In a Christian Churchyard
This field of stones, he said,
May well call forth a sigh;
Beneath them lie the dead,
On them the living lie.
poem by James Thomson
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
A Chant
'WHILE the trees grow,
While the streams flow,
While the winds blow,
We will be free:
Free as trees growing,
Free as streams flowing,
Free as winds blowing,
Evermore free.'
poem by James Thomson
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
On George Herbert's Poems
WHAT are these leaves dark-spotted and acerb?
'A very holy herb.'
To what good use may I this herb convert?
'Press it on thy soul's hurt.'
When herb unto the hurt I thus apply?
'Herb-ert is sanctity.'
poem by James Thomson
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
The Vine
The wine of Love is music,
And the feast of Love is song:
And when Love sits down to the banquet,
Love sits long:
Sits long and arises drunken,
But not with the feast and the wine;
He reeleth with his own heart,
That great, rich Vine.
poem by James Thomson
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
Songs In The Masque Of Alfred: To Peace
O Peace! the fairest child of heaven,
To whom the sylvan reign was given,
The vale, the fountain, and the grove,
With every softer scene of love:
Return, sweet Peace! and cheer the weeping swain!
Return, with Ease and Pleasure in thy train.
poem by James Thomson
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
From the Midst of the Fire
FROM the midst of the fire I fling
These arrows of fire to you:
If they sing, and burn, and sting,
You feel how I burn too;
But if they reach you there
Speed-spent, charred black and cold,
The fire burns out in the air,
The Passion will not be told.
poem by James Thomson
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
Once in a Saintly Passion
Once in a saintly passion
I cried with desperate grief,
"O Lord, my heart is black with guile,
Of sinners I am chief."
Then stooped my guardian angel
And whispered from behind,
"Vanity, my little man,
You're nothing of the kind."
poem by James Thomson
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
Stanzas Written By Thomson On The Blank Leaf Of A Copy Of His 'Seasons' Sent By Him To Mr. Lyttleton, Soon After The Death Of His Wife
Go, little book, and find our Friend,
Who Nature and the Muses loves,
Who cares the public virtues blend
With all the softness of the groves.
A fitter time thou canst not choose,
His fostering friendship to repay;
Go then, and try, my rural muse,
To steal his widowed hours away.
poem by James Thomson
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
To The Same (Amanda) With A Copy Of The 'Seasons
Accept, loved Nymph, this tribute due
To tender friendship, love, and you:
But with it take what breathed the whole.
O take to thine the poet's soul.
If Fancy here her power displays,
And if a heart exalts these lays-
You, fairest, in that fancy shine,
And all that heart is fondly thine.
poem by James Thomson
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
On Mrs Mendez' Birthday, Who Was Born On Valentine's Day
Thine is the gentle day of love,
When youths and virgins try their fate;
When, deep retiring to the grove,
Each feathered songster weds his mate.
With tempered beams the skies are bright,
Earth decks in smiles her pleasing face;
Such is the day that gave thee light,
And speaks as such thy every grace.
poem by James Thomson
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!