentioned “The Second Coming”, but I’ll point out that when you can make jokes about it in general company (“Stop slouching!” - the mother of the beast) it’s obviously culturally internalized. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-english-language-poems/300246/36 "2005-04-22T04:39:08Z")
> [@](#): > > This reminded me (for some weird reason): Donne’s “The Flea” also seems like a pretty well-known English poem. There sure are an awful lot of poems with the theme “What the hell, let’s you and me just go off and screw”, aren’t there? ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-english-language-poems/300246/37 "2005-04-22T04:49:09Z")
[The Tiger](http://www.bartleby.com/101/489.html) by William Blake is my all time favorite English language poem. Followed closely by [The Owl and the Pussycat](http://www.nonsenselit.org/Lear/ns/pussy.html) by Edward Lear And of course there’s always Wordsworth’s [Daffodils](http://www.bartleby.com/101/530.html) All of these I have memorized. ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-english-language-poems/300246/38 "2005-04-22T04:49:58Z")
I don’t think anyone’s mentioned Edna St. Vincent Millay’s [url=http://www.web-books.com/classics/Poetry/Anthology/Millay/FirstFig.htm]“First Fig”\*\* yet. Almost everyone knows the first line of this at least (“My candle burns at both end”), and many can probably recite the entire thing, even if they don’t know the poem’s title. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Purl_McKnittington)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-english-language-poems/300246/39 "2005-04-22T07:56:37Z")
“[The Lady of Shalott](http://eir.library.utoronto.ca/rpo/display/poem2159.html)” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson (I always spell it Shallot, too. This is bad. Professors stop respecting you when start writing about Tennyson’s famous poem, “The Lady of Vaguely Onion-ish Vegetables.”) “[Charge of the Light Brigade](http://eir.library.utoronto.ca/rpo/display/poem2116.html)” by Tennyson “[Ulysses](http://eir.library.utoronto.ca/rpo/display/poem2191.html)” by Tennyson “[The Blessed Damozel](http://eir.library.utoronto.ca/rpo/display/poem1763.html)” by Dante Gabriel Rossetti “[the Cambridge ladies who live in furnished souls](http://eir.library.utoronto.ca/rpo/display/poem603.html)” by ee cummings “MusĂ©e des Beaux Arts” By W.H. Auden “Funeral Blues” by W.H. Auden “[Requiem](http://eir.library.utoronto.ca/rpo/display/poem2022.html)” by Robert Louis Stevenson, if only for the last lines: “Home is the sailor, home from the sea, / And the hunter home from the hill.” “[Dr. Fell](http://eir.library.utoronto.ca/rpo/display/poem3224.html)” by Tom Brown > [@Zsofia](#): > > How about the William Carlos Williams one about the plums? Do you mean “[This is Just to Say](http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/274.html)?” There’s something wonderful about the simplicity of those little Williams’ poems. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-english-language-poems/300246/40 "2005-04-22T08:04:03Z")
> [@ouryL](#): > > I never saw a purple cow, > I never hope to see one; > But I can tell you, anyhow, > I’d rather see than be one. > > ``` > -- Gelett Burgess > > ``` Oh **Ouryl** , I luuuvvvvv you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-english-language-poems/300246.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-english-language-poems/300246.md?page=3)