Browse Sermon Illustrations
2,202 illustrations available
Ode On The Spring (excerpt)
To Contemplation's sober eye Such is the race of Man: And they that creep, and they that fly, Shall end where they began. Alike the Busy and the Gay But flutter thro' life's little day, In Fortune's v
Sonnet 6: Then let not winter's ragged hand deface
Then let not winter's ragged hand deface, In thee thy summer, ere thou be distill'd: Make sweet some vial; treasure thou some place With beauty's treasure ere it be self-kill'd. That use is not forbid
The Ballad of Reading Gaol (excerpt)
He did not wear his scarlet coat, For blood and wine are red, And blood and wine were on his hands When they found him with the dead, The poor dead woman whom he loved, And murdered in her bed. He wa
Harp of the North, Farewell! (excerpt)
Harp of the North, farewell! The hills grow dark, On purple peaks a deeper shade descending; In twilight copse the glow-worm lights her spark, The deer, half-seen, are to the covert wending. Resume th
Sonnet (I)
My God, where is that ancient heat towards thee, Wherewith whole showls of Martyrs once did burn, Besides their other flames? Doth Poetry Wear Venus livery? only serve her turn? Why are not Sonnets ma
Holy Sonnet XV: Wilt Thou Love God, As He Thee? Then Digest
Wilt thou love God, as he thee? Then digest, My soul, this wholesome meditation, How God the Spirit, by angels waited on In heaven, doth make his Temple in thy breast. The Father having begot a Son mo
Winter: My Secret
I tell my secret? No indeed, not I: Perhaps some day, who knows? But not today; it froze, and blows, and snows, And you're too curious: fie! You want to hear it? well: Only, my secret's mine, and I wo
Sonnet 2: When forty winters shall besiege thy brow
When forty winters shall besiege thy brow, And dig deep trenches in thy beauty's field, Thy youth's proud livery so gazed on now, Will be a tatter'd weed of small worth held: Then being asked, where a
Holy Sonnet V: I Am A Little World Made Cunningly
I am a little world made cunningly Of elements, and an angelic sprite; But black sin hath betrayed to endless night My worlds both parts, and (oh!) both parts must die. You which beyond that heaven wh
Ode to the Cambro-Britons (Agincourt excerpt)
Fair stood the wind for France, When we our sails advance; Nor now to prove our chance Longer will tarry; But putting to the main, At Caux, the mouth of Seine, With all his martial train Landed King H
Holy Sonnet XVI: Father, Part Of His Double Interest
Father, part of his double interest Unto thy kingdom, thy Son gives to me, His jointure in the knotty Trinity He keeps, and gives to me his death's conquest. This Lamb, whose death with life the world
Songs of Innocence: Introduction
Piping down the valleys wild, Piping songs of pleasant glee, On a cloud I saw a child, And he laughing said to me: "Pipe a song about a Lamb!" So I piped with merry cheer. "Piper, pipe that son
Sonnet 5: Those hours, that with gentle work did frame
Those hours, that with gentle work did frame The lovely gaze where every eye doth dwell, Will play the tyrants to the very same And that unfair which fairly doth excel; For never-resting time leads su
Celestial Love (excerpt)
Higher far, Upward, into the pure realm, Over sun or star, Over the flickering Daemon film, Thou must mount for love,— Into vision which all form In one only form dissolves; In a region where the whee
Sonnet XXXI: With How Sad Steps, O Moon
With how sad steps, O Moon, thou climb'st the skies! How silently, and with how wan a face! What, may it be that even in heav'nly place That busy archer his sharp arrows tries! Sure, if that long-with
To Hope (excerpt)
When by my solitary hearth I sit, And hateful thoughts enwrap my soul in gloom; When no fair dreams before my "mind's eye" flit, And the bare heath of life presents no bloom; S
A Thing of Beauty (Endymion)
A thing of beauty is a joy for ever: Its lovliness increases; it will never Pass into nothingness; but still will keep A bower quiet for us, and a sleep Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet bre
On The Death Of Mr. Robert Levet
CONDEMN'D to Hope's delusive mine, As on we toil from day to day, By sudden blasts or slow decline Our social comforts drop away. Well tried through many a varying year, See Levet to the grave descen
The Chain I Gave. From the Turkish
The chain I gave was fair to view, The lute I added sweet in sound; The heart that offered both was true, And ill deserved the fate it found. These gifts were charmed by secret spell, Thy truth
Better -- than Music! For I -- who heard it --
Better -- than Music! For I -- who heard it -- I was used -- to the Birds -- before -- This -- was different -- 'Twas Translation -- Of all tunes I knew -- and more -- 'Twasn't contained -- like oth
Translation From Vittorelli. on a Nun
Sonnet composed in the name of a father, whose daughter had recently died shortly after her marriage; and addressed to the father of her who had lately taken the veil. Of two fair virgins, modest,
Sonnet to the Prince Regent. on the Repeal of Lord Edward Fitzgerald's Forfeiture
To be the father of the fatherless, To stretch the hand from the throne's height, and raise _His_ offspring, who expired in other days To make thy Sire's sway by a kingdom less,-- _This_ is to be
Away, Away, Ye Notes of Woe!
Away, away, ye notes of Woe! Be silent, thou once soothing Strain, Or I must flee from hence--for, oh! I dare not trust those sounds again. To me they speak of brighter days-- But lull the chord
Translation of the Famous Greek War Song, "δεῦτε παῖδεσ τῶν ἑλλήνων."
Sons of the Greeks, arise! The glorious hour's gone forth, And, worthy of such ties, Display who gave us birth. CHORUS. Sons of Greeks! let us go In arms against the foe, Till their hated blood