1. The Sunken Crown - written by Edwin Arlington Robinson
Read 447 times on American Poems.

Nothing will hold him longer—let him go; 
Let him go down where others have gone down; 
Little he cares whether we smile or frown, 
Or if we know, or if we think we know. 
The call is on him for his overthrow,
Say we; so let him rise, or let... (Read full poem)

One crown that no one seeks
And yet the highest head
Its isolation coveted
Its stigma deified

While Pontius Pilate lives
In whatsoever hell
That coronation pierces him
He recollects it well.(Read full poem)

3. The Peaceful Shepherd - written by Robert Frost
From West-Running Brook. Published in 1928. Read 4854 times on American Poems.

If heaven were to do again,
And on the pasture bars,
I leaned to line the figures in
Between the dotted starts,

I should be tempted to forget,
I fear, the Crown of Rule,
The Scales of Trade, the Cross of Faith,
As hardly worth renewal.

For these... (Read full poem)

For this -- accepted Breath --
Through it -- compete with Death --
The fellow cannot touch this Crown --
By it -- my title take --
Ah, what a royal sake
To my necessity -- stooped down!

No Wilderness -- can be
Where this attendeth me --
No Desert... (Read full poem)

5. The Queen of Bubbles - written by Vachel Lindsay
Read 595 times on American Poems.

[Written for a picture]


The Youth speaks: —:
"Why do you seek the sun 
In your bubble-crown ascending? 
Your chariot will melt to mist. 
Your crown will have an ending." 

The Goddess replies: — :
"Nay, sun is but a bubble, 
Earth is... (Read full poem)

Whereas at morning in a Jeweled Crown
I bit my fingers and was hard to please,
Having shook disaster till the fruit fell down
I feel tonight more happy and at ease:
Feet running in the corridors, men quick— 
Buckling their sword-belts, bumping... (Read full poem)

7. To The King's Most Excellent Majesty - written by Phillis Wheatley
Published in 1768. Read 1218 times on American Poems.

YOUR subjects hope, dread Sire--
The crown upon your brows may flourish long,
And that your arm may in your God be strong!
O may your sceptre num'rous nations sway,
And all with love and readiness obey!
But how shall we the British king... (Read full poem)

I hold it the duty of one who is gifted
And specially dowered I all men’s sight, 
To know no rest till his life is lifted
Fully up to his great gifts’ height.

He must mould the man into rare completeness, 
For gems are only in gold... (Read full poem)

9. Who Court obtain within Himself - written by Emily Dickinson
From Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. Published in 1955. Read 1349 times on American Poems.

Who Court obtain within Himself
Sees every Man a King --
And Poverty of Monarchy
Is an interior thing --

No Man depose
Whom Fate Ordain --
And Who can add a Crown
To Him who doth continual
Conspire against His Own(Read full poem)

The Sun went down -- no Man looked on --
The Earth and I, alone,
Were present at the Majesty --
He triumphed, and went on --

The Sun went up -- no Man looked on --
The Earth and I and One
A nameless Bird -- a Stranger
Were Witness for the Crown --(Read full poem)

11. Prairie States, The. - written by Walt Whitman
From Leaves of Grass. Published in 1900. Read 1877 times on American Poems.

A NEWER garden of creation, no primal solitude, 
Dense, joyous, modern, populous millions, cities and farms, 
With iron interlaced, composite, tied, many in one, 
By all the world contributed—freedom’s and law’s and thrift’s... (Read full poem)

Afraid!  Of whom am I afraid?
Not Death -- for who is He?
The Porter of my Father's Lodge
As much abasheth me!

Of Life?  'Twere odd I fear [a] thing
That comprehendeth me
In one or two existences --
As Deity decree --

Of Resurrection?  Is the... (Read full poem)

13. God permits industrious Angels - written by Emily Dickinson
From Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. Published in 1955. Read 2694 times on American Poems.

God permits industrious Angels --
Afternoons -- to play --
I met one -- forgot my Schoolmates --
All -- for Him -- straightway --
God calls home -- the Angels -- promptly --
At the Setting Sun --
I missed mine -- how dreary -- Marbles --
After... (Read full poem)

Hanging from the beam, 
Slowly swaying (such the law), 
Gaunt the shadow on the green, 
Shenandoah! 
The cut is on the crown 
(Lo, John Brown), 
And the stabs shall heal no more. 

Hidden in the cap 
Is the anguish none can draw; 
So your... (Read full poem)

15. Changed - written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
From Birds Of Passage. Read 2007 times on American Poems.

From the outskirts of the town,
Where of old the mile-stone stood,
Now a stranger, looking down
I behold the shadowy crown
Of the dark and haunted wood.

Is it changed, or am I changed?
Ah! the oaks are fresh and green,
But the friends with... (Read full poem)

The pretty Rain from those sweet Eaves
Her unintending Eyes --
Took her own Heart, including ours,
By innocent Surprise --

The wrestle in her simple Throat
To hold the feeling down
That vanquished her -- defeated Feat --
Was Fervor's sudden Crown --(Read full poem)

17. Birth Day - written by Elise Paschen
From Birthday Poems: A Celebration. Published in 2002. Read 1933 times on American Poems.

For Alexandra, born May 17, 1999


Armored in red, her voice commands
every corner. Bells gong on squares,
in steeples, answering the prayers.
Bright tulips crown the boulevards.

Pulled from the womb she imitates
that mythic kick from some god's... (Read full poem)

The Day that I was crowned
Was like the other Days --
Until the Coronation came --
And then -- 'twas Otherwise --

As Carbon in the Coal
And Carbon in the Gem
Are One -- and yet the former
Were dull for Diadem --

I rose, and all was plain --
But... (Read full poem)

19. Crowned - written by Amy Lowell
From A Dome of Many-Coloured Glass. Read 2861 times on American Poems.

You came to me bearing bright roses,
Red like the wine of your heart;
You twisted them into a garland
To set me aside from the mart.
Red roses to crown me your lover,
And I walked aureoled and apart.
Enslaved and encircled, I bore it,
Proud... (Read full poem)

Under a cherry tree
I found a robin's egg,
broken, but not shattered.

I had been thinking of you,
and was kneeling in the grass
among fallen blossoms

when I saw it: a blue scrap,
a delicate toy, as light
as confetti

It didn't seem real,
but... (Read full poem)

21. Going to Heaven! - written by Emily Dickinson
From Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. Published in 1955. Read 14985 times on American Poems.

Going to Heaven!
I don't know when --
Pray do not ask me how!
Indeed I'm too astonished
To think of answering you!
Going to Heaven!
How dim it sounds!
And yet it will be done
As sure as flocks go home at night
Unto the Shepherd's arm!

Perhaps... (Read full poem)

I

As long as Fame's imperious music rings 
Will poets mock it with crowned words august; 
And haggard men will clamber to be kings 
As long as Glory weighs itself in dust. 

II

Drink to the splendor of the unfulfilled, 
Nor shudder for... (Read full poem)

23. A little bread -- a crust -- a crumb - written by Emily Dickinson
From Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. Published in 1955. Read 4276 times on American Poems.

A little bread -- a crust -- a crumb --
A little trust -- a demijohn --
Can keep the soul alive --
Not portly, mind! but breathing -- warm --
Conscious -- as old Napoleon,
The night before the Crown!

A modest lot -- A fame petite --
A brief... (Read full poem)

Of all among the fallen from on high, 
We count you last and leave you to regain 
Your born dominion of a life made vain 
By three spheres of insidious ivory. 
You dwindle to the lesser tragedy—
Content, you say. We call, but you remain.... (Read full poem)

25. Juke Box Love Song - written by Langston Hughes
Read 28950 times on American Poems.

I could take the Harlem night
and wrap around you,
Take the neon lights and make a crown,
Take the Lenox Avenue busses,
Taxis, subways,
And for your love song tone their rumble down.
Take Harlem's heartbeat,
Make a drumbeat,
Put it on a record, let... (Read full poem)