Friday Poetry: Wendy Cope

Happy Friday Everyone!

My chosen poem today is another Christmas poem and one I have recently discovered. The poem is by the English poet Wendy Cope (1945).

Motorway Music

At last, in spite of everything,
The moment does arrive.
This year it was on Christmas Eve,
Teatime, M25,

When I switched on the radio
And heard 'Nowell, Nowell',
And had to join in singing for
The King of Isreal,

Along with half the choirs on earth
And all the choirs of Heaven,
As I drove through the pouring rain,
Approaching junction 7.

And then my passenger woke up
And came in with his bass.
I wanted to see happiness
Like ours on every face.

In every car. The traffic slowed.
The queue went on and on.
The sound of trumpets introduced
Another Christmas song.

Who cares about a traffic jam
While herald angels sing?
Each year the moment does arrive,
In spite of everything. 

Wendy Cope

Happy Reading

Etsy

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Friday Poetry: Traditional

Happy Friday!

I hope everyone is looking forward to the weekend. I’m planning more reading and Christmas decorating.

My chosen poem today is another Christmas poem or Christmas carol but sadly the author is unknown.

I Saw Three Ships

I saw three ships come sailing in,
Come sailing in, come sailing in;
I saw three ships come sailing in, 
On Christmas Day in the morning.

And what was in those ships all three,
Those ships all three, those ships all three?
And what was in those ships all three,
On Christmas Day in the morning?

Our Saviour Christ and his lady,
And his lady, and his lay;
Our Saviour Christ and his lady,
On Christmas Day in the morning

Traditional

Happy Reading

Etsy

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Friday Poetry: Traditional

Happy Friday Everyone!

I’m hoping to put some of my Christmas decorations up tomorrow so I thought I would start doing some Christmas related poems on my blog.

This poem doesn’t have an author listed.

Christmas is Coming

Christmas is coming,
The geese are getting fat,
Please to put a penny
In the old man's hat.
If you haven't got a penny,
A ha'penny will do;
If you haven't got a ha'penny,
Then God bless you!

Traditional

Happy Reading

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

Friday Poetry: James Thomson

Hello!

My chosen poem today is by the Scottish poet and playwright, James Thomson (1700-1748).

The Wine of Love

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 ariseth drunken,
But not with the feast and the wine;
He reeleth with his own heart,
That great rich Vine. 

James Thomson

Happy Reading

Etsy

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Friday Poetry: Edward Thomas

Happy Friday!

My chosen poem today is by one of my favourite poets, Edward Thomas (1878-1917).

There's Nothing Like the Sun

There's nothing like the sun as the year dies,
Kind as it can be, this world being made so,
To stones and men and beasts and birds and flies,
To all things that it touches except snow,
Whether on mountains side or street of town.
The south wall warms me: November has begun,
Yet never shone the sun as fair as now
While the sweet last-left damsons from the bough
With spangles of the morning's storm drop down
Because the starling shakes it, whistling what
Once swallows sang. But I have not forgot 
That there is nothing, too, like March's sun,
Like April's, or July's, or June's, or May's,
Or January's, or February's, great days:
August, September, October, and December
Have equal days, all different from November. 
No day of any month but I have said-
Or, if I could live long enough, should say-
'There's nothing like the sun that shines today.'
There's nothing like the sun till we are dead. 

Edward Thomas

Happy Reading

Etsy

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Friday Poetry: John Keats

Happy Friday!

I have a busy weekend ahead but I’m hoping to get plenty of reading done as well.

My chosen poem this week is by the English poet of the second generation of Romantic poets John Keats (1795-1821).

To Sleep

O soft embalmer of the still midnight,
Shutting, with careful fingers and benign,
Our gloom-pleas'd eyes, embower'd from the light,
Enshaded in forgetfulness divine:
O soother Sleep! if so it please thee, close
In midst of this thine hymn my willing eyes,
O wait the "Amen," ere thy poppy throws
Around my bed its lulling charities.
Then save me, or the passed day will shine
Upon my pillow, breeding many woes,-
Save me from curious Conscience, that still lords
Its strength for darkness, burrowing like a mole;
Turn the key deftly in the oiled wards,
And seal the hushed Casket of my Soul.

John Keats

Happy Reading

Etsy

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Friday Poetry: William Blake

Happy Friday!

My chosen poem this week is by one of my favourites, William Blake. William Blake (1757-1827) was an English poet, painter and print maker. Sadly he was largely unrecognised during his lifetime but now he is considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age.

Cradle Song

Sleep, sleep, beauty bright,
Dreaming in the joys of night;
Sleep, sleep; in thy sleep
Little sorrows sit and weep.

Sweet babe, in thy face
Soft desires I can trace,
Secret joys and secret smiles,
Little pretty infant wiles.

As thy softest limbs I feel
Smiles as of the morning steal
O'er thy cheek, and o'er thy breast
Where thy little heart doth rest.

O the cunning wiles that creep
In thy little heart asleep!
When thy little heart doth wake,
Then the dreadful night shall break.

William Blake

Happy Reading

Etsy

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Friday Poetry: Walt Whitman

Happy Friday Everyone!

My chosen poem today is by the American poet, essayist and journalist Walt Whitman (1819-1892).

A Clear Midnight

This is thy hour O Soul, thy free flight into the wordless,
Away from books, away from art, the day erased, the
lesson done,
Thee fully forth emerging, silent, gazing, pondering the 
themes thou lovest best,
Night, sleep, death and the stars

Walt Whitman

Happy Reading

Etsy

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Friday Poetry: Emily Dickinson

Happy Friday Everyone!

I have had a great day of reading today which has made a nice change. I haven’t managed so much reading in one day for a very long time.

My chosen poem this week is by one of my favourites.

How happy is the little stone

How happy is the little Stone
That rambles in the Road alone,
And doesn't care about Careers
And Exigencies never fears -
Whose Coat of elemental Brown 
A passing Universe put on,
And independent as the Sun,
Associates or glows alone,
Fulfilling absolute Decree
In casual simplicity - 

Emily Dickinson

Happy Reading

Etsy

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Friday Poetry: Victor Hugo

Happy Friday Everyone!

I hope everyone has some fun plans for the weekend. I have chosen a very short poem today but I quite like it.

My chosen poem this week is by the French Romantic writer and politician, Victor Hugo (1802-1885).

Be Like The Bird

Be like the bird, who
Pausing in his flight
On a limb too slight
Feels it bend beneath him
Yet sings, 
Knowing he has wings.

Victor Hugo

Happy Reading

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you