Sympathy Poems
The Grave (Excerpt)
by Robert Blair
While some affect the sun, and some the shade.
Some flee the city, some the hermitage;
Their aims as various, as the roads they take
In journeying thro' life;--the task be mine,
To paint the gloomy horrors of the tomb;
Th' appointed place of rendezvous, where all
These travellers meet.--Thy succours I implore,
Eternal King! whose potent arm sustains
The keys of Hell and Death.--The Grave, dread thing!
Men shiver when thou'rt named: Nature appall'd
......
Among School Children
by William Butler Yeats
I WALK through the long schoolroom questioning;
A kind old nun in a white hood replies;
The children learn to cipher and to sing,
To study reading-books and histories,
To cut and sew, be neat in everything
In the best modern way -- the children's eyes
In momentary wonder stare upon
A sixty-year-old smiling public man.
I dream of a Ledaean body, bent
Above a sinking fire. a tale that she
......
Juvenilia, An Ode To Natural Beauty
by Alan Seeger
There is a power whose inspiration fills
Nature's fair fabric, sun- and star-inwrought,
Like airy dew ere any drop distils,
Like perfume in the laden flower, like aught
Unseen which interfused throughout the whole
Becomes its quickening pulse and principle and soul.
Now when, the drift of old desire renewing,
Warm tides flow northward over valley and field,
When half-forgotten sound and scent are wooing
From their deep-chambered recesses long sealed
......
Summer
by Amy Lowell
Some men there are who find in nature all
Their inspiration, hers the sympathy
Which spurs them on to any great endeavor,
To them the fields and woods are closest friends,
And they hold dear communion with the hills;
The voice of waters soothes them with its fall,
And the great winds bring healing in their sound.
To them a city is a prison house
Where pent up human forces labour and strive,
Where beauty dwells not, driven forth by man;
......
Womanhood
by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
She must be honest, both in thought and deed,
Of generous impulse, and above all greed;
Not seeking praise, or place, or power, or pelf,
But life’s best blessings for her higher self,
Which means the best for all.
She must have faith,
To make good friends of Trouble, Pain, and Death,
And understand their message.
She should be
As redolent with tender sympathy
......
The Vanity of Human Desires
by Oscar Auliq-Ice
We gild our days with restless gold,
Chasing coins that slip through time,
Faces polished, young or old,
Mirrors whispering their rhyme.
We climb the ladders built of praise,
Each rung a promise thin as air;
The crowd applauds for fleeting days,
Then turns to find another heir.
......
Sympathie
by Mario Odekerken
Deine Augen sagen
was deine Mund nicht spricht.
Ich muss es nicht verstehen,
um es zu fühlen.
Ich bleibe bei dir,
ohne Eile,
ohne Urteil,
ohne Lösung.
......
Sympathy
by Mario Odekerken
Your eyes speak
what your voice cannot.
I don't need to understand
to feel.
I stay with you
without rushing,
without judging,
without fixing.
......
Medeleven
by Mario Odekerken
Je ogen vertellen
wat je mond niet zegt.
Ik hoef het niet te begrijpen
om het te voelen.
Ik blijf bij je
zonder haast,
zonder oordeel,
zonder oplossing.
......
Losing a husband
by Sharon Morgan
A hand that is held tight,
a silent kiss
A cup of tea, a hearty meal
Someone to laugh with
and to chatter without breaks
A hug, a squeeze
Before you wake and remember
that you were dreaming of what was
A smile, a silent glance
......
