1. To break so vast a Heart - written by Emily Dickinson
From Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. Published in 1955. Read 1891 times on American Poems.

To break so vast a Heart
Required a Blow as vast --
No Zephyr felled this Cedar straight --
'Twas undeserved Blast --(Read full poem)

I

You are clear
O rose, cut in rock,
hard as the descent of hail.

I could scrape the colour
from the petals
like spilt dye from a rock.

If I could break you
I could break a tree.

If I could stir
I could break a tree--
I could break you.

II

O... (Read full poem)

3. Individuality - written by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Read 2850 times on American Poems.

Ah yes, I love you, and with all my heart; 
Just as a weaker woman loves her own, 
Better than I love my beloved art, 
Which, until you came, reigned royally, alone, 
My king, my master. Since I saw your face
I have dethroned it, and you hold... (Read full poem)

A man is fighting with a cup of coffee. The rules: he must not 
break the cup nor spill its coffee; nor must the cup break the 
man's bones or spill his blood. 

  The man said, oh the hell with it, as he swept the cup to 
the floor. The cup did not... (Read full poem)

5. Love's stricken "why" - written by Emily Dickinson
From Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. Published in 1955. Read 2823 times on American Poems.

Love's stricken "why"
Is all that love can speak --
Built of but just a syllable
The hugest hearts that break.(Read full poem)

Proud of my broken heart, since thou didst break it,
Proud of the pain I did not feel till thee,

Proud of my night, since thou with moons dost slake it,
Not to partake thy passion, my humility.

Thou can'st not boast, like Jesus, drunken without... (Read full poem)

7. Anticipation - written by Ellis Parker Butler
From New England Magazine. Published in 1898. Read 352 times on American Poems.

I hold her letter as I stand,
  Nor break the seal; no need to guess
What dainty little female hand
  Penned this most delicate address.

The scented seal—I break it not,
  But stand in stormy revery;
I tremble as I wonder what
  She who... (Read full poem)

YELLOW dust on a bumble
bee's wing,
Grey lights in a woman's
asking eyes,
Red ruins in the changing
sunset embers:
I take you and pile high
the memories.
Death will break her claws
on some I keep.(Read full poem)

9. And do you think that love itself - written by Edna St. Vincent Millay
Read 6718 times on American Poems.

And do you think that love itself,
Living in such an ugly house,
Can prosper long?
            		We meet and part;
Our talk is all of heres and nows,
Our conduct likewise; in no act
Is any future, any past;
Under our sly, unspoken pact,
I KNOW with... (Read full poem)

The most pathetic thing I do
Is play I hear from you --
I make believe until my Heart
Almost believes it too
But when I break it with the news
You knew it was not true
I wish I had not broken it --
Goliah -- so would you --(Read full poem)

11. Because - written by Sara Teasdale
Read 4978 times on American Poems.

Oh, because you never tried
To bow my will or break my pride,
And nothing of the cave-man made
You want to keep me half afraid,
Nor ever with a conquering air
You thought to draw me unaware --
Take me, for I love you more
Than I ever loved... (Read full poem)

He went by sleep that drowsy route
To the surmising Inn --
At day break to begin his race
Or ever to remain --(Read full poem)

13. Ox Tamer, The. - written by Walt Whitman
From Leaves of Grass. Published in 1900. Read 2311 times on American Poems.

IN a faraway northern county, in the placid, pastoral region, 
Lives my farmer friend, the theme of my recitative, a famous Tamer of Oxen: 
There they bring him the three-year-olds and the four-year-olds, to break them; 
He will take the wildest... (Read full poem)

Ample make this Bed --
Make this Bed with Awe --
In it wait till Judgment break
Excellent and Fair.

Be its Mattress straight --
Be its Pillow round --
Let no Sunrise' yellow noise
Interrupt this Ground --(Read full poem)

15. I haven't told my garden yet - written by Emily Dickinson
From Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. Published in 1955. Read 4874 times on American Poems.

I haven't told my garden yet --
Lest that should conquer me.
I haven't quite the strength now
To break it to the Bee --

I will not name it in the street
For shops would stare at me --
That one so shy -- so ignorant
Should have the face to die.

The... (Read full poem)

He wondered: Do I love? all this applause,
young beauties sitting at my feet & all,
and all.
It tires me out, he pondered: I'm tempted to break laws
and love myself, or the stupid questions asked me
move me to homicide—

so many... (Read full poem)

17. Love came back at Fall o' Dew - written by Lizette Woodworth Reese
Read 1026 times on American Poems.

Love came back at fall o' dew,
Playing his old part;
But I had a word or two
That would break his heart.

"He who comes at candlelight,
That should come before,
Must betake him to the night
From a barred door."

This the word that made... (Read full poem)

We find out the heart only by dismantling what 
the heart knows. By redefining the morning, 
we find a morning that comes just after darkness. 
We can break through marriage into marriage. 
By insisting on love we spoil it, get beyond 
affection and... (Read full poem)

19. The Blues - written by William Matthews
Read 667 times on American Poems.

What did I think, a storm clutching a clarinet
and boarding a downtown bus, headed for lessons?
I had pieces to learn by heart, but at twelve

you think the heart and memory are different.
"'It's a poor sort of memory that only works
backwards,' the... (Read full poem)

When I was bold, when I was bold-
And that's a hundred years!-
Oh, never I thought my breast could hold
The terrible weight of tears.

I said: "Now some be dolorous;
I hear them wail and sigh,
And if it be Love that play them thus,
Then never a love... (Read full poem)

21. Sleep is supposed to be - written by Emily Dickinson
From Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. Published in 1955. Read 19135 times on American Poems.

Sleep is supposed to be
By souls of sanity
The shutting of the eye.

Sleep is the station grand
Down which, on either hand
The hosts of witness stand!

Morn is supposed to be
By people of degree
The breaking of the Day.

Morning has not... (Read full poem)

It sheds a shy solemnity,
This lamp in our poor room.
O grey and gold amenity, --
Silence and gentle gloom!

Wide from the world, a stolen hour
We claim, and none may know
How love blooms like a tardy flower
Here in the day's after-glow.

And even... (Read full poem)

23. Fire-Caught - written by Langston Hughes
Read 23845 times on American Poems.

The gold moth did not love him
So, gorgeous, she flew away.
But the gray moth circled the flame
       Until the break of day.
And then, with wings like a dead desire,
She fell, fire-caught, into the flame.(Read full poem)

As far from pity, as complaint --
As cool to speech -- as stone --
As numb to Revelation
As if my Trade were Bone --

As far from time -- as History --
As near yourself -- Today --
As Children, to the Rainbow's scarf --
Or Sunset's Yellow play

To... (Read full poem)

25. Chanson Un Peu Naïve - written by Louise Bogan
Read 1574 times on American Poems.

What body can be ploughed,
Sown, and broken yearly?
But she would not die, she vowed,
But she has, nearly.
        Sing, heart sing;
        Call and carol clearly.

And, since she could not die,
Care would be a feather,
A film over the... (Read full poem)