Favorite poem?

[MerrillJos]

I've read quite a bit of poetry, but am yearning to see what else I may have missed.

 

[Niclmaki]

I like lil short ones.

“ The Worldly Hope men set their Hearts upon Turns Ashes--or it prospers; and anon, Like Snow upon the Desert's dusty Face Lighting a little Hour or two--is gone. “

- Omar Khayyam

“There was a young man who said though, it seems that I know that I know, but what I would like to see is the I that knows me when I know that I know that I know.”

-Alan Watts

Jabberwocky. 'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe; All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe. "Beware the Jabberwock, my son The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun The frumious Bandersnatch!"

- Lewis Carroll

 

[onesteptwostep]

"Poetry"

It is the way I can
relish a line of poetry, laud it like
a teenage girl in love, and have
missed that the rhymes aren't right.
The prose is deep purple.
This "poet" has no; idea
what a semicolon is
or when to break a line--and it
becomes readily apparent that
anyone, given a pen or keyboard
can write a pleasing line by accident.
Poets take that moment and make them
infinite. And, suddenly, that lovely
line means nothing anymore.

 

[Niclmaki]

Oh, I forgot this one too.

 

[Geauvoir]

Facing It by Yusef Komunyakaa. The greatest poem ever written about the Vietnam War.

 

[Bluehalite]

I like many poems, but here is one....​

​

“The Moods” by William Butler Yeats​

Time drops in decay,
Like a candle burnt out,
And the mountains and woods
Have their day, have their day;
What one in the rout
Of the fire-born moods
Has fallen away?

Moods by nature are ephemeral. They tend to last only a short time and are generally caused by some event or thought. But Yeats compares moods to things more lasting, specifically mountains and woods, which are also temporary but endure for a long time. So what are the moods that Yeats is writing about?
Since the word “moods” is plural, it is clear he is experiencing more than one mood at the same time. Also, we are told that these moods are born from fire. An obvious mood would be love or passion, a mood clearly associated with fire. But I would also venture to say that one of the moods is associated with creative inspiration, the spark of the creative flame which, if not nurtured, quickly burns out like the candle. And I suspect there is a third mood, relating to divine inspiration or illumination. Again, this “mood” is fleeting, and usually once you realize that you are having a moment of divine connection, it immediately dissipates.