Theme · 241 poems

Poems About Peace

Still waters: poems of calm, acceptance, and rest — many beloved as readings at memorials and quiet ceremonies.

LengthForm

Crossing the Bar

Alfred, Lord Tennyson · 1889

Sunset and evening star,And one clear call for me!And may there be no moaning of the bar,

17 lines · lyric

Abou Ben Adhem

Leigh Hunt · 1834

Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!)Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,And saw within the moonlight in his room,

18 lines · narrative

No Coward Soul Is Mine

Emily Brontë · 1846

The following are the last lines my sister Emily ever wrote.No coward soul is mine,No trembler in the world's storm-troubled sphere:

29 lines · lyric

In the Bleak Midwinter

Christina Rossetti · 1872

1. In the bleak mid-winterFrosty wind made moan,Earth stood hard as iron,

40 lines · lyric

Thanatopsis

William Cullen Bryant · 1817

To him who in the love of Nature holdsCommunion with her visible forms, she speaksA various language; for his gayer hours

81 lines · elegy

Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard

Thomas Gray · 1751

It would almost seem that poetry has for its greatest mission the lesson of a proper humility.The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,The lowing herd winds slowly o'er the lea.

128 lines · elegy

Soft Music

Robert Herrick

The mellow touch of music most doth woundThe soul, when it doth rather sigh, than sound.

2 lines · lyric

Snow on the Mailbox

The QuillOak Editors

snow on the mailbox —all the news the morning bringsis white, and silent

3 lines · haiku

What Is to Be Done, O Moslems? (opening lines)

Rumi (Jalāl al-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī)

What is to be done, O Moslems? for I do not recognise myself.I am neither Christian, nor Jew, nor Gabr, nor Moslem.I am not of the East, nor of the West, nor of the land, nor of the sea;

3 lines · ghazal

Lest this be Heaven indeed

Emily Dickinson

Lest this be Heaven indeedAn Obstacle is givenThat always gauges a Degree

4 lines · lyric

Not One by Heaven defrauded stay

Emily Dickinson

Not One by Heaven defrauded stay —Although he seem to stealHe restitutes in some sweet way

4 lines · lyric

The Definition of Beauty is

Emily Dickinson

The Definition of Beauty isThat Definition is none —Of Heaven, easing Analysis,

4 lines · lyric

Who has not found the Heaven—below

Emily Dickinson

Who has not found the Heaven — below —Will fail of it above —For Angels rent the House next ours,

4 lines · lyric

To Harriet

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Ever as now with Love and Virtue's glowMay thy unwithering soul not cease to burn,Still may thine heart with those pure thoughts o'erflow

4 lines · lyric

Upon a Child

Robert Herrick

Here a pretty baby liesSung asleep with lullabies;Pray be silent, and not stir

4 lines · lyric

The Angler Rose, He Took His Rod

Robert Louis Stevenson

THE angler rose, he took his rod,He kneeled and made his prayers to God.The living God sat overhead:

4 lines · lyric

Letting Go (a Crapsey Cinquain)

The QuillOak Editors

Dusk fallsthe maples lettheir last gold go without

5 lines · cinquain

Immured in Heaven!

Emily Dickinson

Immured in Heaven!What a Cell!Let every Bondage be,

5 lines · lyric

A little Madness in the Spring

Emily Dickinson

A little Madness in the SpringIs wholesome even for the King,But God be with the Clown —

6 lines · lyric

One Year ago—jots what?

Emily Dickinson

One Year ago — jots what?God — spell the word! I — can't —Was't Grace? Not that —

6 lines · lyric

Though the great Waters sleep

Emily Dickinson

Though the great Waters sleep,That they are still the Deep,We cannot doubt —

6 lines · lyric

Farewell to North Devon

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Where man's profane and tainting handNature's primaeval loveliness has marred,And some few souls of the high bliss debarred

6 lines · lyric

To Music: a Song

Robert Herrick

Music, thou queen of heaven, care-charming spell,That strik'st a stillness into hell;Thou that tam'st tigers, and fierce storms, that rise,

6 lines · lyric

Kissing Helena

Percy Bysshe Shelley

FROM THE GREEK OF PLATO.Kissing Helena, togetherWith my kiss, my soul beside it

7 lines · lyric

Spirit of Plato

Percy Bysshe Shelley

FROM THE GREEK.Eagle! why soarest thou above that tomb?To what sublime and star-ypaven home

7 lines · lyric

What the River Knows

The QuillOak Editors

The river does not endwhere it meets the sea —it only loses its banks,

8 lines · free verse

A Tooth upon Our Peace

Emily Dickinson

A Tooth upon Our PeaceThe Peace cannot deface —Then Wherefore be the Tooth?

8 lines · lyric

Angels, in the early morning

Emily Dickinson

Angels, in the early morningMay be seen the Dews among,Stooping — plucking — smiling — flying —

8 lines · lyric

Bless God, he went as soldiers

Emily Dickinson

Bless God, he went as soldiers,His musket on his breast —Grant God, he charge the bravest

8 lines · lyric

Except the Heaven had come so near

Emily Dickinson

Except the Heaven had come so near —So seemed to choose My Door —The Distance would not haunt me so —

8 lines · lyric

Forever honored by the Tree

Emily Dickinson

Forever honored by the TreeWhose Apple WinterwornEnticed to Breakfast from the Sky

8 lines · lyric

Given in Marriage unto Thee

Emily Dickinson

Given in Marriage unto TheeOh thou Celestial Host —Bride of the Father and the Son

8 lines · lyric

God permits industrious Angels

Emily Dickinson

God permits industrious Angels —Afternoons — to play —I met one — forgot my Schoolmates —

8 lines · lyric

Heaven is so far of the Mind

Emily Dickinson

Heaven is so far of the MindThat were the Mind dissolved —The Site — of it — by Architect

8 lines · lyric

How far is it to Heaven?

Emily Dickinson

How far is it to Heaven?As far as Death this way —Of River or of Ridge beyond

8 lines · lyric

I never lost as much but twice

Emily Dickinson

I never lost as much but twice,And that was in the sod.Twice have I stood a beggar

8 lines · lyric

I saw no Way—The Heavens were stitched

Emily Dickinson

I saw no Way — The Heavens were stitched —I felt the Columns close —The Earth reversed her Hemispheres —

8 lines · lyric

Is Heaven a Physician?

Emily Dickinson

Is Heaven a Physician?They say that He can heal —But Medicine Posthumous

8 lines · lyric

Lightly stepped a yellow star

Emily Dickinson

Lightly stepped a yellow starTo its lofty place —Loosed the Moon her silver hat

8 lines · lyric

My life closed twice before its close

Emily Dickinson

My life closed twice before its close —It yet remains to seeIf Immortality unveil

8 lines · lyric

Nature and God—I neither knew

Emily Dickinson

Nature and God — I neither knewYet Both so well knew meThey startled, like Executors

8 lines · lyric

Nature—sometimes sears a Sapling

Emily Dickinson

Nature — sometimes sears a Sapling —Sometimes — scalps a Tree —Her Green People recollect it

8 lines · lyric

Only God—detect the Sorrow

Emily Dickinson

Only God — detect the Sorrow —Only God —The Jehovahs — are no Babblers —

8 lines · lyric

Prayer is the little implement

Emily Dickinson

Prayer is the little implementThrough which Men reachWhere Presence — is denied them.

8 lines · lyric

She's happy, with a new Content

Emily Dickinson

She's happy, with a new Content —That feels to her — like Sacrament —She's busy — with an altered Care —

8 lines · lyric

So give me back to Death

Emily Dickinson

So give me back to Death —The Death I never fearedExcept that it deprived of thee —

8 lines · lyric

Spring is the Period

Emily Dickinson

Spring is the PeriodExpress from God.Among the other seasons

8 lines · lyric

The Fact that Earth is Heaven

Emily Dickinson

The Fact that Earth is Heaven —Whether Heaven is Heaven or notIf not an Affidavit

8 lines · lyric

The inundation of the Spring

Emily Dickinson

The inundation of the SpringEnlarges every soul —It sweeps the tenement away

8 lines · lyric

The Moon upon her fluent Route

Emily Dickinson

The Moon upon her fluent RouteDefiant of a Road —The Star's Etruscan Argument

8 lines · lyric

When Roses cease to bloom, Sir

Emily Dickinson

When Roses cease to bloom, Sir,And Violets are done —When Bumblebees in solemn flight

8 lines · lyric

To the Moon

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Art thou pale for wearinessOf climbing heaven and gazing on the earth,Wandering companionless

8 lines · lyric

Matins, or Morning Prayer

Robert Herrick

When with the virgin morning thou dost rise,Crossing thyself come thus to sacrifice;First wash thy heart in innocence; then bring

8 lines · lyric

The Old Wives' Prayer

Robert Herrick

Holy-Rood, come forth and shieldUs i' th' city and the field;Safely guard us, now and aye,

8 lines · lyric

To Heaven

Robert Herrick

Open thy gatesTo him who weeping waits,And might come in,

8 lines · lyric

A Divine Image

William Blake

Cruelty has a human heart, And Jealousy a human face;Terror the human form divine,

8 lines · lyric

Requiem

Robert Louis Stevenson · 1887

Under the wide and starry sky,Dig the grave and let me lie.Glad did I live and gladly die,

8 lines · lyric

Which is best? Heaven

Emily Dickinson

Which is best? Heaven —Or only Heaven to comeWith that old Codicil of Doubt?

9 lines · lyric

His Prayer For Absolution

Robert Herrick

For those my unbaptized rhymes,Writ in my wild unhallowed times,For every sentence, clause, and word,

10 lines · lyric

Just so—Jesus—raps

Emily Dickinson

Just so — Jesus — raps —He — doesn't weary —Last — at the Knocker —

11 lines · lyric