The Real Victorian: 19th century poem

Showing posts with label 19th century poem. Show all posts

19th Century Public Domain Poetry: Varieties in Verse from 1867

Labels: 19th century poem, Free vintage poems, Music & Poetry, Public domain poetry

These two verses were originally published in either the May or June 1867 issue of Godey's (the book is falling apart so the pages are jumbled together). The verses were translated into English from Italian and French, respectively. I am not quite sure if the translations were accurate as the poems seem to be missing something?

The Italian verse reads:
With joyful notes birds greet the spring,
And fairest flowers their odors fling;
But wicked love pretends to sigh
'Cause the fair things so soon must die.
Poor child! cries spring, thy happiest hours―
Will they last longer than my flowers?
The French verse is called "With a Lock of Gray Hair" and goes like this:

Despise it not because 'tis gray,
Nor cast the gift with scorn away.
It tells of love as warm and true
As ever youthful bosom knew;
But, purer far than love of youth,
It needs no blush to own its truth,
Nor faltering tongue a love to tell,
Such as might angels' bosoms swell.
You can download the verses on the original book paper as a free high-res JPEG without a watermark here. Lovely as a a vintage scrap to embellish a card, collage, junk journal or scrapbook page.

Public domain poem is from my personal collection. All digitized work by Victorian Trends.com is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Free for personal use only. Please link back to VictorianTrends.com as your source when sharing or publishing.

19th Century Public Domain Poetry: Twilight by Augusta Hancock

Labels: 19th century poem, Free vintage poems, Music & Poetry, Public domain poetry

TWILIGHT
by Augusta Hancock
(originally published August 19, 1893)

In the tender hush of twilight,
When the summer day is o'er,
And the little waves are rippling
On the golden-tinted shore,
Comes the western wind's soft dream-song
With sweet echoes evermore.

Come amid the gathering shadows,
As they linger long and low,
Visions fair and fancies fleeting,
From the misty years ago;
With the old-time memories stealing
Ever softly, to and fro.

Comes again a loving echo
Like a lingering refrain,
From those voices in the gloaming
With their gladness and their pain;
And the never-failing sweetness
Of that long-remembered strain.

Comes the dewy breath of comfort,
Comfort for the souls that weep, For the hearts that faint with sorrow
'Mid the shadows long and deep;
For the twilight brings the rest-time.
And to God's beloved, sleep.

Featured paintings, from top to bottom:
(1) Evening by the Lake by Max Nonnenbruch (1857 - 1922)
(2) Autumn Sunset by Jakub Schikaneder (1855 - 1924)
(3) Scirocco, 1885 by Ralph Wormeley Curtis (1854 - 1922)
(4) Never Morning Wore to Evening but Some Heart Did Break by Walter Langley (1852 - 1922)
(5) An Evening by the Sea by Alfred Stevens (1823 - 1906)

19th Century Public Domain Poetry: Sadness by S. E. Everett

Labels: 19th century poem, Free vintage poems, Music & Poetry, Public domain poetry

Painting ia titled "Symphony in Green"
by Alfred Stevens (1823 - 1906)

SADNESS
by S.E. Everett
(originally published 1867)

My heart is filled with strange unrest;
I'm sad, I know not why;
This world seems all a weariness,
From which I fain would fly.
It is not that I envy those
By fortune more caressed;
Nor is it strife with worldly foes,
That brings this wild unrest.

My friends are true, the world is kind;
My wants are well supplied;
Nor can my wishes be defined,
Or tell what I'm denied.
Yet strange it is, my heart is sad;
The days are long and drear;
And oft I wish their measure had
Fulfilled their courses here.

19th Century Public Domain Poem: A Halloween Frolic (Poetry for Kids)

Labels: 19th century poem, Children's poems, Free vintage poems, Music & Poetry, Poetry for kids, Public domain poetry

See link for printable poem at the bottom of this post.
Here is a sweet little Halloween poem (titled "A Hallowenn Frolic") written by Helen Gray Cone and originally published in a late 19th century issue of St. Nicholas Magazine.

The poem in full reads:
A little witch in steeple hat
Once tried a merry spell,
To make the hares come pit-a-pat
From dingle and from dell.

And pit-a-pat, beneath the moon,
The shy hares peeping came;
The little witch in buckled shoon,
She called them each by name.

"Come, 'Fairy-foot' and 'Sparkle-eyes'!
Come, 'Fine-ear,' 'Bob,' and 'Bun'!"
They gathered round in mild surprise,
But glad of any fun.

And when she told them what she willed,
They stamped and leaped in glee,
And all their velvet noses thrilled
With laughter strange to see.

What was the prank, do you suppose,
And what the merry spell? ―
The sleepy owlet only knows,
And she would never tell!

You can download the full version of the poem as it was originally printed here. Lovely to hand out with Halloween candy but can also be used in cardmaking, crafts or scrapbooking projects.

19th Century Public Domain Poetry for the Nursery: A Song from Mother to Daughter (Poem for Kids)

Labels: 19th century poem, Children's poems, Free vintage poems, Music & Poetry, Poetry for kids, Public domain poetry

Here is the poem in full:

Play, baby, in thy cradle play --
Tick goes the clock, tick-tick, tick-tick;
And quick goes time, quick, quick!
Grow, baby, grow, with every day --
Tick goes the clock, tick-tick, tick-tick;
And babyhood will pass away,
For quick goes time, quick, quick!

Not long can mother watch thee so --
Tick goes the clock, tick-tick, tick-tick;
And quick goes time, quick, quick!
To pretty girlhood thou wilt grow --
Tick goes the clock, tick-tick, tick-tick;
To womanhood, before we know,
For quick goes time, quick, quick!

Play, baby, in thy cradle play --
Tick goes the clock, tick-tick, tick-tick;
And quick goes time, quick, quick!
And some brave lad will come some day --
Tick goes the clock, tick-tick, tick-tick;
And steal my baby's heart away;
Ah, quick goes time, quick, quick!
You can download the full version of the poem as it was originally printed here. Lovely as a framed print but can also be used in a Mother's Day card or baby album.

19th Century Public Domain Poetry: Sing a Song of Sixpence (Nursery Rhyme)

Labels: 19th century poem, Children's poems, Free vintage poems, Music & Poetry, Nursery rhymes, Poetry for kids, Public domain poetry

An illustrated version (from 1883) of "Sing a Song of Sixpence," an old nursery rhyme that probably dates back to the 18th century. This printable sheet music with scenes from the song can be used as a gift wrap, in a decoupage creation or to embellish scrapbooking and graphic design projects.

You can download this free high-res 8" x 12" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.

Vintage sheet music is from my personal collection. All digitized work by Victorian Trends.com is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Free for personal use only. Please link back to VictorianTrends.com as your source when sharing or publishing.

19th Century Public Domain Poetry: The Toll-Gate (Poem for Kids)

Labels: 19th century poem, Children's poems, Free vintage poems, Music & Poetry, Poetry for kids, Public domain poetry

This little poem, entitled "The Toll-Gate" was written and illustrated by Rudolph F. Bunner (1860 - 1931), a noted illustrator and painter. It was originally published in the December 1895 issue of St. Nicholas Magazine. Here is how it goes:

There is a toll-gate hidden away,
Half in the fields, and half in the trees,
Where the children, the elves, and the fairies stray,
With footsteps facing the twilight breeze.

The fairies and elves can pass through free,
But a child must pay for the toll with a song,
Before the fairy land it can see,
And this must be said, or it all goes wrong:

"I believe in the Three Little Bears,
And the Prince that climbed the Mountain of Glass,
And I know how the Wild Swan's sister fares, --
So open the gate and let me pass."