Browse Sermon Illustrations
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The Pumpkin
Oh, greenly and fair in the lands of the sun, The vines of the gourd and the rich melon run, And the rock and the tree and the cottage enfold, With broad leaves all greenness and blossoms all gold, Li
Through a Glass Darkly
What we, when face to face we see The Father of our souls, shall be, John tells us, doth not yet appear; Ah! did he tell what we are here! A mind for thoughts to pass into, A heart for loves to trave
Incident of the French Camp
You know, we French stormed Ratisbon: A mile or so away On a little mound, Napoleon Stood on our storming-day; With neck out-thrust, you fancy how, Legs wide, arms locked behind, As if to balanc
On Leaving Newstead Abbey
Why dost thou build the hall, Son of the winged days? Thou lookest from thy tower to-day: yet a few years, and the blast of the desart comes: it howls in thy empty court.-OSSIAN. Through thy ba
Songs From Pippa Passes
Day! Faster and more fast, O'er night's brim, day boils at last: Boils, pure gold, o'er the cloud-cup's brim. Where spurting and suppressed it lay, For not a froth-flake touched the rim Of yonder gap
Between the Dusk of a Summer Night
Between the dusk of a summer night And the dawn of a summer day, We caught at a mood as it passed in flight, And we bade it stoop and stay. And what with the dawn of night began With the dusk of day w
Spring Quiet
Gone were but the Winter, Come were but the Spring, I would go to a covert Where the birds sing; Where in the whitethorn Singeth a thrush, And a robin sings In the holly-bush. Full of fresh scents A
Holy Sonnet XVIII: Show Me, Dear Christ, Thy Spouse
Show me, dear Christ, thy Spouse, so bright and clear. What! is it She, which on the other shore Goes richly painted? or which, robbed and tore, Laments and mourns in Germany and here? Sleeps she a th
Jehovah Jesus
My song shall bless the Lord of all, My praise shall climb to His abode; Thee, Saviour, by that name I call, The great Supreme, the mighty God. Without beginning or decline, Object of faith and not o
Spring
When daisies pied, and violets blue, And lady-smocks all silver-white, And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue Do paint the meadows with delight, The cuckoo then, on every tree, Mocks married men, for thus sing
Lucifer in Starlight
On a starred night Prince Lucifer uprose. Tired of his dark dominion swung the fiend Above the rolling ball in cloud part screened, Where sinners hugged their spectre of repose. Poor prey to his hot f
I got so I could take his name
I got so I could take his name -- Without -- Tremendous gain -- That Stop-sensation -- on my Soul -- And Thunder -- in the Room -- I got so I could walk across That Angle in the floor, Where he turne
Woman's Constancy
Now thou hast loved me one whole day, Tomorrow when thou leav'st, what wilt thou say? Wilt thou then antedate some new made vow? Or say that now We are not just those persons, which we were? Or,
The New Vicar of Bray
DO you know Doctor Nott? With "a crook in his lot," Who seven years since tried to dish up A neat Codi_cil_ To the Princess's Will, Which made Dr. Nott _not_ a bishop. S
Holy Sonnet II: As Due By Many Titles I Resign
As due by many titles I resign My self to Thee, O God; first I was made By Thee, and for Thee, and when I was decayed Thy blood bought that, the which before was Thine; I am Thy son, made with Thy Sel
Air And Angels
Twice or thrice had I loved thee, Before I knew thy face or name, So in a voice, so in a shapeless flame, Angels affect us oft, and worship'd be; Still when, to where thou wert, I came, Some lovely gl
Holy Sonnet XII: Why Are We By All Creatures Waited On?
Why are we by all creatures waited on? Why do the prodigal elements supply Life and food to me, being more pure than I, Simple, and further from corruption? Why brook'st thou, ignorant horse, subjecti
A Murmur in the Trees -- to note
A Murmur in the Trees -- to note -- Not loud enough -- for Wind -- A Star -- not far enough to seek -- Nor near enough -- to find -- A long -- long Yellow -- on the Lawn -- A Hubbub -- as of feet --
Spring and Fall: To a Young Child
Margaret, are you grieving Over Goldengrove unleaving? Leaves, like the things of man, you With your fresh thoughts care for, can you? Ah! as the heart grows older It will come to such sights colder B
The Soul has Bandaged moments --
The Soul has Bandaged moments -- When too appalled to stir -- She feels some ghastly Fright come up And stop to look at her -- Salute her -- with long fingers -- Caress her freezing hair -- Sip, Gobl
Holy Sonnet I: Thou Has Made Me
Tho has made me, and shall thy work decay? Repair me now, for now mine end doth haste; I run to death, and death meets me as fast, And all my pleasures are like yesterday. I dare not move my dim eyes
Apparent Failure
No, for I'll save it! Seven years since I passed through Paris, stopped a day To see the baptism of your Prince, Saw, made my bow, and went my way: Walking the heat and headache off, I took the
To R. B.
The fine delight that fathers thought; the strong Spur, live and lancing like the blowpipe flame, Breathes once and, quenched faster than it came, Leaves yet the mind a mother of immortal song. Nine m
To my Dear and Loving Husband
If ever two were one, then surely we. If ever man were lov'd by wife, then thee. If ever wife was happy in a man, Compare with me, ye women, if you can. I prize thy love more than whole Mines of gold