To My Dear and Loving Husband
by Anne Bradstreet
If ever two were one, then surely we.
If ever man were loved 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,
Or all the riches that the East doth hold.
My love is such that rivers cannot quench,
Nor ought but love from thee give recompense.
Thy love is such I can no way repay;
The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray.
Then while we live, in love let's so persever,
That when we live no more, we may live ever.
Kandy, Deven, Giovanny
To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time
by Robert Herrick
Gather ye rose-buds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today
Tomorrow will be dying.
The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,
The higher he's a-getting,
The sooner will his race be run,
And nearer he's to setting.
That age is best which is the first,
When youth and blood are warmer;
But being spent, the worse, and worst
Times still succeed the former.
Then be not coy, but use your time,
And while ye may, go marry;
For having lost but once your prime,
You may forever tarry.
Bintu, Leslie, Brandon, Isaac
Jabberwocky
by Lewis Carroll
'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
“Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!”
He took his vorpal sword in hand;
Long time the manxome foe he sought—
So rested he by the Tumtum tree
And stood awhile in thought.
And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.
“And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!”
He chortled in his joy.
'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
Maura, Taylor, Ramey, Joshua
Fate of the Apostles
by Cynewulf
You who please your keenness with poems,
read closely here: can you discover
this verse's framer? finishes.
Nobles enjoy it on earth, but not without end,
worldly ones. must fail
in our strongholds once our bodies scatter
their loaned treasure, like trickling through fingers.
Then and ear require sk**
in night's narrow cell; drives your craft,
a kingly servitude. Now can you see
who shrewd words have shown to men?
Remember my name, O you who admire
the sound of this song; help succor me
and pray for my comfort. Soon I must pa**
alone, away to look for a dwelling,
must travel so far (no telling where!)
beyond this world to a yet-unknown
place in the earth. So must each person,
unless he is granted God-sent grace.
Let us call to God again, more eager,
begging his blessing in this bright creation:
may we be welcomed to his warm halls,
his home on high. There is holiest happiness,
there the king of angels crowns the pure
with a perishless prize. Now his praise endures
masterful and marvelous, and his might extends
endless and ageless over all creation. FINIT.
Makala, Austin, Ethan, Dalton
American Revolution
by Michael B.
Over the hills and halls of Mount Vernon
I heard voices that cried,
"No taxation without representation!"
And the Tories who lied.
In the monuments and museums and houses
I saw people who dreamed
In the battlefields of blood and of anger
I saw the British get creamed
I saw brave men who died
And children who cried
I heard calls for freedom to vote
I heard lofty appeals
And men with ideals
I read words that the wisest men wrote
Yet it baffles me now
To understand how
These men died for America and why
It's a nation of thugs
And homewrecking d**
And poor homeless children who cry
Our forefathers tried
But instead they died
If you look closely, I think you'll find:
A nation of crime
And a nation of d**h
Was not quite what they had in mind.
Jurgen, Hunter, Alicia, Joseph
Unfading Beauty
by Thomas Carew
HE that loves a rosy cheek,
Or a coral lip admires,
Or from star-like eyes doth seek
Fuel to maintain his fires:
As old Time makes these decay,
So his flames must waste away.
But a smooth and steadfast mind,
Gentle thoughts and calm desires,
Hearts with equal love combined,
Kindle never-dying fires.
Where these are not, I despise
Lovely cheeks or lips or eyes.
Armando, Makayla, Maria, Jacob
Sonnet 57
by William Shakespeare
Being your slave, what should I do but tend
Upon the hours and times of your desire?
I have no precious time at all to spend,
Nor services to do, till you require.
Nor dare I chide the world-without-end hour
Whilst I, my sovereign, watch the clock for you,
Nor think the bitterness of absence sour
When you have bid your servant once adieu;
Nor dare I question with my jealous thought
Where you may be, or your affairs suppose,
But, like a sad slave, stay and think of nought
Save, where you are how happy you make those.
So true a fool is love that in your will,
Though you do any thing, he thinks no ill.
Melyssa, Christian, Andrew, Madelin
The Sick Rose
By William Blake
O Rose thou art sick.
The invisible worm,
That flies in the night
In the howling storm:
Has found out thy bed
Of crimson joy:
And his dark secret love
Does thy life destroy.
Delbert, Sitlali, Alicia, Mia