Epic Poems | Poemist

Popular Epic Poems

Woman And War

by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

We women teach our little sons how wrong
And how ignoble blows are; school and church
Support our precepts and inoculate
The growing minds with thoughts of love and peace.
‘Let dogs delight to bark and bite, ’ we say;
But human beings with immortal souls
Must rise above the methods of the brute
And walk with reason and with self-control.

And then – dear God! you men, you wise, strong men,

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English Bards And Scotch Reviewers (Excerpt)

by George Gordon Byron

Time was, ere yet in these degenerate days
Ignoble themes obtain'd mistaken praise,
When sense and wit with poesy allied,
No fabl'd graces, flourish'd side by side;
From the same fount their inspiration drew,
And, rear'd by taste, bloom'd fairer as they grew.
Then, in this happy isle, a Pope's pure strain
Sought the rapt soul to charm, nor sought in vain;
A polish'd nation's praise aspir'd to claim,
And rais'd the people's, as the poet's fame.

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Don Juan: Canto The Fourteenth

by George Gordon Byron

If from great nature's or our own abyss
Of thought we could but snatch a certainty,
Perhaps mankind might find the path they miss--
But then 'twould spoil much good philosophy.
One system eats another up, and this
Much as old Saturn ate his progeny;
For when his pious consort gave him stones
In lieu of sons, of these he made no bones.

But System doth reverse the Titan's breakfast,

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Volcano

by Al Gibson

As the eruption began smoke formed a cloud and darkened the sun,
down the mountain the molten rock begins to run,
the volcano has taken charge and will have so much fun,
nothing will interfere with this master until it's done. Disruptive, Destroying, and shaking the earth while the air becomes dry,
everything aflame that was within its path,
all worldly and natural possessions exhales a deathly cry,
at the pain that is felt of this woeful wrath. Then without warning, ash begins to fall in a dusty shower,
it's the remnants of destruction of this great power,
calming there is a display of the scars of a great war,
remain subtle, nature rules, and now is angry no more. Memory will fill many an epic tale,

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Canto I

by Ezra Pound

And then went down to the ship,
Set keel to breakers, forth on the godly sea, and
We set up mast and sail on that swart ship,
Bore sheep aboard her, and our bodies also
Heavy with weeping, and winds from sternward
Bore us onward with bellying canvas,
Crice's this craft, the trim-coifed goddess.
Then sat we amidships, wind jamming the tiller,
Thus with stretched sail, we went over sea till day's end.
Sun to his slumber, shadows o'er all the ocean,

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Recent Epic Poems

Shahnameh

by Amir Farshad Shirzaei

In ancient Persia, Ferdowsi spun a tale,
Of kings and heroes, wars and myths unveil.
An epic poem, "Shahnameh" was its name,
A history book, a treasure, a fame.

Of creation, downfall and the rise again,
Of love, bravery, and battles to win.
It tells of Iran's legacy and past,
A legacy that forever will last.

......

love eternally - forever to be

by D. Apollonia

danger's lurking through mountains so white
treachery and plight!

hope galloping like a fair white mare
courage bolting like a stallion dare

the heart is mighty and soft
and we make love in my mind's secret loft

the worlds are ever-changing

......

poem of old

by D. Apollonia

bereft
cliffs close
abysses arose

canyons awide
side by side
pain and pride

tales told
battles old

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Woman And War

by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

The Revelation

by Robert William Service

The same old sprint in the morning, boys, to the same old din and smut;
Chained all day to the same old desk, down in the same old rut;
Posting the same old greasy books, catching the same old train:
Oh, how will I manage to stick it all, if I ever get back again?

We've bidden good-bye to life in a cage, we're finished with pushing a pen;
They're pumping us full of bellicose rage, they're showing us how to be men.
We're only beginning to find ourselves; we're wonders of brawn and thew;
But when we go back to our Sissy jobs, -- oh, what are we going to do?

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