# Your Favorite Passage of Poetry **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 7, 2016, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-passage-of-poetry/774116 "2016-12-07T16:10:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Theodore\_Striker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Theodore\_Striker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Theodore_Striker)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2016, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-passage-of-poetry/774116/1 "2016-12-07T16:10:30Z")
I know there are some poets on the board… and some posters that don’t care for poetry at all. That being said, most people seem to have at least one small passage of poetry that they enjoy, so I’d like to hear yours. I’ll start with two of my favorites: _I know a search that’s useless, I know a code I don’t hunt for, I know a face that’s gone_ From Sandburg’s _You and a Sickle Moon_ and _When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose._ From Jarrell’s _The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner_ ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2016, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-passage-of-poetry/774116/2 "2016-12-07T16:13:04Z")
_I stood upon that silent hill And stared into the sky until My eyes were blind with stars, and still I stared into the sky_ From: The Song of Honour by Ralph Hodgson, the last four lines. _The world is too much with us, late and soon_ From: The world is too much with us, William Wordsworth, opening line ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2016, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-passage-of-poetry/774116/3 "2016-12-07T16:25:24Z")
\*Lord, I do fear Thou’st made the world too beautiful this year; My soul is all but out of me,—let fall No burning leaf; prithee, let no bird call. \* God’s World by Edna St. Vincent Millay, last half of the second stanza ``` * Well: while was fashioning This creature of cleaving wing, ``` The Immanent Will that stirs and urges everything ``` Prepared a sinister mate For her — so gaily great — ``` A Shape of Ice, for the time far and dissociate. ``` And as the smart ship grew In stature, grace, and hue, ``` In shadowy silent distance grew the Iceberg too. \* The Convergence of the Twain by Thomas Hardy, stanzas 6-8 ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2016, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-passage-of-poetry/774116/4 "2016-12-07T16:26:54Z")
The final lines of The Tollund Man by Seamus Heaney: _Out here in Jutland In the old man-killing parishes I will feel lost, Unhappy and at home._ ---
**Author:** ![Totenfeier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@Totenfeier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Totenfeier)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2016, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-passage-of-poetry/774116/5 "2016-12-07T16:40:22Z")
The entirety of Wallace Stevens’ _Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird_, but especially: ``` VI ``` _Icicles filled the long window_ _With barbaric glass._ _The shadow of the blackbird_ _Crossed it, to and fro._ _The mood_ _Traced in the shadow_ _An indecipherable cause._ And: ``` XIII ``` _It was evening all afternoon._ _It was snowing_ _And it was going to snow._ _The blackbird sat_ _In the cedar-limbs._ ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2016, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-passage-of-poetry/774116/6 "2016-12-07T16:47:07Z")
Speaking of Wallace Stevens, I have no idea what any of it means but I love reciting the first stanza of The Emperor of Ice Cream. The words roll out after each other so nicely and it all sounds so grand! _Call the roller of big cigars, The muscular one, and bid him whip In kitchen cups concupiscent curds. Let the wenches dawdle in such dress As they are used to wear, and let the boys Bring flowers in last month’s newspapers. Let be be finale of seem. The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream._ ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2016, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-passage-of-poetry/774116/7 "2016-12-07T17:09:32Z")
So many… but I find this one both whimsical and dark. \*“The Grizzly Bear is huge and wild; He has devoured the infant child. The infant child is not aware It has been eaten by a bear." \* -A.E. Housman ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2016, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-passage-of-poetry/774116/8 "2016-12-07T17:25:33Z")
Resumé by Dorothy Parker Razors pain you Rivers are damp Acids stain you And drugs cause cramp. Guns aren’t lawful Nooses give Gas smells awful You might as well live. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2016, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-passage-of-poetry/774116/9 "2016-12-07T17:40:56Z")
T. S. Eliot: > [@](#): > > “And I will show you something different from either > Your shadow at morning striding behind you > Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you > I will show you fear in a handful of dust” Edgar Allen Poe: > [@](#): > > But our love it was stronger by far than the love > Of those who were older than we- > Of many far wiser than we- > And neither the angels in heaven above, > Nor the demons down under the sea, > Can ever dissever my soul from the soul > Of the beautiful Annabel Lee. J.R.R. Tolkien > [@](#): > > "Eärendil was a mariner > that tarried in Arvernien; > he built a boat of timber felled > in Nimbrethil to journey in; > her sails he wove of silver fair, > of silver were her lanterns made, > her prow was fashioned like a swan, > and light upon her banners laid. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2016, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-passage-of-poetry/774116/10 "2016-12-07T17:55:40Z")
\*Something there is that doesn’t love a wall, That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it, \ Something there is that doesn’t love a wall, That wants it down!\* –Robert Front, New England’s Poet. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2016, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-passage-of-poetry/774116/11 "2016-12-07T18:45:08Z")
I hacked him in pieces sma, I hacked him in pieces sma, ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2016, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-passage-of-poetry/774116/12 "2016-12-07T18:50:56Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > \*Something there is that doesn’t love a wall, > That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it, > > \ > > Something there is that doesn’t love a wall, > That wants it down!\* > –Robert Front, New England’s Poet. Robert Fro **s** t might be offended by your attribution. After all, good fences make good neighbors. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2016, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-passage-of-poetry/774116/13 "2016-12-07T19:05:05Z")
If she thinks not well of me, What care I how fair she be. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2016, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-passage-of-poetry/774116/14 "2016-12-07T19:06:15Z")
\*\*A Man Said to the Universe \*\* by \*\*Stephen Crane \*\* A man said to the universe: “Sir, I exist!” “However,” replied the universe, “The fact has not created in me A sense of obligation.” ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2016, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-passage-of-poetry/774116/15 "2016-12-07T19:06:31Z")
The fog comes on little cat feet It sits looking over harbor and city On silent haunches And then moves on. – _Carl Sandburg_ I have a 75 watt, glare-free, long-life, Harmony House light bulb in my toilet. I have been living in the same apartment for over two years now and that bulb just keeps burning away. I believe it is fond of me. – _Richard Brautigan_ My Mom’s favorite was an excerpt: The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep. – _Robert Frost_ ---
**Author:** ![Theodore\_Striker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Theodore\_Striker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Theodore_Striker)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2016, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-passage-of-poetry/774116/16 "2016-12-07T19:07:59Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > The final lines of The Tollund Man by Seamus Heaney: > > _Out here in Jutland > In the old man-killing parishes > I will feel lost, > Unhappy and at home._ Thanks for posting this, I just read the full poem, and there is a real beauty in it. The last stanza is quite poignant, i can see why you selected it. ---
**Author:** ![Karen\_Lingel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karen_lingel/32/18649_2.png) [@Karen\_Lingel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karen_Lingel)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2016, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-passage-of-poetry/774116/17 "2016-12-07T19:13:04Z")
_Since golden October declined into somber November And the apples were gathered and stored And the land became brown, sharp points of death in a waste of water and mud. The new year waits, breathes, waits, whispers in the darkness. And the poor shall wait for yet another decaying October._ T.S. Eliot, from _Murder in the Cathedral_. From memory, so it might not be quoted perfectly. I can never remember if the points are brown sharp or sharp brown… ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2016, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-passage-of-poetry/774116/18 "2016-12-07T19:15:53Z")
The Solitary Huntsman, by Ogden Nash. Last stanza: \*For all the fox’s doubling They track him to his den. The chase may fill a morning, Or threescore years and ten. The huntsman never sated Screaks to his saddlebow, “I’ll catch another fox And put him in a box And never let him go.” \* ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2016, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-passage-of-poetry/774116/19 "2016-12-07T19:23:47Z")
> [@Theodore\_Striker](#): > > Thanks for posting this, I just read the full poem, and there is a real beauty in it. The last stanza is quite poignant, i can see why you selected it. He wrote several bog poems. Punishment, The Grauballe Man, Bogland, and Bog Queen also come to mind. They’re my favorite poetry. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2016, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-passage-of-poetry/774116/20 "2016-12-07T19:29:54Z")
There have been no dragons in my life. Only small spiders, and stepping in gum. I could have coped with dragons. –author unknown (I’ve seen it attributed to several) My favorite poem is “The Children’s Hour” by Alan Moore, but no particular passage sticks out and I don’t think I’m allowed to quote the whole thing. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-passage-of-poetry/774116.md?page=2)