Browse Sermon Illustrations
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Going to Him! Happy letter!
Going to Him! Happy letter! Tell Him -- Tell Him the page I didn't write -- Tell Him -- I only said the Syntax -- And left the Verb and the pronoun out -- Tell Him just how the fingers hurried -- The...
Sonnet 75
One day I wrote her name upon the strand, But came the waves and washed it away: Agayne I wrote it with a second hand, But came the tyde, and made my paynes his pray. "Vayne man," sayd she, "that does...
Thy Days Are Done
Thy days are done, thy fame begun; Thy country's strains record The triumphs of her chosen Son, The slaughters of his sword! The deeds he did, the fields he won, The freedom he restored! Though...
Bonny Lassie O!
O the evening's for the fair, bonny lassie O! To meet the cooler air and walk an angel there, With the dark dishevelled hair, Bonny lassie O! The bloom's on the brere, bonny lassie O!...
On Parting
The kiss, dear maid! thy lip has left Shall never part from mine, Till happier hours restore the gift Untainted back to thine. Thy parting glance, which fondly beams, An equal love may see: The...
The Sleep of Spring
O for that sweet, untroubled rest That poets oft have sung!-- The babe upon its mother's breast, The bird upon its young, The heart asleep without a pain-- When shall I know that sleep again?...
Holy Sonnet XIX: Oh, To Vex Me, Contraries Meet In One
Oh, to vex me, contraries meet in one: Inconstancy unnaturally hath begot A constant habit; that when I would not I change in vows, and in devotion. As humorous is my contrition As my profane love, an...
Graves of Infants
Infant' graves are steps of angels, where Earth's brightest gems of innocence repose. God is their parent, and they need no tear; He takes them to His bosom from earth's woes, ...
The Old Cottagers
The little cottage stood alone, the pride Of solitude surrounded every side. Bean fields in blossom almost reached the wall; A garden with its hawthorn hedge was all The space between.--Green light di...
Wild Bees
These children of the sun which summer brings As pastoral minstrels in her merry train Pipe rustic ballads upon busy wings And glad the cotters' quiet toils again. The white-nosed bee that bores its l...
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 glorious nothing I did see....
Egotism. a Letter to J. T. Becher
If Fate should seal my Death to-morrow, (Though much _I_ hope she will _postpone_ it,) I've held a share _Joy_ and _Sorrow_, Enough for _Ten_; and _here_ I _own_ it. I've lived, as many others li...
Upon My Dear and Loving Husband his Going into England Jan. 16
O thou Most High who rulest all And hear'st the prayers of thine, O hearken, Lord, unto my suit And my petition sign. Into Thy everlasting arms Of mercy I commend Thy servant, Lord. Keep and preserve...
Song
Breeze of the night in gentler sighs More softly murmur o'er the pillow; For Slumber seals my Fanny's eyes, And Peace must never shun her pillow. Or breathe those sweet Æolian strains Stolen fr...
There Was a Time, I Need Not Name
There was a time, I need not name, Since it will ne'er forgotten be, When all our feelings were the same As still my soul hath been to thee. And from that hour when first thy tongue Confess'd a...
Summer Evening (excerpt)
The sinking sun is taking leave, And sweetly gilds the edge of Eve, While huddling clouds of purple dye Gloomy hang the western sky. Crows crowd croaking over head, Hastening to the woods to bed. Cooi...
Firwood
The fir trees taper into twigs and wear The rich blue green of summer all the year, Softening the roughest tempest almost calm And offering shelter ever still and warm To the small path that towels un...
Love
Love, though it is not chill and cold, But burning like eternal fire, Is yet not of approaches bold, Which gay dramatic tastes admire. Oh timid love, more fond than free, In daring song is ill p...
The Flower
How fresh, O Lord, how sweet and clean Are thy returns! ev'n as the flowers in spring; To which, besides their own demean, The late-past frosts tributes of pleasure bring. Grief melts away Like snows ...
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...
On This Day I Complete My Thirty-Sixth Year
'T IS time this heart should be unmoved, Since others it hath ceased to move: Yet, though I cannot be beloved, Still let me love! My days are in the yellow leaf; The flowers and fruit...
To M. S. G
When I dream that you love me, you'll surely forgive; Extend not your anger to sleep; For in visions alone your affection can live,-- I rise, and it leaves me to weep. Then, Morpheus! envelop my ...
A Christmas Carol, Sung to the King
What sweeter music can we bring, Than a Carol, for to sing The Birth of this our heavenly King? Awake the Voice! Awake the String! Heart, Ear, and Eye, and every thing Awake! the while the active Finger Runs division with the Singer....
The Wood-cutter's Night Song
Welcome, red and roundy sun, Dropping lowly in the west; Now my hard day's work is done, I'm as happy as the best. Joyful are the thoughts of home, Now I'm ready for my chair, So, till morrow-morning's come, Bill and mittens, lie ye there!...