Below is a collection of easy to memorize poems. The list is organized by groupings according to the number of lines in each poem. And because we love you, we've also included a poem memorization tool for each poem. Just click the "Memorize Poem" button beneath the poem you would like to memorize and you will be able to quiz yourself. Once you've opened the memorization tool, just type the first letter of each word of the poem and you will be graded for accuracy. For the longer poems, you will want to make sure that the "Full Text" link is expanded before you begin in order to test yourself on the entire poem. Enjoy!
Easy Poems to Memorize: 4 LINES
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A Wise Old Owl
by Anonymous | Total Words: 34, Lines: 4
A wise old owl lived in an oak
The more he saw the less he spoke
The less he spoke the more he heard.
Why can't we all be like that wise old bird?
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The Elephant
by Anonymous | Total Words: 30, Lines: 4
The elephant walks like this and like that.
He's very tall, and he's very fat.
He has no fingers, but he does have toes,
And goodness gracious, what a nose!
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God made the little birds to sing
by Anonymous | Total Words: 27, Lines: 4
God made the little birds to sing,
And flit from tree to tree;
'Tis He who sends them in the spring
To sing for you and me.
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Song of the Bubbles
by Anonymous | Total Words: 23, Lines: 4
Up and up we go,
And we shine and glow;
Though our life lasts not a minute,
We reflect all colors in it.
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The Moon and I
by Annette Wynne | Total Words: 28, Lines: 4
We played a game—the moon and I,
The moon was laughing in the sky,
I spied her, too, and called aloud,
But still she hid behind a cloud.
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The Birches
by Walter Prichard Eaton | Total Words: 25, Lines: 4
The little birches, white and slim,
Gleaming in the forest dim,
Must think the day is almost gone,
for each one has her nightie on.
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Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep
by Anonymous | Total Words: 31, Lines: 4
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
If I shall die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take. Amen.
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If a Bird May Think
by Annette Wynne | Total Words: 25, Lines: 4
If a bird may think, its thoughts are not so small,
For it may think of skies or hills or anything at all.
So a child may think, thoughts big and free and wide—
It's good for birds and children, thoughts need not fit inside.
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Behind Each Star
by Annette Wynne | Total Words: 45, Lines: 4
Behind each star a small dream hides
But will not show its head,
Unless you're very, very good—
And fast asleep in bed.
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The Faithful Dog
by Anonymous | Total Words: 33, Lines: 4
With eye upraised his master's look to scan,
The joy, the solace, and the aid of man;
The rich man's guardian and the poor man's friend,
The only creature faithful to the end.
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Speak the Truth
by Anonymous | Total Words: 31, Lines: 6
Speak the truth!
Speak it boldly, never fear;
Speak it so that all may hear;
In the end it shall appear
Truth is best in age and youth.
Speak the truth.
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The Days of the Month
by Anonymous | Total Words: 26, Lines: 6
Thirty days hath September,
April, June, and November;
February has twenty-eight alone.
All the rest have thirty-one,
Excepting leap-year—that's the time
When February's days are twenty-nine. -
"Beautiful Faces"
by Anonymous | Total Words: 37, Lines: 6
Beautiful faces are they that wear
The light of a pleasant spirit there;
Beautiful hands are they that do
Deeds that are noble good and true;
Beautiful feet are they that go
Swiftly to lighten another's woe.
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Afterglow
I'd like to leave an afterglow of smiles when life is done.
– Anonymous
Afterglow“
by Anonymous | Total Words: 68, Lines: 6
I'd like the memory of me to be a happy one.
I'd like to leave an afterglow of smiles when life is done.
I'd like to leave an echo whispering softly down the ways,
Of happy times and laughing times and bright and sunny days.
I'd like the tears of those who grieve, to dry before the sun;
Of happy memories that I leave when life is done.
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Love is like a rose
by Christina Georgina Rossetti | Total Words: 56, Lines: 6
Hope is like a harebell trembling from its birth,
Love is like a rose the joy of all the earth;
Faith is like a lily lifted high and white,
Love is like a lovely rose the world’s delight;
Harebells and sweet lilies show a thornless growth,
But the rose with all its thorns excels them both.
So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
– 1 Corinthians 13:13
ESV“
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Four Things
by Henry van Dyke | Total Words: 38, Lines: 6
Four things a man must learn to do
If he would make his record true:
To think without confusion clearly;
To love his fellow-men sincerely;
To act from honest motives purely;
To trust in God and Heaven securely.
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The Eagle
by Alfred, Lord Tennyson | Total Words: 39, Lines: 6
He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ringed with the azure world, he stands.
The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.
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If I can stop one heart from breaking
by Emily Dickinson | Total Words: 41, Lines: 7
If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain. -
One Step and Then Another
by Anonymous | Total Words: 42, Lines: 8
One step and then another,
And the longest walk is ended;
One stitch and then another,
And the largest rent is mended.
One brick upon another,
And the highest wall is made;
One flake upon another,
And the deepest snow is laid.
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Who Has Seen the Wind?
by Christina Rossetti | Total Words: 42, Lines: 8,
Who has seen the wind?
Neither I nor you;
But when the leaves hang trembling,
The wind is passing through.
Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor I;
But when the trees bow down their heads,
The wind is passing by.
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This Is God's Day
by Annette Wynne | Total Words: 63, Lines: 8
This is God's day that he lent to me
That I may use for good or ill;
Fair and fresh as a day can be
This is God's day that he lent to me.
He took a wave from eternity's sea—
Fashioned a day all blemish-free;
This is God's day that he lent to me.
That I may use for good or ill.
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The World's Greatest Need
by C. Austin Miles | Total Words: 73, Lines: 8
A little more kindness and a little less greed;
A little more giving and a little less need;
A little more smile and a little less frown;
A little less kicking a man when he's down;
A little more 'we' and a little less 'I';
A little more laughs and a little less cry;
A little more flowers on the pathway of life;
And fewer on graves at the end of the strife.
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I'm nobody! Who are you?
by Emily Dickinson | Total Words: 45, Lines: 8
I'm nobody! Who are you?
Are you nobody, too?
Then there 's a pair of us — don't tell!
They 'd banish us, you know.How dreary to be somebody!
How public, like a frog
To tell your name the livelong day
To an admiring bog! -
The Night Has a Thousand Eyes
by Francis William Bourdillon | Total Words: 46, Lines: 8
The night has a thousand eyes,
And the day but one;
Yet the light of the bright world dies
With the dying sun.
The mind has a thousand eyes,
And the heart but one:
Yet the light of a whole life dies
When love is done.
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A Lesson
Build as doth the lowly coral,—
Give yourselves. That shall endure.
– Ruby Archer
A Lesson“
by Ruby Archer | Total Words: 43, Lines: 8
Would ye build that generations
Yet to be may call you great?
Would ye have your lives' creations
O'er the ages tower elate?
Hearken then a world-old moral,—
Abnegation, meek and pure.
Build as doth the lowly coral,—
Give yourselves. That shall endure.
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He Prayeth Best Who Loveth Best
by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. This text is an excerpt from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. | Total Words: 46, Lines: 8
Farewell, farewell! but this I tell
To thee, thou Wedding-Guest!
He prayeth well who loveth well
Both man and bird and beast.
He prayeth best who loveth best
All things, both great and small:
For the dear God who loveth us,
He made and loveth all.
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Kind Hearts
Kind hearts are the gardens,
Kind thoughts are the roots,
Kind words are the blossoms,
Kind deeds are the fruits;
– Anonymous
Kind Hearts“
by Anonymous | Total Words: 37, Lines: 8
Kind hearts are the gardens,
Kind thoughts are the roots,
Kind words are the blossoms,
Kind deeds are the fruits;
Love is the sweet sunshine
That warms into life,
For only in darkness
Grow hatred and strife.
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Nothing Gold Can Stay
by Robert Frost | Total Words: 40, Lines: 8
Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold,
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
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A New Time-Table
by Anonymous | Total Words: 63, Lines: 10
Sixty seconds make a minute:
How much good can I do in it?
Sixty minutes make an hour,—
All the good that’s in my power.
Twenty hours and four, a day,—
Time for work, and sleep, and play.
Days, three hundred sixty-five
Make a year for me to strive
Eight good things for me to do,
That I wise may grow and true.
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A Time to Talk
by Robert Frost | Total Words: 76, Lines: 10
When a friend calls to me from the road
And slows his horse to a meaning walk,
I don’t stand still and look around
On all the hills I haven’t hoed,
And shout from where I am, What is it?
No, not as there is a time to talk.
I thrust my hoe in the mellow ground,
Blade-end up and five feet tall,
And plod: I go up to the stone wall
For a friendly visit.
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The Swing
by Robert Louis Stevenson | Total Words: 81, Lines: 12
How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!
Up in the air and over the wall,
Till I can see so wide,
Rivers and trees and cattle and all
Over the countryside—
Till I look down on the garden green,
Down on the roof so brown—
Up in the air I go flying again,
Up in the air and down!
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Loss and Gain
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow | Total Words: 77, Lines: 12
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When I compare
What I have lost with what I have gained,
What I have missed with what attained,
Little room do I find for pride.
I am aware
How many days have been idly spent;
How like an arrow the good intent
Has fallen short or been turned aside.
But who shall dare
To measure loss and gain in this wise?
Defeat may be victory in disguise;
The lowest ebb is the turn of the tide.
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Trees
by Joyce Kilmer | Total Words: 80, Lines: 12
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I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.
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Little Things
by Anonymous | Total Words: 63, Lines: 12
A cup of water timely brought,
An offered easy chair,
A turning of the window-blind,
That all may feel the air;
An early flower bestowed unasked,
A light and cautious tread,
A voice to softest whispers hushed
To spare an aching head—
Oh, things like these, though little things,
The purest love disclose,
As fragrant atoms in the air
Reveal the hidden rose.
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The Scarecrow
by Annie Stone | Total Words: 75, Lines: 12
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Here is the scarecrow, see him stand
Upon the newly planted land;
A figure rugged and forlorn,
A silent watcher of the corn.
His dangling legs, his arms spread wide,
A lone man of the countryside;
Uncouth, the butt of pen and tongue,
Unheralded, unsought, unsung
To you, old scarecrow, then this lay
To cheer you on your lonely way;
Would that all men, their whole lives through,
Served some good purpose same as you.
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A Recipe For a Day
by Amos Russel Wells | Total Words: 78, Lines: 12
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Full Text
Take a little dash of water cold,
And a little leaven of prayer,
And a little bit of morning gold
Dissolved in the morning air.
Add to your meal some merriment,
And a thought for kith and kin;
And then, as your prime ingredient,
A plenty of work throw in.
But spice it all with the essence of love
And a little whiff of play;
Let a wise old Book and a glance above
Complete the well-made day.
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Conscience and Remorse
I cried: "Come back, my conscience;
I long to see thy face."
But conscience cried: "I cannot;
Remorse sits in my place."
– Paul Laurence Dunbar
Conscience and Remorse“
by Paul Laurence Dunbar | Total Words: 67, Lines: 12
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"Good-bye," I said to my conscience —
"Good-bye for aye and aye,"
And I put her hands off harshly,
And turned my face away;
And conscience smitten sorely
Returned not from that day.
But a time came when my spirit
Grew weary of its pace;
And I cried: "Come back, my conscience;
I long to see thy face."
But conscience cried: "I cannot;
Remorse sits in my place."
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The Happiest Heart
by John Vance Cheney | Total Words: 75, Lines: 12
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Full Text
Who drives the horses of the sun
Shall lord it but a day;
Better the lowly deed were done,
And kept the humble way.
The rust will find the sword of fame,
The dust will hide the crown;
Ay, none shall nail so high his name
Time will not tear it down.
The happiest heart that ever beat
Was in some quiet breast
That found the common daylight sweet,
And left to Heaven the rest.
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My Wage
by Jessie Belle Rittenhouse | Total Words: 71, Lines: 12
I bargained with Life for a penny,
And Life would pay no more,
However I begged at evening
When I counted my scanty store;
For Life is a just employer,
He gives you what you ask,
But once you have set the wages,
Why, you must bear the task.
I worked for a menial's hire,
Only to learn, dismayed,
That any wage I had asked of Life,
Life would have paid.
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A Vagabond Song
by Bliss Carman | Total Words: 97, Lines: 12
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Full Text
There is something in the autumn that is native to my blood —
Touch of manner, hint of mood;
And my heart is like a rhyme,
With the yellow and the purple and the crimson keeping time....The scarlet of the maples can shake me like a cry
Of bugles going by.
And my lonely spirit thrills
To see the frosty asters like a smoke upon the hills.There is something in October sets the gypsy blood astir;
We must rise and follow her,
When from every hill of flame
She calls and calls each vagabond by name. -
The Arrow and the Song
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow | Total Words: 88, Lines: 12
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I shot an arrow into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For, so swiftly it flew, the sight
Could not follow it in its flight.
I breathed a song into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For who has sight so keen and strong,
That it can follow the flight of song?
Long, long afterward, in an oak
I found the arrow, still unbroke;
And the song, from beginning to end,
I found again in the heart of a friend.
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Try Again
If at first you don't succeed,
Try, try again;
- Anonymous
Try, Try Again“
by William E. Hickson | Total Words: 119, Lines: 14
►Full Text
'T is a lesson you should heed,
Try, try again;
If at first you don't succeed,
Try, try again;
Then your courage should appear,
For, if you will persevere,
You will conquer, never fear;
Try, try again.
Once or twice though you should fail,
Try, try again;
If you would at last prevail,
Try, try again;
If we strive, 'tis no disgrace
Though we do not win the race;
What should you do in the case?
Try, try again.
If you find your task is hard,
Try, try again;
Time will bring you your reward,
Try, try again.
All that other folks can do,
Why, with patience, should not you?
Only keep this rule in view:
Try, try again.
“I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.”
– Thomas Edison quote on failure
“
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My Friend
by Ella Wheeler Wilcox | Total Words: 128, Lines: 14
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When first I looked upon the face of Pain
I shrank repelled, as one shrinks from a foe
Who stands with dagger poised, as for a blow.
I was in search of Pleasure and of Gain;
I turned aside to let him pass: in vain;
He looked straight in my eyes and would not go.
"Shake hands," he said, "our paths are one, and so
We must be comrades on the way, 'tis plain."
I felt the firm clasp of his hand on mine;
Through all my veins it sent a strengthening glow.
I straightway linked my arm in his, and lo!
He led me forth to joys almost divine;
With God's great truths enriched me in the end,
And now I hold him as my dearest friend.
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Remember
by Christina Georgina Rossetti | Total Words: 111, Lines: 14
Remember me when I am gone away,
Gone far away into the silent land;
When you can no more hold me by the hand,
Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay.
Remember me when no more day by day
You tell me of our future that you plann'd:
Only remember me; you understand
It will be late to counsel then or pray.
Yet if you should forget me for a while
And afterwards remember, do not grieve:
For if the darkness and corruption leave
A vestige of the thoughts that once I had,
Better by far you should forget and smile
Than that you should remember and be sad.
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If Love Were Mine
by Annette Wynne | Total Words: 81, Lines: 15
If love were mine, if love were mine,
I know what I would do,
I'd take it, spare it,
Give it, share it,
Lend it, spend it, too.
If beauty I could claim for mine,
To hold, to cherish, too,
I'd strive to spread it,
Pour it, shed it,
Till it flowed the whole world through.
But toil—just common toil—is mine;
And so what I shall do
Is strive to take it,
Carve it, make it,
Into love and beauty, too.
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Little Things
by Julia Abigail Fletcher Carney | Total Words: 65, Lines: 16
►Full Text
Little drops of water,
Little grains of sand,
Make the mighty ocean
And the pleasant land.
Thus the little minutes,
Humble though they be,
Make the mighty ages
Of eternity.
So our little errors
Lead the soul away
From the path of virtue
Far in sin to stray.
Little deeds of kindness,
Little words of love,
Help to make earth happy
Like the heaven above.
“Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that's the stuff life is made of.”
– Ben Franklin quote on time
“
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The Boy Who Never Told a Lie
by Anonymous | Total Words: 101, Lines: 16
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Once there was a little boy,
With curly hair and pleasant eye—
A boy who always told the truth,
And never, never told a lie.And when he trotted off to school,
The children all about would cry,
"There goes the curly-headed boy—
The boy that never tells a lie."And everybody loved him so,
Because he always told the truth,
That every day, as he grew up,
'Twas said, "There goes the honest youth."
And when the people that stood near
Would turn to ask the reason why,
The answer would be always this:
"Because he never tells a lie."
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Saying and Doing
It isn't the talk that will count, boys,
But the doing that springs from the talk.
To what will your walking amount, boys.
With no goal at the end of your walk?
– Amos R. Wells
Saying and Doing“
by Amos R. Wells | Total Words: 125, Lines: 16
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Full Text
It isn't the talk that will count, boys,
But the doing that springs from the talk.
To what will your walking amount, boys.
With no goal at the end of your walk?
What's the use of a ladder set up, boys,
With the end resting only on air?
What's the use of a nobly filled cup boys,
If no one to drink it is there?
What's the use of a capital plan, boys,
That never is more than a scheme?
He makes a poor, scatter brained man boys,
That begins in his boyhood to dream.
No; talk on and plan as you will, boys,
But remember, if you would succeed.
It isn't the talk that shows skill, boys,
But the end of the talking,—the deed!
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My Shadow
by Robert Louis Stevenson | Total Words: 187, Lines: 16
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Full Text
I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,
And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.
He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head;
And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow—
Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow;
For he sometimes shoots up taller like an india-rubber ball,
And he sometimes gets so little that there's none of him at all.He hasn't got a notion of how children ought to play,
And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way.
He stays so close beside me, he's a coward, you can see;
I'd think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me!One morning, very early, before the sun was up,
I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup;
But my lazy little shadow, like an arrant sleepy-head,
Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed. -
The Carpenter's Shop
by Amos Russel Wells | Total Words: 106, Lines: 16
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Full Text
I am a tool in the Carpenter's hand,
And obedience only is mine.
Never a whit may I understand
The Carpenter's vast design.
Mine to stay if He bids me stay,
And go if He bids me go;
Mine to plod in the same dull way
Steadily to and fro.
Mine to present a handle firm,
And an edge that is sharp and true;
Mine to achieve in my destined term,
Just what He would have me do.
The Nazareth shop in the centuries dead
Has sunk from the sight of men.
O joy if my life by the Carpenter led,
May restore that shop again!
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Crossing the Bar
by Alfred, Lord Tennyson | Total Words: 102, Lines: 16
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Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,
But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.
Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;
For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crost the bar.
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In Flanders Fields
Poem about soldiers who lost their lives in World War I by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae on May 3, 1915 | Total Words: 97, Lines: 16
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Full Text
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.We are the Dead.
Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields. -
A Poison Tree
by William Blake | Total Words: 100, Lines: 16
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I was angry with my friend;
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe:
I told it not, my wrath did grow.
And I waterd it in fears,
Night & morning with my tears:
And I sunned it with smiles,
And with soft deceitful wiles.
And it grew both day and night.
Till it bore an apple bright.
And my foe beheld it shine,
And he knew that it was mine.
And into my garden stole,
When the night had veild the pole;
In the morning glad I see;
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.
Unforgiveness is the poison you drink hoping others will die.
– Original Source Unknown
“
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Life Sculpture
by George Washington Doane | Total Words: 105, Lines: 16
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Chisel in hand stood a sculptor boy
With his marble block before him,
And his eyes lit up with a smile of joy,
As an angel-dream passed o’er him.
He carved the dream on that shapeless stone,
With many a sharp incision;
With heaven’s own flight the sculpture shone,—
He’d caught that angel-vision.
Children of life are we, as we stand
With our lives uncarved before us,
Waiting the hour when, at God’s command,
Our life-dream shall pass o’er us.
If we carve it then on the yielding stone,
With many a sharp incision,
Its heavenly beauty shall be our own,—
Our lives, that angel-vision.
Yet you, LORD, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.
– Isaiah 64:8
The Bible, NIV“
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Concord Hymn
by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Sung at the Completion of the Battle Monument, July 4, 1837 | Total Words: 109, Lines: 16
►Full Text
By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood
And fired the shot heard round the world.
The foe long since in silence slept;
Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;
And Time the ruined bridge has swept
Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.
On this green bank, by this soft stream,
We set today a votive stone;
That memory may their deed redeem,
When, like our sires, our sons are gone.
Spirit, that made those heroes dare
To die, and leave their children free,
Bid Time and Nature gently spare
The shaft we raise to them and thee.
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How doth the little busy bee
by Isaac Watts | Total Words: 92, Lines: 16
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Full Text
How doth the little busy bee
Improve each shining hour,
And gather honey all the day
From every opening flower!
How skilfully she builds her cell!
How neat she spreads the wax!
And labors hard to storeit well
With the sweet food she makes.
In works of labor or of skill,
I would be busy too;
For Satan finds some mischief still
For idle hands to do.
In books, or work, or healthful play,
Let my first years be passed,
That I may give for every day
Some good account at last.
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Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
by Robert Frost | Total Words: 108, Lines: 16
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Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep. -
Ten True Friends
by Anonymous | Total Words: 93, Lines: 20
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Ten true friends you have,
Who, five in a row,
Upon each side of you
Go where you go.
Suppose you are sleepy,
They help you to bed;
Suppose you are hungry,
They see that you are fed.
They wake up your dolly
And put on your clothes,
And trundle her carriage
Wherever she goes.
And these ten tiny fellows,
They serve you with ease;
And they ask nothing from you,
But work hard to please.
Now, with ten willing servants
So trusty and true,
Pray who would be lazy
Or idle—would you?
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The Two Kinds of People
No; the two kinds of people on earth I mean,
Are the people who lift and the people who lean.
– Ella Wheeler Wilcox
The Two Kinds of People“
by Ella Wheeler Wilcox | Total Words: 190, Lines: 20
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There are two kinds of people on earth to-day;
Just two kinds of people, no more, I say.
Not the sinner and saint, for it's well understood,
The good are half bad and the bad are half good.
Not the rich and the poor, for to rate a man's wealth,
You must first know the state of his conscience and health.
Not the humble and proud, for in life's little span,
Who puts on vain airs is not counted a man.
Not the happy and sad, for the swift flying years
Bring each man his laughter and each man his tears.
No; the two kinds of people on earth I mean,
Are the people who lift and the people who lean.
Wherever you go, you will find the earth's masses
Are always divided in just these two classes.
And, oddly enough, you will find, too, I ween,
There's only one lifter to twenty who lean.
In which class are you? Are you easing the load
Of overtaxed lifters, who toil down the road?
Or are you a leaner, who lets others share
Your portion of labor, and worry and care?
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The Pines
by Ruby Archer | Total Words: 106, Lines: 20
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What ethics in the pine-grove lurk
For keen of ear to sound—
A myriad kindly ministers,
Humility profound.
The trees maintain a brotherhood,
The earth exhales a prayer,
Each bough a precious ointment pours
In balm upon the air.
The ferns a tender refuge grant
To vagrant, rolling cone;
The forest monarch woos the bird
To share his royal throne.
The willing branches move aside
To leave the sunlight room;
And in the whole broad, lovely wood,
No envy makes a gloom.
Come out and learn of pine-grove lore
How sweet it is to give,
What perfect rule for happiness,—
To live and help to live.
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Be Thou My Vision
by Dallán Forgaill | Total Words: 164, Lines: 20
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Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art;
Thou my best thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.
Be Thou my wisdom, and Thou my true word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.
Be Thou my battle shield, sword for the fight;
Be Thou my dignity, Thou my delight;
Thou my soul’s shelter, Thou my high tower:
Raise Thou me heav’nward, O power of my power.
Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my treasure Thou art.
High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach heaven’s joys, O bright heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my vision, O Ruler of all.
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The Road Not Taken
by Robert Frost | Total Words: 144, Lines: 20
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Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
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Lend a Hand
by Anonymous | Total Words: 134, Lines: 22
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Lend a hand to one another
In the daily toil of life;
When we meet a weaker brother,
Let us help him in the strife.
There is none so rich but may,
In his turn, be forced to borrow;
And the poor man's lot to-day
May become our own to-morrow.
Lend a hand to one another:
When malicious tongues have thrown
Dark suspicion on your brother,
Be not prompt to cast a stone.
There is none so good but may
Run adrift in shame and sorrow.
Lend a hand to one another:
In the race for Honor's crown;
Should it fall upon your brother,
Let not envy tear it down.
Lend a hand to all, we pray,
In their sunshine or their sorrow;
And the prize they've won today
May become our own to-morrow.
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If I Were A Sunbeam
by Alice Cary | Total Words: 108, Lines: 24
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"If I were a sunbeam,
I know what I'd do;
I would seek white lilies,
Roaming woodlands through.
I would steal among them,
Softest light I'd shed,
Until every lily
Raised its drooping head.
"If I were a sunbeam,
I know where I'd go;
Into lowly hovels,
Dark with want and woe:
Till sad hearts looked upward,
I would shine and shine;
Then they'd think of heaven,
Their sweet home and mine."
Are you not a sunbeam,
Child, whose life is glad
With an inner brightness
Sunshine never had?
Oh, as God has blessed you,
Scatter light divine!
For there is no sunbeam
But must die or shine.
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Contentment
by Edward Dyer | Total Words: 165, Lines: 24
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My mind to me a kingdom is;
Such perfect joy therein I find
As far excels all earthly bliss
That God or Nature hath assigned;
Though much I want that most would have,
Yet still my mind forbids to crave.
Content I live; this is my stay,—
I seek no more than may suffice.
I press to bear no haughty sway;
Look, what I lack my mind supplies.
Lo, thus I triumph like a king,
Content with that my mind doth bring.
I laugh not at another's loss,
I grudge not at another's gain;
No worldly wave my mind can toss;
I brook that is another's bane.
I fear no foe, nor fawn on friend;
I loathe not life, nor dread mine end.
My wealth is health and perfect ease;
My conscience clear my chief defense;
I never seek by bribes to please
Nor by desert to give offense.
Thus do I live, thus will I die;
Would all did so as well as I!
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Amazing Grace
by John Newton | Total Words: 146, Lines: 24
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Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound)
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear,
The hour I first believed!
Through many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
'Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.
The Lord has promised good to me,
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.
Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail
And mortal life shall cease;
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.
The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who called me here below,
Will be forever mine.
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Somebody Said it Couldn't Be Done
by Edgar Albert Guest | Total Words: 207, Lines: 24
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Somebody said that it couldn’t be done
But he with a chuckle replied
That “maybe it couldn’t,” but he would be one
Who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
On his face. If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn’t be done, and he did it!
Somebody scoffed: “Oh, you’ll never do that;
At least no one ever has done it;”
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat
And the first thing we knew he’d begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn’t be done, and he did it.
There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
There are thousands to prophesy failure,
There are thousands to point out to you one by one,
The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle in with a bit of a grin,
Just take off your coat and go to it;
Just start in to sing as you tackle the thing
That “cannot be done,” and you’ll do it.
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Loving and Forgiving
by Charles Swain | Total Words: 111, Lines: 24
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Oh, loving and forgiving—
Ye angel-words of earth,
Years were not worth the living
If ye too had not birth!
Oh, loving and forbearing—
How sweet your mission here;
The grief that ye are sharing
Hath blessings in its tear.
Oh, stern and unforgiving
Ye evil words of life,
That mock the means of living
With never-ending strife.
Oh, harsh and unrepenting—
How would ye meet the grave,
If Heaven, as unrelenting,
Forbore not, nor forgave!
Oh, loving and forgiving—
Sweet sisters of the soul,
In whose celestial living
The passions find control!
Still breathe your influence o'er us
Whene'er by passion crost.
And, angel-like, restore us
The paradise we lost.
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I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
by William Wordsworth | Total Words: 150, Lines: 24
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I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils. -
All Things Bright and Beautiful
by Cecil Frances Alexander | Total Words: 146, Lines: 28
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All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.
Each little flower that opens,
Each little bird that sings,
He made their glowing colors,
He made their tiny wings.
The rich man in his castle,
The poor man at his gate,
God made them high and lowly,
And ordered their estate.
The purple headed mountain,
The river running by,
The sunset and the morning,
That brightens up the sky;−
The cold wind in the winter,
The pleasant summer sun,
The ripe fruits in the garden,−
He made them every one.
The tall trees in the greenwood,
The meadows where we play,
The rushes by the water,
We gather every day;−
He gave us eyes to see them,
And lips that we might tell
How great is God Almighty,
Who hath made all things well.
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All Creatures of Our God and King
by Francis of Assisi | Total Words: 164, Lines: 28
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All creatures of our God and King
Lift up your voice and with us sing,
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thou burning sun with golden beam,
Thou silver moon with softer gleam!
Refrain:
O praise Him! O praise Him!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thou rushing wind that art so strong,
Ye clouds that sail in heav'n along,
O praise Him! Alleluia!
Thou rising moon, in praise rejoice,
Ye lights of evening, find a voice! RefrainThou flowing water, pure and clear,
Make music for thy Lord to hear,
O praise Him! Alleluia!
Thou fire so masterful and bright,
That givest man both warmth and light. RefrainAnd all ye men of tender heart,
Forgiving others, take your part,
O sing ye! Alleluia!
Ye who long pain and sorrow bear,
Praise God and on Him cast your care! RefrainLet all things their Creator bless,
And worship Him in humbleness,
O praise Him! Alleluia!
Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son,
And praise the Spirit, Three in One! Refrain -
Nobility
True worth is in being, not seeming,—
- Alice Cary
Nobility“
by Alice Cary | Total Words: 274, Lines: 40
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True worth is in being, not seeming,—
In doing, each day that goes by,
Some little good—not in dreaming
Of great things to do by and by.
For whatever men say in their blindness,
And spite of the fancies of youth,
There’s nothing so kingly as kindness,
And nothing so royal as truth.
We get back our meet as we measure—
We cannot do wrong and feel right,
Nor can we give pain and gain pleasure,
For justice avenges each slight.
The air for the wing of the sparrow,
The bush for the robin and wren,
But always the path that is narrow
And straight, for the children of men.
‘Tis not in the pages of story
The heart of its ills to begulie,
Though he who makes courtship to glory
Gives all that he hath for her smile.
For when from her heights he has won her,
Alas it is only to prove
That nothing’s so sacred as honor,
And nothing so loyal as love!
We cannot make bargains for blisses,
Nor catch them like fishes in nets;
And sometimes the thing our life misses
Helps more than the thing which it gets.
For good lieth not in pursuing,
Nor gaining of great nor of small,
But just in the doing, and doing
As we would be done by, is all.
Through envy, through malice, through hating,
Against the world, early and late,
No jot of our courage abating—
Our part is to work and wait.
And slight is the sting of his trouble
Whose winnings are less than his worth;
For he who is honest and noble,
Whatever his fortunes or birth.