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Subject: PARENTHOOD
Matches Found: 208

UPDATE command denied to user 'poetryex_users'@'localhost' for table `poetryex_poems`.`subcnt` "BEHOLD, O LORD, THY FAITHFUL PEOPLE!", by ANONYMOUS    Poem Text                    
Last Line: "as free-will gifts, as bonds of love"
Subject(s): Family Life;jews;love;parents;togetherness; Relatives;judaism;parenthood


A BALLAD, by JANE BOWDLER    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Return return, my hapless spouse
Last Line: Let fancy paint the rest.
Subject(s): Children; Innocence; Parents; Trials; Childhood; Parenthood


A BALLAD IN BLANK VERSE, by JOHN DAVIDSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: His father's house looked out across a firth
Last Line: Women to love are waiting everywhere.'
Subject(s): Aphrodite; Atheism; Christianity; Death; Family Life; Fathers & Sons; Mythology - Classical; Paganism & Pagans; Parents; Pride; Dead, The; Relatives; Parenthood; Self-esteem; Self-respect


A DAUGHTER'S FEVER, by DAVID BOTTOMS    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Dark ivy draws a wave across the yard
Last Line: Small fingers curl.
Subject(s): Children; Fathers & Daughters; Parents; Childhood; Parenthood


A DIFFERENCE, by BURGES JOHNSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Whenever I can't go to sleep
Last Line: While mother's in the hall!
Subject(s): Children; Fear; Parents; Childhood; Parenthood


A GIFT OF GREAT VALUE, by ROBERT CREELEY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis         Recitation by Author     Poet's Biography
First Line: Oh that horse I see so high
Subject(s): Animals; Gifts & Giving; Horses; Parents; Parenthood


A GRANDFATHER'S LAST LETTER, by NORMAN DUBIE    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Elise, I have your valentine with the red shoes. I have
Last Line: Where I am going.
Subject(s): Children; Death; Grandchildren; Grandparents; Letters; Parents; Spiritual Life; Childhood; Dead, The; Grandsons; Granddaughters; Grandmothers; Grandfathers; Great Grandfathers; Great Grandmothers; Parenthood


A HYMN FOR A CHILD THAT HAS UNGODLY PARENTS, by WILLIAM COWPER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: How happy are those little ones
Last Line: And supplication heard.
Subject(s): Parents; Parenthood


A LEAF, by JOHANN LUDWIG UHLAND    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: A leaf falls softly at my feet
Last Line: So much that was most dear to me.
Subject(s): Children; Parents; Childhood; Parenthood


A MOTHER, by ERNEST G. MOLL    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: You were stained with the dust of the road
Last Line: And summer's coming.
Alternate Author Name(s): Moll, Gerry
Subject(s): Parents; Parenthood


A PARENT REPRIMANDED, by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Sometimes I think 'at parunts does
Last Line: Ist wite where ma she said it's at!
Alternate Author Name(s): Johnson Of Boone, Benj. F.
Subject(s): Parents; Punishment; Parenthood


A POET'S WELCOME TO HIS LOVE-BEGOTTEN DAUGHTER, by ROBERT BURNS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Thou's welcome wean, mishanter fa' me
Last Line: An' think't weel war'd.
Subject(s): Daughters; Parents; Parenthood


A PRAYER, by ESTHER REINECKE    Poem Text                    
First Line: .....And today
Last Line: His loneliness away. God, grant me this.
Subject(s): Babies; Death; Death - Children; God; Mothers; Parents; Prayer; Infants; Dead, The; Death - Babies; Parenthood


A PRAYER FOR MY DAUGHTER, by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis         Recitation     Poet's Biography
First Line: Once more the storm is howling, and half hid
Last Line: And custom for the spreading laurel tree.
Alternate Author Name(s): Yeats, W. B.
Subject(s): Beauty; Children; Daughters; Fathers & Daughters; Ireland; Life Change Events; Mothers; Parents; Poetry & Poets; Prayer; Women; Childhood; Irish; Parenthood


A PROTEST, by ISABEL ECCLESTONE MACKAY    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I think it's queer that boys should be
Last Line: "yes, dear—some time—now run to bed!"
Subject(s): Boys; Children; Contrariness; Parents; Childhood; Parenthood


A SONG, by DAVID IGNATOW    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: For having loved my parents
Last Line: I am myself.
Subject(s): Parents; Parenthood


A TENT BESIDE A RIVER, by DAVID BOTTOMS    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Remembering lanterned, canvas-sprawled fields
Last Line: Nor their words ferried anyone safely anywhere.
Subject(s): Bible; Camping; Faith; Parents; Camps; Summer Camps; Belief; Creed; Parenthood


A WITCH'S DAUGHTER AND A COBBLER'S SON, by WINIFRED VIRGINIA JACKSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: A witch's daughter
Last Line: See how they run!
Subject(s): Children; Cobblers; Mothers; Parents; Witchcraft & Witches; Childhood; Parenthood


A' LANE, LANEY!, by JOHN TAYLOR (1837-)    Poem Text                    
First Line: I've had my share o' sorrows; they've been neither few nor sma'
Last Line: He winna leave the bairnie his wee lea lane!
Subject(s): Children; Parents; Childhood; Parenthood


AD ASTRA: 112, by CHARLES WHITWORTH WYNNE    Poem Text                    
First Line: What man that hath a weak and ailing child
Last Line: Heals every wound, and can all tears becalm.
Alternate Author Name(s): Cayzer, Charles
Subject(s): Children; Parents; Sympathy; Childhood; Parenthood; Empathy


ADAM, by ANTHONY HECHT    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Adam, my child, my son
Subject(s): Parents; Parenthood


AFTER THE WEDDING, by WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I thought we never should be rid of them!
Last Line: To find our own past in their future there!
Alternate Author Name(s): Howells, W. D.
Subject(s): Daughters; Love - Marital; Marriage; Parents; Wedded Love; Marriage - Love; Weddings; Husbands; Wives; Parenthood


ALONE WITH JANE, by RAY CLARKE ROSE    Poem Text                    
First Line: Jane, in a suit of cameron plaid
Last Line: I wish I were n't alone with jane!
Subject(s): Courtship; Daughters; Family Life; Parents; Relatives; Parenthood


ANACREONTIC, ON PARTING WITH A LITTLE CHILD, by SAMUEL WESLEY    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Dear, farewell, a little while, / easy parting with a smile
Last Line: Vainly mourns for them that play.
Subject(s): Parents; Parenthood


APPARENT, by ALBERT ELLSWORTH THOMAS    Poem Text                    
First Line: When I questioned young smithson, a short time ago
Last Line: "the reason's a parent!"" cried he."
Subject(s): Parents; Parenthood


AUBURN POEM, by HAYDEN CARRUTH    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A book I was reading this morning
Last Line: Glance. This, so late, the crisis of our lives.
Subject(s): Children; Divorce; Grief; Life; Marriage; Parents; Sickness; Childhood; Sorrow; Sadness; Weddings; Husbands; Wives; Parenthood; Illness


BIRTHDAY (AUTOBIOGRAPHY), by ROBINSON JEFFERS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Seventy years ago my mother labored to bear me,
Last Line: Swim in my blood and distort my thought but the old man's welcome
Subject(s): Birthdays; Self; Parents; Parenthood


BORN INTO A WORLD KNOWING, by SUSAN GRIFFIN    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: This will happen
Last Line: In the fresh snow.
Subject(s): Children; Parents; Survival; Childhood; Parenthood


BRIDAL PHOTO, 1906, by JOHN CIARDI    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A ceremonial rose in the lapel
Last Line: Her hand at total rest under his hand
Subject(s): Parents; Parenthood


CENSORSHIP, by JOHN CIARDI    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Damn that celibate farm, that cracker-box house
Last Line: We're watching you!
Subject(s): Hate; Parents; Sex; Parenthood


CHILDREN, by CAROLYN KIZER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: What good are children anyhow?
Last Line: "the way they call him, ""baby."
Subject(s): Childlessness; Children; Cynicism; Discontent; Parents; Women; Women's Rights; Childhood; Dissatisfaction; Parenthood; Feminism


CIGARETTES, by LUCILLE CLIFTON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: My father burned us all. Ash
Last Line: Smoldering halls.
Subject(s): Children; Fathers; Fire; Parents; Smoking; Childhood; Parenthood; Tobacco; Pipes; Cigars; Cigarettes


CIVILIZING THE CHILD, by LISEL MUELLER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: You can't keep it, I say
Alternate Author Name(s): Muller, Lisel
Subject(s): Children; Parents; Childhood; Parenthood


CONSUMMATION, by MORRIS HURLEY    Poem Text                    
First Line: Abundant life is nature's law
Last Line: To take you through the gates of heaven.
Subject(s): Caregivers; Mothers; Parents; Teaching & Teachers; Parenthood; Educators; Professors


CURRICULUM VITAE, by LISEL MUELLER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I was born in a free city, near the north sea
Alternate Author Name(s): Muller, Lisel
Subject(s): Birth; Family Life; Parents; Child Birth; Midwifery; Relatives; Parenthood


DESTINY, by EMMA E. NICHOLS    Poem Text                    
First Line: It seems but yesterday
Last Line: Unto your chosen destiny.
Subject(s): Children; Fate; Parents; Childhood; Destiny; Parenthood


DON SEBASTIAN, ACT 3: TO ACCOUNT RENDERED, by JOHN DRYDEN    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: My father's, mother's, brother's deaths I pardon
Last Line: And beg of heaven to charge the bill on me.
Subject(s): Brothers; Death; Forgiveness; Murder; Parents; Half-brothers; Dead, The; Clemency; Parenthood


DREAM OF DONEGAL, by GERTRUDE JANE CODD    Poem Text                    
First Line: I can see the little cottage by the sea, by the sea
Last Line: Oh, father, be a boy again, and not so cold and still!
Subject(s): Dreams; Parents; Sea; Nightmares; Parenthood; Ocean


ELEGY ON ENCOUNTERING THE TROUBLE OF THE WORLD, by KENNETH REXROTH    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Young, in spring, I gathered
Subject(s): Children; Nature; Parents; Sargent, Dudley Allen (1849-1924); Childhood; Parenthood


EMPTY CRADLE SONGS, by CHASE TWICHELL    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I think about the rooms
Subject(s): Parents; Parenthood


ENDING WITH A LINE FROM LEAR, by MARVIN BELL    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I will try to remember. It was light
Last Line: Never. Never. Never. Never. Never.
Subject(s): Children; Dramatists; Fathers & Sons; Funerals; Graves; Grief; Lear, King; Parents; Plays & Playwrights ; Poetry & Poets; Shakespeare, William (1564-1616); Childhood; Burials; Tombs; Tombstones; Sorrow; Sadness; Parenthood; Dramatists


EPIGRAM: 45. ON MY FIRST SON, by BEN JONSON    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Farewell, thou child of my right hand, and joy
Last Line: As what he loves may never like too much.
Variant Title(s): On His First Sonne;on My First Sonne;epitaph: On My Son
Subject(s): Death - Children; Fathers; Grief; Men; Mourning; Parents; Prayer; Sons; Death - Babies; Sorrow; Sadness; Bereavement; Parenthood


EPITHALAMIUM, by LEO KENNEDY    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: This body of my mother, pierced by me
Last Line: My sister, heralded by no moan, no sound.
Subject(s): Death; Graves; Marriage; Parents; Dead, The; Tombs; Tombstones; Weddings; Husbands; Wives; Parenthood


ETHELBERT'S 'COMING HOME IN THE DARK', by FRANCES RIDLEY HAVERGAL    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Did I tell you how we went to tea
Last Line: At what we told him, willie and I.
Subject(s): Children; Parents; Childhood; Parenthood


EXCUSES, by BURGES JOHNSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Sometimes when I'm special naughty
Last Line: Just how bad I was!)
Subject(s): Children; Discipline; Parents; Childhood; Parenthood


FAMOUS MAN, by HORTENSE KING FLEXNER    Poem Text                    
First Line: Fluttered across his face
Last Line: Of his father.
Subject(s): Ancestors & Ancestry; Family Life; Parents; Heritage; Heredity; Relatives; Parenthood


FATHER GOOSE, by LYMAN FRANK BAUM    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Old mother goose became quite new
Last Line: The tales of father goose.
Alternate Author Name(s): Baum, L. Frank
Subject(s): Books; Geese; Parents; Reading; Parenthood


FATHER POEM, by JOEL OPPENHEIMER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I have fathered / four sons, they surround
Subject(s): Parents; Parenthood


FATHER'S SONG, by GREGORY ORR    Poem Text         Poet Analysis         Recitation     Poet's Biography
First Line: Yesterday, against admonishment
Last Line: She tries to teach me risk.
Subject(s): Children; Pain; Parents; Prudence; Childhood; Suffering; Misery; Parenthood; Caution


FATHER'S VALENTINE, by ISABEL ECCLESTONE MACKAY    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Father's got the queerest valentine!
Last Line: "that was mother, thirty years ago!"
Subject(s): Children; Hearts; Holidays; Love; Mothers; Parents; Valentine's Day; Childhood; Parenthood


FIERCE PARENTS, by ANNETTE WYNNE    Poem Text                    
First Line: If your parent should be dressed in
Last Line: And laughs back as all fathers do in every kind of land.
Subject(s): Children; January; Parents; Childhood; Parenthood


FLYING INTO ST. LOUIS, by HAYDEN CARRUTH    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: It is socked in. Can't see a thing. Nor have I ever
Last Line: And boarded the plane to san francisco.
Subject(s): Family Life; Grandparents; Parents; St. Louis, Missouri; Relatives; Grandmothers; Grandfathers; Great Grandfathers; Great Grandmothers; Parenthood


FOR A CHILD: 2. NIGHT SONG, by CHARLES WILLIAMS    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Sleep, our lord, and for thy peace
Last Line: Be your great protection shed.
Subject(s): Children; Parents; Sleep; Childhood; Parenthood


FORTY YEARS LATER, by SHARON OLDS            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When I suddenly sensed the rubber band which I had
Subject(s): Parents; Parenthood


FROST AT MIDNIGHT, by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The frost performs its secret ministry
Last Line: Quietly shining to the quiet moon.
Subject(s): Babies; Fantasy; Parents; Infants; Parenthood


FRUIT OF THE FLOWER, by COUNTEE CULLEN    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: My father is a quiet man
Last Line: That flushes this wild fruit?
Subject(s): Parents; Parenthood


FULFILLMENT, by CLARIBEL WEEKS AVERY    Poem Text                    
First Line: My children have the things I wanted - college
Last Line: God lets me give the things I never had.
Subject(s): Parents; Universities & Colleges; Parenthood


GRADUATION, by LOUIS SIMPSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: My ex-wife comes over
Subject(s): Graduation & Graduates; Divorce; Parents; Parenthood


GRAVE, by BILLY COLLINS            Poet Analysis         Recitation by Author     Poet's Biography
Subject(s): Graves; Parents; Tombs; Tombstones; Parenthood


GROWN UPS, by ROSE FYLEMAN    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Aunties know all about fairies
Last Line: Even the little ones.
Subject(s): Parents; Parenthood


HEAVEN, by CONDE BENOIST PALLEN    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: A little child, a little child
Last Line: To show true heaven is all above.
Subject(s): Birth; Children; Parents; Child Birth; Midwifery; Childhood; Parenthood


HER GIFT, by BURGES JOHNSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Her eyes, her mouth, her chin, so strangely small
Last Line: Take mighty hold upon two human hearts.
Subject(s): Babies; Blessings; Children; Parents; Infants; Childhood; Parenthood


HER POET-BROTHER, by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Oh! What ef little childerns all
Last Line: Wuz big as parunts is!
Alternate Author Name(s): Johnson Of Boone, Benj. F.
Subject(s): Children; Parents; Retail Trade; Childhood; Parenthood; Stores; Shops; Shopkeepers


HIS PA'S ROMANCE, by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: All 'at I ever want to be
Last Line: "I laugh' an' yell', ""hooray-hooraw!"
Alternate Author Name(s): Johnson Of Boone, Benj. F.
Subject(s): Love; Parents; Uncles; Parenthood


HONEY LAM, by MILDRED M. FORT    Poem Text                    
First Line: Hush dat noise, an' don' yo' weep
Last Line: Honey lam'.
Subject(s): Babies; Parents; Infants; Parenthood


HOW IT PASSES, by CAROLYN KIZER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Tomorrow I'll begin to cook like mother
Last Line: It won't go away.
Subject(s): Aging; Creative Ability; Parents; Women; Women's Rights; Inspiration; Creativity; Parenthood; Feminism


I GO BACK TO MAY 1937, by SHARON OLDS    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis         Recitation by Author     Poet's Biography
First Line: I see them standing at the formal gates of their colleges
Subject(s): Parents; Marriage; Failure; Parenthood; Weddings; Husbands; Wives


IL LATTE, by EDWARD JERNINGHAM    Poem Text                    
First Line: Ye fair, for whom the hands of hymen weave
Last Line: Unblam'd inebriate at that healthful spring.
Subject(s): Babies; Caregivers; Love; Nature; Parents; Infants; Parenthood


IMPORTANT QUERIES, by JANET HAMILTON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Why this hurrying to and fro
Last Line: Adorn and bless the nation.
Alternate Author Name(s): Hamilton, Janet Thompson
Subject(s): Children; Discipline; Labor & Laborers; Mothers; Parents; Childhood; Work; Workers; Parenthood


INFIDELITY, by STANLEY PLUMLY    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The two-toned olds swinging sideways out of
Subject(s): Childhood Memories; Parents; Quarrels; Parenthood; Arguments; Disagreements


INTELLECTUAL LIMITATIONS, by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Parunts knows lots more than us
Last Line: "well, what is it, honey?"
Alternate Author Name(s): Johnson Of Boone, Benj. F.
Subject(s): Parents; Wind; Wisdom; Parenthood


INTERRUPTING, by BURGES JOHNSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: They say it's wrong to interrupt when someone talks / to you
Last Line: Which proves he doesn't hear, nor even look at what I'm showing.
Subject(s): Children; Parents; Talk; Childhood; Parenthood


JACOB UNRECOGNIZED, by ISABEL ECCLESTONE MACKAY    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: One day when I was lyin' in the grass
Last Line: But my maw—why, you jes' can't int'rest her!
Subject(s): Boys; Children; Parents; Childhood; Parenthood


KING'S DAUGHTERS, HOME FOR UNWED MOTHERS, 1948, by CAROLYN D. WRIGHT    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Somewhere there figures a man. In uniform. He's not white. He
Alternate Author Name(s): Wright, C. D.
Subject(s): Birth; Children; Daughters; Parents; Child Birth; Midwifery; Childhood; Parenthood


LIFE IS THUS, by WALT MASON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Never look behind
Last Line: Behind.
Subject(s): Children; Grief; Life; Parents; Poverty; Childhood; Sorrow; Sadness; Parenthood


LIQUID FLESH, by BRENDA SHAUGHNESSY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In a light chocolatine room
Subject(s): Babies; Parents; Relationships; Body, Human; Infants; Parenthood


LOOKING IN AT NIGHT, by MARY KINZIE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Asleep, alive, her shape makes me afraid
Last Line: Drawing the night along her shoulder blade
Subject(s): Children; Parents; Childhood; Parenthood


LOST AND FOUND, by JULIA A. MOORE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In a southern city lived a wealthy family
Last Line: My poor little wanderer far away from home.
Alternate Author Name(s): Sweet Singer Of Michigan
Subject(s): Parents; Parenthood


LOVE'S ARROW POISONED, by THOMAS LOVELL BEDDOES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Come lift your head from that sad pillow, lady
Last Line: Was folded in a pannier.
Subject(s): Betrayal; Brothers; Love; Murder; Parents; Poisons & Poisoning; Punishment; Revenge; Sea; Sisters; Suicide; Half-brothers; Parenthood; Ocean


LWONESOMENESS, by WILLIAM BARNES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: As I do zew, wi' nimble hand
Last Line: Up here a-while. Do come.
Subject(s): Autumn; Parents; Seasons; Solitude; Fall; Parenthood; Loneliness


LYNCHING AND BURNING, by PRIMUS ST. JOHN    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Men lean toward the wood
Last Line: People lived there. Now we live there...
Subject(s): Children; Ku Klux Klan; Lynching; Parents; Slavery; Childhood; Parenthood; Serfs


M. ON HER THIRTHIETH BIRTHDAY, by TOM SLEIGH    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Sometimes I think I could be a yogi
Subject(s): Coming Of Age; Parents; Death; Parenthood; Dead, The


MENAPHON: SEPHESTIA'S [CRADLE] SONG TO HER CHILD, by ROBERT GREENE    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Weep not, my wanton, smile upon my knee
Last Line: When thou art old there's grief enough for thee.
Variant Title(s): Sephestia's Lullaby
Subject(s): Children; Grief; Parents; Childhood; Sorrow; Sadness; Parenthood


MILKWEED AND MONARCH, by PAUL MULDOON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: As he knelt by the grave of his mother and father
Subject(s): Parents; Parenthood


MISSING THE DEAD, by LISEL MUELLER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I miss the old scrawl on the viaduct
Alternate Author Name(s): Muller, Lisel
Subject(s): Parker, Charlie (bird) (1920-1955); Parents; Death; Parenthood; Dead, The


MOTHER AND SON, by KAREN SWENSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Still, in the stale cigarette smell
Last Line: Drift separately into dawn.
Subject(s): Children; Memory; Mothers & Sons; Parents; Childhood; Parenthood


MOTHER WONDER, by FLORA SHUFELT RIVOLA    Poem Text                    
First Line: I have washed their clothes and their faces
Last Line: I wonder!
Subject(s): Children; Good; Hearts; Mothers; Parents; Childhood; Parenthood


MY CHILDHOOD'S HAPPY DAYS; TO MY PARENTS, by DANIEL WEBSTER DAVIS    Poem Text                    
First Line: Many poets great and gifted whom the muse's touch had blessed
Last Line: When at last our bark is anchored there to spend our happiest days.
Subject(s): Family Life; Parents; Relatives; Parenthood


MY PARENTS HAVE COME HOME LAUGHING, by MARK JARMAN    Poem Text         Poet Analysis         Recitation by Author     Poet's Biography
Last Line: That seems not to be pain, and it comforts me
Subject(s): Parents; Parenthood


NAMING HIM, by BURGES JOHNSON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: You'd think, while they're trying to find me a name
Last Line: Meanwhile they forget that I haven't been fed!
Subject(s): Babies; Names; Parents; Infants; Parenthood


NECESSARY OBSERVATIONS: 2D PRECEPT, by THOMAS RANDOLPH    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Honour thy parents to prolong thine end
Last Line: Shall have a child that will revenge the deed.
Subject(s): Parents; Truth; Parenthood


NEW WAVE, by ARTHUR SZE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: He listens to a punk rock group
Last Line: Due to the effects of listening to agent orange.
Subject(s): Adolescence; Music & Musicians; Parents; Teen Agers; Parenthood


NIGHT THOUGHTS, by RAY CLARKE ROSE    Poem Text                    
First Line: To you, o infant of my midnight thought!
Last Line: Ah, well, some day you 'll be a married man.
Subject(s): Babies; Fathers; Marriage; Parents; Infants; Weddings; Husbands; Wives; Parenthood


NO TIME, by BILLY COLLINS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In a rush this weekday morning
Subject(s): Death; Parents; Dead, The; Parenthood


NO TIME, by BILLY COLLINS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: In a rush this weekday morning
Subject(s): Cemeteries; Family Life; Death; Parents; Graveyards; Relatives; Dead, The; Parenthood


NOT WRITING POEMS ABOUT CHILDREN, by CAROLYN KIZER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Once I gave birth to living metaphors
Last Line: Springs from the very separateness of things.
Subject(s): Children; Jonson, Ben (1572-1637); Loss; Metaphor; Parents; Poetry & Poets; Women; Women's Rights; Childhood; Similes; Parenthood; Feminism


NOTES TO MY DAUGHTERS, by SHIRLEY KAUFMAN    Poem Source                     Poet's Biography
First Line: You were the reason for staying
Last Line: Washing it away.
Subject(s): Abandonment; Children; Family Life; Israel; Mortality; Mothers & Daughters; Parents; Desertion; Childhood; Relatives; Parenthood


NUMBER SONG, by ANNE WALDMAN    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I've multiplied, I'm 2
Last Line: Kind congruity.
Subject(s): Babies; Hearts; Love; Parents; Infants; Parenthood


ON MY FIRST DAUGHTER, by BEN JONSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Here lies to each her parents' ruth
Last Line: Which cover lightly, gentle earth!
Variant Title(s): Epitaph On My First Daughter
Subject(s): Daughters; Death - Children; Parents; Death - Babies; Parenthood


ON THE BIRTH OF HIS SON, by SU SHIH    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Families, when a child is born
Last Line: By becoming a cabinet minister.
Alternate Author Name(s): Su Dongpo; Tzu-chan; Su Tung-p'o; Su Shi
Subject(s): Birth; China - Tang Dynasty (618-905); Parents; Child Birth; Midwifery; Parenthood


OPEN HOUSE, by PETER JOHNSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: It's not easy to love oneself
Subject(s): Parents; Schools; Self-doubt; Parenthood; Students


ORGAN SONGS: CHRISTMAS, 1873, by GEORGE MACDONALD    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Christmas-days are still in store
Last Line: News to men! To god old glory!
Subject(s): Birth; Children; Christmas; Jesus Christ; Parents; Child Birth; Midwifery; Childhood; Nativity, The; Parenthood


OUR HOMESTEAD, by PHOEBE CARY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Our old brown homestead reared its walls
Last Line: They are in my heart to-night!
Subject(s): Home; Nostalgia; Parents; Parenthood


OUR LITTLE DAUGHTER, by ANONYMOUS    Poem Text                    
First Line: Our merry little daughter
Last Line: To give my mother sorrow!
Subject(s): Daughters;girls;grief;mothers & Daughters;parents; Sorrow;sadness;parenthood


OUR ROMANCE, by MARVIN BELL    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The road is narrow which leads to that house
Last Line: And saved the parents, being children.
Subject(s): Children; Family Life; Home; Parents; Childhood; Relatives; Parenthood


OUR SON SWEARS HE HAS 102 GALLONS OF WATER IN HIS BODY, by NAOMI SHIHAB NYE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Somewhere a mistaken word distorts the sum
Last Line: That nobody could break.
Subject(s): Drinks & Drinking; Milk; Parents; Water; Wine; Milkmen; Milkmaids; Parenthood


PARENTAL CHRISTMAS PRESENTS, by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Parunts don't git toys an' things
Last Line: She know he ever saw!
Alternate Author Name(s): Johnson Of Boone, Benj. F.
Subject(s): Gifts & Giving; Parents; Toys; Parenthood


PARENTS, by WILLIAM MEREDITH    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: What it must be like to be an angel
Alternate Author Name(s): Meredith, Morris
Subject(s): Parents; Parenthood


PHOTOGRAPHS, by MONA VAN DUYN    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Take what you want, we'll throw the rest away
Subject(s): Photography & Photographers; Memory; Parents; Parenthood


PITTSBURGH, by HAYDEN CARRUTH    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: And my beautiful daughter
Last Line: Pain, in the love of daughter and father.
Subject(s): Cancer (disease); Children; Grief; Love; Parents; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Childhood; Sorrow; Sadness; Parenthood


POEM, by THOMAS MCGRATH    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I hear a heavy knocking
Last Line: Is coming home
Subject(s): Children; Fathers & Sons; Love; Parents; Childhood; Parenthood


POLAND OF DEATH: 1, by ALLEN GROSSMAN    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I hear my father underground scratching with a nail. And I say
Last Line: "and mother says, ""this is the forest primeval."" poland of death!"
Subject(s): Graves; Jews; Parents; Poland; Tombs; Tombstones; Judaism; Parenthood


POPULAR BALLAD: NEVER FORGET YOUR PARENTS, by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A young man once was sitting
Last Line: You would not have been born.
Alternate Author Name(s): F. P. A.
Subject(s): Gratitude; Grief; Parents; Sorrow; Sadness; Parenthood


PREPOSITIONS, by ALBERT GOLDBARTH    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: We are going - the motion picture theater, (direction)
Subject(s): Parents; Cancer (disease); Home Health Care; Parenthood


PULSE OF MY HEART, by WILLIAM SHARP    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Are these your eyes, isla
Last Line: Pulse of my heart!
Alternate Author Name(s): Macleod, Fiona
Subject(s): Children; Death; Eyes; Grief; Legacies; Loss; Love; Parents; Childhood; Dead, The; Sorrow; Sadness; Parenthood


RACHEL MOURNETH, by CORINNE HUNTINGTON JACKSON    Poem Text                    
First Line: Where are my babes, husband, where are my babes?
Last Line: But—god—where are my babes?
Subject(s): Children; Parents; Youth; Childhood; Parenthood


READING A STORY TO MY CHILD, by PRIMUS ST. JOHN    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: This is a small boy
Last Line: In a ragged coat.
Subject(s): Children; Fathers & Sons; Parents; Slavery; Childhood; Parenthood; Serfs


SCALLOP SONG, by ANNE WALDMAN    Poem Text         Poet Analysis         Recitation by Author     Poet's Biography
First Line: I wore a garland of the briar that put me now in awe
Last Line: & leave all sorrow bye & bye.
Subject(s): Babies; Creation; Parents; Infants; Parenthood


SEED, by RUTH STONE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Corn is universal, / so like a roman senator
Last Line: Oh my daughters.
Subject(s): Children; Corn; Indian Summer; Parents; Childhood; Parenthood


SIX LOVE POEMS: 1, by DAVID IGNATOW    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: We are seated at the kitchen table
Last Line: The space we occupy together
Subject(s): Parents; Male-female Relationships; Parenthood


SIXTH DAY, by HORTENSE KING FLEXNER    Poem Text                    
First Line: Straight to the rabbit's nest
Last Line: But of the sixth day's veiled amenities.
Subject(s): Babies; Parents; Infants; Parenthood


SKY, by DAVID IGNATOW    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I would be buried beside my parents
Last Line: Beside us, face up to the sky
Subject(s): Parents; Graves; Parenthood


SMALL GODS, by DORIANNE LAUX    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I thought my father was a god
Last Line: Day after day, I watched them grow.
Subject(s): Baby Boom Generation; Children; Goddesses & Gods; Mythology; Parents; Women; Childhood; Parenthood


SO THERE, by NAOMI SHIHAB NYE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Because I would not let one four-year-old son
Last Line: My my we are a stubborn personality
Subject(s): Children; Parents; Childhood; Parenthood


SONNET TO A FRIEND WHO ASKED, HOW I FELT ... MY INFANT TO ME, by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Charles, my slow heart was only sad, when first
Last Line: And dearer was the mother for the child.
Variant Title(s): Sonnet To A Friend Who Asked How I Felt;mother And Child;to A Friend, Who Asked How I Felt, When The Nurse First Presented
Subject(s): Mothers; Parents; Parenthood


SONNET: 2, by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis         Recitation     Poet's Biography
First Line: When forty winters shall besiege thy brow
Last Line: And see thy blood warm when thou feel'st it cold.
Subject(s): Aging; Love; Parents; Parenthood


STANZAS TO AN AFFECTIONATE AND PIOUS PARENT, ON THE DEATH OF HER CHILD, by BERNARD BARTON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: When good old jacob mourn'd his child
Last Line: Its hopes and fears, and fly to god.
Alternate Author Name(s): Quaker Poet
Subject(s): Death - Children; Mourning; Parents; Death - Babies; Bereavement; Parenthood


TESTAMENT (TO MY CHILD), by GERTRUDE B. GUNDERSON    Poem Text                    
First Line: I cannot will you much of wealth
Last Line: All good shall flow to you.
Subject(s): Children; Faith; Love; Parents; Childhood; Belief; Creed; Parenthood


THE AMERICAN CENTURY, by KENNETH REXROTH    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Blackbirds whistle over the young
Subject(s): Children; Daughters; Love; Parents; United States; Childhood; Parenthood; America


THE ANSWER, by ISOBEL (ISABEL) PAGAN    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: My johnny is left me and gone to the sea
Last Line: We are all born to troubles, I must that endure.
Subject(s): Longing; Love - Loss Of; Parents; Parenthood


THE CABBAGE, by RUTH STONE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: You have rented an apartment
Last Line: You can live with this.
Subject(s): Children; Paintings And Painters; Parents; Childhood; Parenthood


THE CHILDREN'S WAY, by KATHARINE TYNAN    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The children bear our froward mood
Last Line: See, lord,—they bear with us.
Alternate Author Name(s): Hinkson, Katharine Tynan
Subject(s): Caregivers; Children; Parents; Patience; Tolerance; Childhood; Parenthood


THE CONTINUOUS LIFE, by MARK STRAND    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: What of the neighborhood homes awash
Subject(s): Parents; Parenthood


THE CORONA, by ARTHUR SZE    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Knife-edge / days and shimmering nights
Last Line: Makes us pause and move on.
Subject(s): Fire; Parents; Parenthood


THE CZAR'S LAST CHRISTMAS LETTER: A BARN IN THE URALS, by NORMAN DUBIE    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: You were never told, mother, how old illya was drunk
Last Line: And I am nicholas.
Subject(s): Children; Christmas; Letters; Mothers & Sons; Nicholas Ii, Czar Of Russia (1868-1918); Parents; World War I; Childhood; Nativity, The; Parenthood; First World War


THE DANGER OF DISCONTENT, by E.-G. BAYFIELD    Poem Text                    
First Line: Oh, soon may that holiday period come
Last Line: "than that which is caus'd by the man of your heart."
Alternate Author Name(s): Cooper, Laura+(1)
Subject(s): Love - Complaints; Marriage; Parents; Weddings; Husbands; Wives; Parenthood


THE DOLL BELIEVERS, by CLARENCE MAJOR    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: This lifeless construction
Subject(s): Children; Dolls; Parents; Toys; Childhood; Parenthood


THE FAMILY GROUP, by MADELINE DEFREES    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: That sunday at the zoo I understood the child
Last Line: The strange uncertain rumor of the sea.
Alternate Author Name(s): Mary Gilbert, Sister; De Frees, Madeline
Subject(s): Childlessness; Children; Parents; Childhood; Parenthood


THE FIRST YEAR, by RAY CLARKE ROSE    Poem Text                    
First Line: The year is nearly gone, my child
Last Line: We couldn't do without you!
Subject(s): Babies; Children; Mothers; Parents; Infants; Childhood; Parenthood


THE FIRSTBORN, by VICTOR GUSTAVE PLARR    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: What time the night doth fall
Last Line: In small appear.
Subject(s): Children; Inheritance And Succession; Parents; Childhood; Parenthood


THE GOODNIGHT, by LOUIS SIMPSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: He stood still by her bed
Subject(s): Children; Anxiety; Parents; Childhood; Parenthood


THE HOOLIGAN ZOO, by PETER JOHNSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Angry and depressed I take my son to the zoo
Subject(s): Parents; Zoos; Parenthood


THE HUMAN TRINITY, by GRANVILLE LOWTHER    Poem Text                    
First Line: The sunshine reached across the space
Last Line: In father, childhood, motherhood.
Subject(s): Babies; Children; Fathers; Love; Mothers; Parents; Infants; Childhood; Parenthood


THE LAST THING I SAY, by MARVIN BELL    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: To a thirteen-year-old sleeping
Last Line: A small part of himself and sweet dreams.
Subject(s): Children; Fathers & Sons; Love; Parents; Sleep; Childhood; Parenthood


THE MIRROR IN THE WOODS, by KENNETH REXROTH    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A mirror hung on the broken
Last Line: The wood rats and moss work unseen
Subject(s): Ballet; Dancing & Dancers; Daughters; Houses, Deserted; Mirrors; Parents; Parenthood


THE MODEL KID, by WALT MASON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: How sweet the child who says, 'I will'
Last Line: Dies, no soul in town will mourn.
Subject(s): Children Of Migrant Workers; Obedience; Parents; Parenthood


THE MURMUR, by ARTHUR SZE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The doctor flicks on a light
Last Line: Red and green and indigo.
Subject(s): Birth; Children; Medicine; Parents; Child Birth; Midwifery; Childhood; Drugs, Prescription; Parenthood


THE MYSTERY OF THE CAVES, by MICHAEL WATERS    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I don't remember the name of the story
Subject(s): Caves; Child Molesting; Danger; Family Life; Heroism; Parents; Caverns; Child Abuse; Relatives; Heroes; Heroines; Parenthood


THE NAME, by ROBERT CREELEY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis         Recitation by Author     Poet's Biography
First Line: Be natural
Subject(s): Fathers & Daughters; Parents; Women; Parenthood


THE OLD-FASHIONED PARENTS, by EDGAR ALBERT GUEST    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: The good old-fashioned mothers & the good old-fashioned dads
Last Line: If we'd no old-fashioned mother and we'd no old-fashioned dad.
Alternate Author Name(s): Guest, Eddie
Subject(s): Parents; Parenthood


THE PARENT, by OGDEN NASH    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Children aren't happy with nothing to ignore
Subject(s): Children; Labor & Laborers; Mothers; Parents; Childhood; Work; Workers; Parenthood


THE PARENTS OF PSYCHOTIC CHILDREN, by MARVIN BELL    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: They renounce the very idea
Last Line: Like the crazy birds, to their offspring.
Subject(s): Children; Insanity; Parents; Childhood; Madness; Mental Illness; Parenthood


THE POEMS OF COLD MOUNTAIN: 173, by HAN SHAN    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Raise girls but not too many
Last Line: You're big but no match for your mother
Alternate Author Name(s): Kanzan; Hanshan; Han-shan
Subject(s): Chinese Literature; Girls; Parents; Parenthood


THE POEMS OF COLD MOUNTAIN: 241, by HAN SHAN    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I see people everywhere
Last Line: End your attachment to form
Alternate Author Name(s): Kanzan; Hanshan; Han-shan
Subject(s): Buddhism; Chinese Literature; Family Life; Parents; Buddha; Buddhists; Relatives; Parenthood


THE PRIMITIAE TO PARENTS, by ROBERT HERRICK    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Our household-gods our parents be
Last Line: Us hands to get what here we have.
Subject(s): Parents; Parenthood


THE RECOMPENSE, by KATHARINE TYNAN    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: God made a garden first for man
Last Line: My adam praise me night and morning.
Alternate Author Name(s): Hinkson, Katharine Tynan
Subject(s): Adam & Eve; Bible; Children; God; Home; Mothers; Parents; Trade; Women; Childhood; Parenthood


THE RED HAT, by RACHEL HADAS    Poem Text         Poet Analysis         Recitation     Poet's Biography
First Line: It started before christmas. Now our son
Subject(s): Parents; Anxiety; Parenthood


THE SIX SORROWS, by DORA SIGERSON SHORTER    Poem Text     Poem Explanation                 Poet's Biography
First Line: There are six sorrows in my heart
Last Line: Six sorrows all my own.
Alternate Author Name(s): Sigerson, Dora; Shorter, Mrs. Clement
Subject(s): Children; Grief; Parents; Childhood; Sorrow; Sadness; Parenthood


THE THERMOS, by ARTHUR SZE            Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Poppy seeds from a north bennington garden
Subject(s): Children; Parents; Childhood; Parenthood


THE TRUTH THE DEAD KNOW, by ANNE SEXTON    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis         Recitation by Author     Poet's Biography
First Line: Gone, I say and walk from church
Subject(s): Death; God; Parents; Religion; Dead, The; Parenthood; Theology


THE TWO MOTHERS, by VIRGINIA BULLOCK-WILLIS    Poem Text                    
First Line: They brought him home on his birthday
Last Line: While the last bears him to death's long rest.
Subject(s): Funerals; Mothers & Sons; Parents; Burials; Parenthood


THE TWO PARENTS, by CHRISTOPHER MURRAY GRIEVE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I love my little son, and yet when he was ill
Alternate Author Name(s): Macdiarmid, Hugh
Subject(s): Mothers; Parents; Parenthood


THE VELVET HAND, by PHYLLIS MCGINLEY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: I call that parent rash and wild
Alternate Author Name(s): Hayden, Charles, Mrs.
Subject(s): Parents; Parenthood


THE VOICE, by WILFRID WILSON GIBSON    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: At sunrise, swimming out to sea
Last Line: And answer that sweet calling.
Subject(s): Parents; Sea; Parenthood; Ocean


THE WANDERER, by V. O. WALLINGFORD    Poem Text                    
First Line: I wonder, wayward child of mine
Last Line: I'll clasp your hand, and share your joy!
Subject(s): Children; Farewell; Parents; Wandering & Wanderers; Childhood; Parting; Parenthood


THE WAY OF PAIN, by WENDELL BERRY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: For parents, the only way
Subject(s): Abraham; Christianity; Crucifixion; Pain; Parents; Jesus Christ - Crucifixion; Suffering; Misery; Parenthood


THE WHITE CAP, by ISABEL ECCLESTONE MACKAY    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: One day a baby wave was born
Last Line: With sunbeams in her hair!
Subject(s): Babies; Children; Parents; Infants; Childhood; Parenthood


THEN, by GREGORY ORR    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: My parents and the parents
Subject(s): Parents; Women; Parenthood


THIS BE THE VERSE, by PHILIP LARKIN    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: They fuck you up, your mum and dad
Subject(s): Parents; Parenthood


THOMAS AND NANCY LINCOLN, by EDNA DEAN PROCTOR    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Fit us for humblest service,' prayed
Last Line: Will hallow their repose.
Alternate Author Name(s): Dean
Subject(s): Freedom; Indiana; Lincoln, Abraham (1809-1865); Lincoln, Nancy Hanks (1784-1818); Lincoln, Thomas (1778-1851); Parents; Presidents, United States; Liberty; Parenthood


TIME, PLACE, AND PARENTHOOD, by HAYDEN CARRUTH    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Here we are, my son, aliens in this place
Last Line: Accept these words that can never say enough.
Subject(s): Children; Parents; Past; Time; Childhood; Parenthood


TO BAPTISTA TURRIANO, ON THE DEATH OF HIS SONS, by GIROLAMO FRACASTORO    Poem Text                    
First Line: Since with sweet balm the muse alone can heal
Last Line: Together rush'd to form th' emerging world.
Alternate Author Name(s): Fracastorius, Hieronnymus
Subject(s): Creation; Death; Grief; Mourning; Nature; Parents; Sons; Dead, The; Sorrow; Sadness; Bereavement; Parenthood


TO FOUR MOTHERS, by ETHEL LOVE DUNHAM    Poem Text                    
First Line: God bless you, parents of young lives gone
Last Line: In god's great, wide infinity you all shall meet again.
Subject(s): Parents; Parenthood


TO HIS SON, VINCENT CORBET, ON HIS THIRD BIRTHDAY, by RICHARD CORBET    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: What I shall leave thee none can tell
Last Line: As innocent as now thou art.
Alternate Author Name(s): Corbett, Richard
Variant Title(s): A Father's Blessing
Subject(s): Parents; Parenthood


TO MY CHILDREN - ASLEEP, by ALAN SULLIVAN (1867-)    Poem Text                    
First Line: List to their gentle breathing in the night
Last Line: Put out the light! The gloom cloaks best a worshiper.
Subject(s): Children; Parents; Childhood; Parenthood


TO MY CHILDREN, FEARING FOR THEM, by WENDELL BERRY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Terrors are to come. The earth
Last Line: Though the pain of them is on me
Subject(s): Family Life; Parents; Relatives; Parenthood


TO NIGHT, by GEORGE HERBERT CLARKE    Poem Text                    
First Line: Cooling, quieting night
Last Line: And be at one with the silent three that brood and move in the shadow of god!
Subject(s): Comfort; Death; God; Night; Parents; Dead, The; Bedtime; Parenthood


TO TRY AGAIN, by RUTH STONE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Tremble,' says the sword-grass, leaning over the water
Last Line: "look,"" says the void. ""what meaning? Be thou me."
Subject(s): Children; Parents; Childhood; Parenthood


TO WHERE, by DAVID FERRY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis         Recitation by Author     Poet's Biography
First Line: Wearing a tawny lion pelt upon
Subject(s): Parents; Parenthood


TOWARDS DEMOCRACY: PART 3. BABY SONG, by EDWARD CARPENTER    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Croonie croonie, baby baby, up and down
Last Line: Baby baby, what art thou?
Subject(s): Babies; Caregivers; Love; Parents; Infants; Parenthood


TRANSLATION OF AN INSCRIPTION RECENTLY DISCOVERED IN SAMOS, by REGINALD HEBER    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Turinna, famed for every grace
Last Line: Revive from such distress again.
Subject(s): Daughters; Epitaphs; Fame; Parents; Reputation; Parenthood


TWELVE O'CLOCK, by CAROLYN KIZER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: At seventeen I've come to read a poem
Last Line: And everything, forever, everything is changed.
Subject(s): Einstein, Albert (1879-1955); Heisenberg, Werner Karl (1901-1976); Hiroshima, Japan; Nuclear War; Parents; Poetry & Poets; Women; Women's Rights; World War Ii; Atomic Bomb; Hydrogen Bomb; Parenthood; Feminism; Second World War


TWO LOVERS, by MARY ANN EVANS    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Two lovers by a moss-grown spring
Last Line: O past that is!
Alternate Author Name(s): Eliot, George; Cross, Marian Lewes; Evans, Marian; Ann, Mary
Subject(s): Aging; Children; Love - Marital; Marriage; Memory; Nostalgia; Parents; Childhood; Wedded Love; Marriage - Love; Weddings; Husbands; Wives; Parenthood


UPON WEDLOCK, AND DEATH OF CHILDREN, by EDWARD TAYLOR    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: A curious knot god made in paradise
Last Line: Whether thou get'st them green, or lets them seed.
Subject(s): Death - Children; Parents; Puritans In Literature; Death - Babies; Parenthood


VENICE: MAY DAY, by KENNETH REXROTH    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Once more it is early summer
Subject(s): Daughters; Holidays; May (month); Parents; Venice, Italy; Parenthood


VERTUOSI, by LISEL MUELLER    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: People whose lives have been shaped
Alternate Author Name(s): Muller, Lisel
Subject(s): Parents; Parenthood


VIOLIN SONGS: A FATHER TO A MOTHER, by GEORGE MACDONALD    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When god's own child came down to earth
Last Line: It's only till to-morrow!
Subject(s): Birth; Children; Death; Jesus Christ; Parents; Child Birth; Midwifery; Childhood; Dead, The; Parenthood


WAITING FOR UPS, by BOB HICOK    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Now I live inside the window. Now I think the sky
Last Line: "she let me kiss each box
Subject(s): Farewell; Letters; Love; Parents; Parting; Parenthood


WE HAVE KNOWN, by MARVIN BELL    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: We have known such joy as a child knows
Last Line: And will not survive, though you have them.
Subject(s): Children; Happiness; Love; Parents; Poetry & Poets; Childhood; Joy; Delight; Parenthood


WE HAVE NO TIME FOR CHILDREN, by DOUGLAS MALLOCH    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: We have no time for children, we have no hour / for these
Last Line: By giving less of money and giving more of care.
Subject(s): Parents; Parenthood


WHAT EFFECT HAS YOUR NEW SON HAD ON YOUR WRITING LIFE?, by RICHARD JONES    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: While andrew sleeps
Last Line: Andrew wants his bottle.
Subject(s): Children; Fathers & Sons; Parents; Poetry & Poets; Writing & Writers; Childhood; Parenthood


WHAT FATHER KNOWS, by EDGAR ALBERT GUEST    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: My father knows the proper way
Last Line: But look to ma for action.
Alternate Author Name(s): Guest, Eddie
Subject(s): Parents; Parenthood


WHAT IS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN, by NAOMI SHIHAB NYE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: When you were small
Last Line: Ancient eyes.
Subject(s): Children; Growth; Parents; Childhood; Parenthood


WHAT LITTLE SAUL GOT, CHRISTMAS, by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Us parents mostly thinks our own's
Last Line: "I'm got the pleurisy!"
Alternate Author Name(s): Johnson Of Boone, Benj. F.
Subject(s): Children; Christmas; Parents; Sickness; Childhood; Nativity, The; Parenthood; Illness


WHAT NO ONE COULD HAVE TOLD THEM, by CAROLYN D. WRIGHT    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Once he comes to live on the outside of her, he will not sleep
Alternate Author Name(s): Wright, C. D.
Subject(s): Babies; Children; Parents; Infants; Childhood; Parenthood


WHEN PARENTS GO OUT SHOPPING, by ANNETTE WYNNE    Poem Text                    
Last Line: That any child would choose
Subject(s): Shopping; Parenthood


WHEN THE FOLKS COME ALONG, by FREDERICK L. ALLEN    Poem Text                    
First Line: I like to go driving alone in the flivver
Last Line: -- oh, why must my folks come along.
Subject(s): Driving & Drivers; Parents; Parenthood


WHERE FAME IS SURE, by AMOS RUSSEL WELLS    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The hollow-sounding trump of fame
Last Line: The parent you would like to be!
Subject(s): Fame; Parents; Reputation; Parenthood


WHILE WE HAVE THEM, by AMOS RUSSEL WELLS    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: There's no one like a mother, lad
Last Line: Let's be our very best.
Subject(s): Parents; Parenthood


WHITE BUTTONS, by MARY RUEFLE    Poem Text         Poet Analysis         Recitation by Author     Poet's Biography
First Line: Having been blown away
Subject(s): Books; Parents; Reading; Parenthood


WHITE SMOKE, by FLORA SHUFELT RIVOLA    Poem Text                    
First Line: Our fathers twisted hay for fuel; their sons now twist their / lives
Last Line: High dreams are dead and life will have its fire.
Subject(s): Hope; Life; Parents; Optimism; Parenthood


WHY YOUR FATHER CRIED, by ELAINE TERRANOVA    Poem Source         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Your sister is telling the story. It was
Last Line: "some of the best thoughts I had in my life."
Subject(s): Children; Fathers; Parents; Childhood; Parenthood


WILD ORPHAN, by ALLEN GINSBERG    Poem Text         Poet Analysis             Poet's Biography
First Line: Bladly mother/takes him strolling
Subject(s): Children; Parents; Childhood; Parenthood


WISHES FOR MY SON; BORN ON ST. CECILIA'S DAY, 1912, by THOMAS MACDONAGH    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Now, my son, is life for you
Last Line: In your hand and heart and tongue.
Alternate Author Name(s): Macdonough, Thomas
Subject(s): Children; Parents; Childhood; Parenthood


WOMAN, by JANET HAMILTON    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: There is an element of power
Last Line: A careful mother, virtuous wife.
Alternate Author Name(s): Hamilton, Janet Thompson
Subject(s): Children; Housewives; Marriage; Mothers; Parents; Women; Childhood; Weddings; Husbands; Wives; Parenthood


WORDS FOR MY DAUGHTER, by JOHN BALABAN    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: About eight of us were nailing up forts
Last Line: To call me back into our helpless tribe.
Subject(s): Children; Fathers & Daughters; Men; Parents; Soldiers; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975; War; Childhood; Parenthood


YESTERDAY, by WILLIAM STANLEY MERWIN    Poem Text     Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis         Recitation     Poet's Biography
First Line: My friend says I was not a good son
Last Line: And nothing I had to do
Alternate Author Name(s): Merwin, W. S.
Subject(s): Children; Men; Parents; Childhood; Parenthood


YOU TAUGHT ME, by THOMAS MCGRATH    Poem Text                     Poet's Biography
First Line: All those years, alone
Last Line: I didn't even know my name!
Subject(s): Children; Fathers; Fathers & Sons; Love; Parents; Sons; Childhood; Parenthood