Browse Sermon Illustrations
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I see thee better -- in the Dark --
I see thee better -- in the Dark -- I do not need a Light -- The Love of Thee -- a Prism be -- Excelling Violet -- I see thee better for the Years That hunch themselves between -- The Miner's Lamp --
Imitated From Catullus. to Ellen
Oh! might I kiss those eyes of fire, A million scarce would quench desire; Still would I steep my lips in bliss, And dwell an age on every kiss; Nor then my soul should sated be, Still would I kiss an
Tie the Strings to my Life, My Lord,
Tie the Strings to my Life, My Lord, Then, I am ready to go! Just a look at the Horses -- Rapid! That will do! Put me in on the firmest side -- So I shall never fall -- For we must ride to the Judgme
You see I cannot see -- your lifetime
You see I cannot see -- your lifetime -- I must guess -- How many times it ache for me -- today -- Confess -- How many times for my far sake The brave eyes film -- But I guess guessing hurts -- Mine -
To Dives. a Fragment
UNHAPPY Dives! in an evil hour 'Gainst Nature's voice seduced to deeds accurst! Once Fortune's minion now thou feel'st her power; Wrath's vial on thy lofty head hath burst. In Wit, in Genius,
From the Portuguese. "Tu MI Chamas"
In moments to delight devoted, "My Life!" with tenderest tone, you cry; Dear words! on which my heart had doted, If Youth could neither fade nor die. To Death even hours like these must roll, A
A great Hope fell
A great Hope fell You heard no noise The Ruin was within Oh cunning wreck that told no tale And let no Witness in The mind was built for mighty Freight For dread occasion planned How often foundering
Talk not to me of Summer Trees
Talk not to me of Summer Trees The foliage of the mind A Tabernacle is for Birds Of no corporeal kind And winds do go that way at noon To their Ethereal Homes Whose Bugles call the least of us To unde
'Twas later when the summer went
'Twas later when the summer went Than when the Cricket came -- And yet we knew that gentle Clock Meant nought but Going Home -- 'Twas sooner when the Cricket went Than when the Winter came Yet that pa
Sun of the Sleepless!
Sun of the sleepless! melancholy star! Whose tearful beam glows tremulously far, That show'st the darkness thou canst not dispel, How like art thou to Joy remembered well! So gleams the past, the ligh
A full fed Rose on meals of Tint
A full fed Rose on meals of Tint A Dinner for a Bee In process of the Noon became - Each bright Mortality The Forfeit is of Creature fair Itself, adored before Submitting for our unknown sake To be es
It can't be "Summer"!
It can't be "Summer"! That -- got through! It's early -- yet -- for "Spring"! There's that long town of White -- to cross -- Before the Blackbirds sing! It can't be "Dying"! It's too Rouge -- The Dead
'Twas a long Parting -- but the time
'Twas a long Parting -- but the time For Interview -- had Come -- Before the Judgment Seat of God -- The last -- and second time These Fleshless Lovers met -- A Heaven in a Gaze -- A Heaven of Heaven
A little Madness in the Spring
A little Madness in the Spring Is wholesome even for the King, But God be with the Clown -- Who ponders this tremendous scene -- This whole Experiment of Green -- As if it were his own!
This is the place they hoped before,
This is the place they hoped before, Where I am hoping now. The seed of disappointment grew Within a capsule gay, Too distant to arrest the feet That walk this plank of balm -- Before them lies escape
How many Flowers fail in Wood
How many Flowers fail in Wood -- Or perish from the Hill -- Without the privilege to know That they are Beautiful -- How many cast a nameless Pod Upon the nearest Breeze -- Unconscious of the Scarlet
She rose to His Requirement -- dropt
She rose to His Requirement -- dropt The Playthings of Her Life To take the honorable Work Of Woman, and of Wife -- If ought She missed in Her new Day, Of Amplitude, or Awe -- Or first Prospective --
The Stars are old, that stood for me --
The Stars are old, that stood for me -- The West a little worn -- Yet newer glows the only Gold I ever cared to earn -- Presuming on that lone result Her infinite disdain But vanquished her with my d
Fragment: 'Wake the Serpent Not'
Wake the serpent not--lest he Should not know the way to go,-- Let him crawl which yet lies sleeping Through the deep grass of the meadow! Not a bee shall hear him creeping, Not a may-fly shall awaken
Great Streets of silence led away
Great Streets of silence led away To Neighborhoods of Pause -- Here was no Notice -- no Dissent No Universe -- no laws -- By Clocks, 'twas Morning, and for Night The Bells at Distance called -- But E
Fragment: "Igniculus Desiderii"
To thirst and find no fill--to wail and wander With short unsteady steps--to pause and ponder-- To feel the blood run through the veins and tingle Where busy thought and blind sensation mingle; To nur
Flowers -- Well -- if anybody
Flowers -- Well -- if anybody Can the ecstasy define -- Half a transport -- half a trouble -- With which flowers humble men: Anybody find the fountain From which floods so contra flow -- I will give h
He strained my faith
He strained my faith -- Did he find it supple? Shook my strong trust -- Did it then -- yield? Hurled my belief -- But -- did he shatter -- it? Racked -- with suspense -- Not a nerve failed! Wrung me
Fragment: Music and Sweet Poetry
How sweet it is to sit and read the tales Of mighty poets and to hear the while Sweet music, which when the attention fails Fills the dim pause--