Alphabetical Poem First Lines

Zone- Condensed and to the point.

"America, from a grain" Ode To Maize by Pablo Neruda
http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets...da/poems/15747

Great poem :)

"Blest be the day, and blest the month, the year," - Francesco Petrarca; Benedetto sia 'l giorno e 'l mese e l' anno. / He Blesses All the Circumstances of His Passion.... https://www.poetrycat.com/francesco-...a/sonnet-xlvii

A beautiful poem by Petrarca. I preferred the second version, very fluid. somewhat Shakesperian!

"THE city's all a-shining". Paris in Spring in HELEN OF TROY and OTHER POEMS by Sara Teasdale
https://www.theotherpages.org/poems/...elen03.html#13

Yes, well... https://penandthepad.com/petrarchan-...ent-21847.html

Lighthearted Paris in Spring :)

"Dot a dot dot dot a dot dot" - Eve Merriam; Weather Poem... https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/weather-2/

Enjoyed very much this link, it´s a real lesson on poetry.

"Weather Poem". Charming onomatopoeic poem!
Breaking a bit the rules, but maintaining the spirit of "E"
"Today we celebrate the letter E." "The Letter E" by Jim Yerman
https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-letter-e/

The Letter E: very light hearted poem by a contemporary poet... who evidently died in 2451.

"From the form legs curve up" - Sadiqullah Khan; *delayed Gratification... https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/delayed-gratification/

Lol! I think these poems are numbered!

*delayed Gratification-an intense and beautiful poem!

"Grandmother's mother: her age, I guess," Dorothy Q by Oliver Wendell Holmes
https://www.litscape.com/author/Oliv...Dorothy_Q.html

Oh!

re: Dorothy Q... wonderful family history poem !

"He opens the scullery door, and a sudden rush" - Paul Muldoon; Tell... https://www.poetrycat.com/paul-muldoon/tell

"Tell" Interesting and intriguing poem. I didn´t find any direct analysis but found the Swiss legend that probably inspired the poem:
"William Tell
The best-known version of the (apple shot) story is in the legend of William Tell, supposedly happening to start off the Swiss revolution, written first in the 15th-century White Book of Sarnen, then in Aegidius Tschudi's 16th-century Chronicon Helveticum, and later the basis for Friedrich Schiller's 1804 play. Tell is arrested for failing to bow in respect to the hat that the newly appointed Austrian Vogt, Albrecht Gessler, has placed on a pole, and Gessler commands him to shoot an apple off his son's head with a single bolt from his crossbow. After splitting the apple with the single shot (supposedly on November 18, 1307), Tell is asked why he took more than one bolt out; at first he responds that it was out of habit, but when assured he will not be killed for answering honestly, says the second bolt was meant for Gessler's heart should he fail. In Schiller's play, the demand to shoot the apple off the boy's head motivates Gessler's murder."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooti...child%27s_head

"I know a little language of my cat, though Dante says" A Little Language by Robert Duncan
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poe...ittle-language

Enjoyed the various takes on William Tell, but felt that another layer of the poem needed to be bared...

I tried some research for "Tell" and the phrase ""bloodshed" and the "peelers."" stood out and led me to "peelers" having a propensity for mayhem (oft times as police/bobbies) and ultimately to:

see pg 99 & 100 at https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/cgi/v..._dissertations

LSU Doctoral Dissertations Toward a Northern Irish Pastoral: Reading the Rural in Seamus Heaney and Paul Muldoon... Stephanie Jean & Osburn Krassenstein Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College.

Robert Duncan's poem also caused a bit of quandary till I discovered his origins... as befitting my curiosity I found a children's intro/bio to his poetic machinations: https://kids.kiddle.co/Robert_Duncan_(poet) ... then words like "rainbow" and the need for a little (separate) language made a little more sense.

"joggle i think will do it although the glad" - e.e. cummings; GERT... https://cummings.ee/book/is-5/poem/five-americans-iii/

Thanks for the interesting links on Paul Muldoon and Robert Duncan. I´ll take a better look at the Dissertation and also post the link in another forum, where there are fans of Paul Muldoon.

As for Robert Duncan, a unusual life story indeed: "The Symmeses had begun planning for the child's arrival long prior to his adoption. There were terms for his adoption that had to be met: he had to be born at the time and place appointed by the astrologers, his mother was to die shortly after giving birth, and he was to be of Anglo-Saxon Protestant descent."

GERT- This is somewhat familiar. Has ee cummings been writing nonsensical poems by any chance?

"Know then thyself, presume not God to scan". The Riddle Of The World by Alexander Pope
https://www.public-domain-poetry.com...the-world-1679

re: Duncan... truly an amazing story... who could make this up.

re: GERT... Using my rudimentary searching skills I checked and it hasn't been posted in this thread elsewhere. ee cummings died in 1962 so I don't think he's been posting lately but his oeuvre is extensive.
I almost didn't post this poem, but I've been having problems finding "J" First Lines... the search continues.

re: Pope... enjoyed.

"Light boat short oar west lake good" - Ouyang Xiu: A Light Boat With Short Oars... https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-li...th-short-oars/

re: Gert-Sorry, some misunderstanding here ! What I meant with familiar is that the poem reminded me of our own nonsensical experiments. You didn´t post it before.

re: A Light Boat With Short Oars..- Charming, interesting poem, seems to be about the progress of learning the English language. The scene appears first in telegram style and gets repeated with increasing language resources.

"Mary, art thou the litttle maid" Joseph and Mary by James Elroy Flecker
https://www.theotherpages.org/poems/gp1_8.html#joseph

re: GERT - Ah, ok.

re: re: A Light Boat With Short Oars... Yes, good eye :)

re: Joseph and Mary... a sweet poem; Joseph ending the poem being (rightfully so) distrustful of men with Mary gently reassuring him all is well at this particular juncture. I believe Joseph had a greater understanding than depicted in the poem however.

"Nature's first green is gold," - Robert Frost; Nothing Gold Can Stay... https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/po...y-robert-frost

re:Joseph and Mary.-I agree that the Joseph of the Bible was not prejudiced, he never would have had that saying about shepherds.

Nothing Gold Can Stay-Beautiful albeit disenchanted poem.

"Of the dark past" Ecce Puer by James Joyce
http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets...yce/poems/2452

Ecce Puer - a melancholy poem like the preceding Frost poem.

"Pancho, the barrio idiot." - Jimmy Santiago Baca; Meditations On The South Valley, Part Xxiii... https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/medi...ey-part-xxiii/

Enjoyed "Meditations On The South Valley" Googled a bit about Baca, to learn more about his doble Spanish/English code.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Santiago_Baca

" "Quee, quee! Quee, Quee! by Louisa May Alcott
https://www.public-domain-poetry.com...uee-quee-12671

Wonderful little poem :)

"Rest at Night" - Emily Dickinson; Rest at Night... https://emily-dickinson-riddle.blogs...seclusion.html

Hope your cold is better. Dentist in the morning. Back later.

Thanx... cold/other still severe... cannot sleep more than usual. Hoping your dentist visit goes well.

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor

Dentist visit ok. I hope you don´t have fever? Have you nourishing food at home? I have the dark suspicion that you live mostly on snacks these days.

The cold
The cold
gets bold
if you don`t fight it with iron hand,
vitamins and enough blankets.

Going on with alphabetical first lines(editing not possible)

Enjoyed Dickinson´s poem

"SEE yon blithe child that dances in our sight!" The Child by Sara Coleridge
https://englishverse.com/poems/the_child

Thanx for the advice. Vitamins C, D, B complexes. No fever I believe... severe cough (subsiding), sore throat, sinus and chest congestion, achiness throughout... short sneezy period of time. Snacks... not so much. Healthy food choices?... 3-meals from a store bought rotisserie chicken with a fourth planned for the white meats and carcass in an herb laden soup with a healthy dollop of olive oil (my recipe). Keeping warm stoking the heat stove every 2-3 hours throughout the day/night. Actually got a four hour sleep this morning/early afternoon :) I remain fully vaxed (Bivalent COVID booster and Flu) so this is probably just a very severe cold. Wife is ill now too to add to her miseries :(

Very tender poem by Sara Coleridge.

"To every animal that dwells on earth," - Francesco Petrarca; Sestina I. A qualunque animale alberga in terra. / Night Brings Him No Rest. He is the Prey of Despair.... https://www.poetrycat.com/francesco-petrarca/sestina-i

This doesn't sound too bad, specially the four meals. Maybe you and your wife caught it because of the cold. Hopefully you both will recover in a few days.

Grand poem by Petrarca!

"UP the airy mountain," The Fairies by William Allingham
https://www.potw.org/archive/potw98.html

re: Petrarca - I especially liked this part of his title: Night Brings Him No Rest. He is the Prey of Despair :)

lol... delightful poem by William Allingham: poor little Bridget.

"Victor in Drama, Victor in Romance," - Alfred Tennyson; To Victor Hugo... https://www.poetrycat.com/alfred-ten...to-victor-hugo

I specially love that part of "To Victor Hugo...":
"I know not–England, France, all man to be
Will make one people ere man’s race be run:
And I, desiring that diviner day,
Yield thee full thanks for thy full courtesy
To younger England in the boy my son."

"When the heart is hard and parched up, "Beggarly Heart" by Rabindranath Tagore
https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/beggarly-heart/

re: To Victor Hugo - yes, quite moving.

re: Beggarly Heart - "When desire blinds the mind with delusion and dust, O thou holy one,
thou wakeful, come with thy light and thy thunder"... incredible. Rabindranath Tagore won a Nobel Prize for Literature and so many more accomplishments.

Fudging just a little:
"The xylem saps are heading south" - Albert Ahearn; Deciduous Leaves... https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/deciduous-leaves/

Liked the colorful "Deciduos Leaves".

"Ye distant Hills, ye smiling glades,". Ode On A Distant Prospect Of Ever Getting To The Hills by John Kendall (Dum-Dum)
https://www.public-domain-poetry.com...he-hills-21588

lol poem :)

"ZZZ" - Daniel Corcoran; Asleep... https://www.poetrysoup.com/poem/asleep_211388

lol!

"A name only once". America by Kofi Awoonor
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poe...-56d23a58849e7

Sad poem. After some research I believe the following poem: American Letter
by Archibald MacLeish is invoked...
https://www.poetrynook.com/poem/american-letter

"Beyond yon dim old mountain's shadowy height," - Fannie Isabelle Sherrick; Beyond.... https://www.poetrycat.com/fannie-isa...herrick/beyond

Re: Wow! American Letter is an impressive poem. I like it much better than the later poem. Enjoyed meeting this poet:https://en.wikipedia.org/wikihttps:/...ibald_MacLeish

Beyond A delicate poem. The poet is only just now overshadowed by Archibald MacLeish.

"Come with rain, O loud Southwester!" To The Thawing Windby Robert Frost
https://www.potw.org/archive/potw291.html

re: Archibald MacLeish - Three Pulitzer Prizes to add to his list of other accomplishments.

re: Frost - "Turn the poet out of door."... lol

"Dimmed to infiltrate the forest of the night" - Ken e Hall; Natures Call Save The Forest Of The Night... https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/natu...-of-the-night/

re: So true! Enjoyed Natures Call Save The Forest Of The Night...

"Each small gleam was a voice," Each Small Gleam Was a Voice by Stephen Crane
https://www.poetry.com/poem/35675/ea...am-was-a-voice

Delightful poem :) Found this:

Quote:

---

The entire poem is in movement, like water. It ripples. It reflects. It is prismatic. It flows. The second
stanza is like the ripples created by the "small glowing pebbles" being thrown on the water. The first line of
this second stanza is a throw. The reader can hear the pebbles hit. Plink, plink, plink, plink; this is the
tetrameter of line two in the second stanza. And the meaning follows in much the same way. "Good ballads of God" are an inner ripple of the larger concept "eternity with souls rest." Then, plink, "little priests," and plink,
"little holy fathers," both fall into the widening circle of "the truth of your hymning." Then perspective is shattered like water when a wind suddenly sweeps all ripples away, as the bells come, in "songs of carmine, violet, green, gold."

---

... from "A CATEGORIZATION OF FORM FOR STEPHEN CRANE'S POETRY /
THESIS"... https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:...5317-Weber.pdf

"Flag waves," - Natalie; Freedom... https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/freedom-cinquain

Thanks for the link! Very interesting analysis of Each "Each Small Gleam Was a Voice". I didn´t notice that the title itself suggests a relationship between visual aspect and sound.

"Ghost dance of the white buffalo". Ghost dance of the white buffalo by Ronald Tirino
https://www.poetry.com/poem/128804/g...-white-buffalo

Enjoyed very much. There's a Native American/Indigenous/Nations aesthetic here amongst the poets in the Gold Country that I have yet to fully appreciate. An acquaintance of mine, Stephen Meadows, fills that niche very nicely, whom I consider The Poet in Garden Valley: https://www.mtdemocrat.com/prospecti...ational-words/ (I am but a poet in Garden Valley, one of many). He has been published with his latest book just recently released :)

Hoping this isn't a duplicate:

"Humanity i love you" - e.e.cummings; La Guerre II... https://cummings.ee/book/xli-poems/poem/la-guerre-ii/

Ever tried to present a selection of poems for publication in Garden Valley (as there seems to be that possibility there)?

Liked the cummings poem, La Guerre II.... He makes one think.
"I saw this day sweet flowers grow thick --"The Happy Child by William Henry Davies
http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets...ies/poems/3081

Lol... There are about 12,326,000 more people in S.P. than G.V. as of 2020, so not too many prospects I know of locally. I have neither the background (demographic/education/contacts) nor works most publications might desire.

I've promised myself for years I'd try self publishing... either through Amazon eBooks or P.O.D. press. I even have a nearly finished product from my earlier poetry that I printed and loose-bound for my Daughter and each of my three Grand-children for Christmas presents a few years back that are gathering dust in closets (they're really not into reading poetry much). After reading a few poems that I thought my oldest Grandson would be amused with I gifted him with two framed glossy prints this year of two poems I wrote in the Nonsense Poetry thread having rock themes, the poems you may recall, that he enjoyed and actually hung in his house. And that's about it - not including my latest procrastinated gift for my artist Sister of an updated manuscript, yet to finish and send off.

Perhaps our Thursday at Two group may help. It is held in the library in Georgetown up here on the Divide; population about 3000, or 1500 less than G.V. which is a surprise - I'd bet there are more than enough backwoods hideaways in the hills to make up the difference and more though. Our poetry group has introduced me to published poetry authors. My aesthetics need a tremendous amount of work (my poetry is too tongue in cheek for most tastes), which is why I like our poetry group; though small it is eclectic in scope... and I get invited to poetry readings and open microphone/open forum opportunities (participated in three) on occasion, and I'm learning a lot... also, still trying to get out of my shell (blush).

Delightful poem :)

"John. I’m glad I walk’d. How fresh the meadows look" - Alfred Tennyson; Walking To The Mail... https://www.poetrycat.com/alfred-ten...ng-to-the-mail

Well, it´s just because you belong to a much smaller community than I, that I think it can be easier to be known and publish text . I´m surprised, by the way, that Georgetown is smaller than Garden Valley. In Brasil you need good contacts to publish something and you have to be mediatic which today probably means that you must appear on TV or have your own influencer channel on You Tube or (you or your cat) millions of followers on Instagram).

I am not so familiar with poetry but I think yours has an own face. I think what you need are good contacts through your poetry group or your church. Or, I remember, Yes/ No found out about several Nano stories groups on line, and started sending his stories. I think there must be similar poetry groups on line, one must only be careful with those groups, who make a business out of it, offering to publish ones poems in collections, on cups, certificates, tombstones or whatever. You already have a collection which probably needs just some dusting up and updating. And getting out of the shell (Ai!)

"Walking To The Mail..." a very gossipy poem :). Poor Niobe of swine!!

"THE kind-hearted angler was sadly pursuing" 'MOST ANGLERS ARE VERY HUMANE'--Daily Paper by Norman Rowland Gale
https://www.theotherpages.org/poems/gale01.html#3