Emilia Lanier, also spelled Aemilia Lanyer, (1569-1645) was the first Englishwoman to assert herself as a professional poet through her single volume of poems, Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum (1611). Born Aemilia Bassano and part of the Lanier family tree, she was a member of the minor gentry through her father's appointment as a royal musician, and was apparently educated in the household by Susan Bertie, the dowager Countess of Kent. She was for several years the mistress of Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon, first cousin of Elizabeth I of England. She was married to court musician Alfonso Lanier in 1592 when she became pregnant, and the marriage was reportedly unhappy.
good husbands make unhappy wives
Good husbands make unhappy wives
so do bad husbands, just as often;
but the unhappiness of...[read poem]
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so do bad husbands, just as often;
but the unhappiness of...
stand up! --
Stand up, but not for Jesus!
It's a little late for that.
Stand up for justice and a jolly...[read poem]
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It's a little late for that.
Stand up for justice and a jolly...
snake
A snake came to my water-trough
On a hot, hot day, and I in pyjamas for the heat,
To drink...[read poem]
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On a hot, hot day, and I in pyjamas for the heat,
To drink...
the unknown citizen
(To JS/07/M/378 This Marble Monument Is Erected by the State)
He was found by the Bureau ...[read poem]
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He was found by the Bureau ...
relativity
I like relativity and quantum theories
because I don't understand them
and they make me fe...[read poem]
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because I don't understand them
and they make me fe...
people
The great gold apples of night
Hang from the street's long bough
Dripping their light...[read poem]
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Hang from the street's long bough
Dripping their light...
beautiful old age
It ought to be lovely to be old
to be full of the peace that comes of experience
and wrink...[read poem]
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to be full of the peace that comes of experience
and wrink...
the bride
My love looks like a girl to-night,
But she is old.
The plaits that lie along her pill...[read poem]
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But she is old.
The plaits that lie along her pill...
the blue jay
The blue jay with a crest on his head
Comes round the cabin in the snow.
He runs in the sn...[read poem]
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Comes round the cabin in the snow.
He runs in the sn...
the ship of death
Now it is autumn and the falling fruit
and the long journey towards oblivion.
The a...[read poem]
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and the long journey towards oblivion.
The a...
the mosquito
When did you start your tricks
Monsieur?
What do you stand on such high legs for?...[read poem]
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Monsieur?
What do you stand on such high legs for?...
the more loving one
Looking up at the stars, I know quite well
That, for all they care, I can go to hell,
But ...[read poem]
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That, for all they care, I can go to hell,
But ...
whales weep not!
They say the sea is cold, but the sea contains
the hottest blood of all, and the wildest, the m...[read poem]
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the hottest blood of all, and the wildest, the m...
self-pity
I never saw a wild thing
sorry for itself.
A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough...[read poem]
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sorry for itself.
A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough...
piano
Softly, in the dusk, a woman is singing to me;
Taking me back down the vista of years, till I s...[read poem]
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Taking me back down the vista of years, till I s...
wages
The wages of work is cash.
The wages of cash is want more cash.
The wages of want more cas...[read poem]
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The wages of cash is want more cash.
The wages of want more cas...
night mail
This is the Night Mail crossing the border,
Bringing the cheque and the postal order,
Lett...[read poem]
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Bringing the cheque and the postal order,
Lett...
lui et elle
She is large and matronly
And rather dirty,
A little sardonic-looking, as if domesticity h...[read poem]
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And rather dirty,
A little sardonic-looking, as if domesticity h...
september 1, 1939
I sit in one of the dives
On Fifty-second street
Uncertain and afraid
As the clever h...[read poem]
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On Fifty-second street
Uncertain and afraid
As the clever h...
doggerel by a senior citizen
Our earth in 1969
Is not the planet I call mine,
The world, I mean, that gives me strength...[read poem]
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Is not the planet I call mine,
The world, I mean, that gives me strength...
law like love
Law, say the gardeners, is the sun,
Law is the one
All gardeners obey
To-morrow, yest...[read poem]
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Law is the one
All gardeners obey
To-morrow, yest...
miss gee
Let me tell you a little story
About Miss Edith Gee;
She lived in Clevedon Terrace
...[read poem]
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About Miss Edith Gee;
She lived in Clevedon Terrace
...
o where are you going?
"O where are you going?" said reader to rider,
"That valley is fatal when furnaces burn,
Y...[read poem]
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"That valley is fatal when furnaces burn,
Y...
miranda
My dear one is mine as mirrors are lonely,
As the poor and sad are real to the good king,
...[read poem]
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As the poor and sad are real to the good king,
...
cruelty and love / love on the farm
What large, dark hands are those at the window
Lifted, grasping the golden light
Which wea...[read poem]
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Lifted, grasping the golden light
Which wea...
red geranium and godly mignonette
Imagine that any mind ever thought a red geranium!
As if the redness of a red geranium c...[read poem]
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As if the redness of a red geranium c...
the two
You are the town and we are the clock.
We are the guardians of the gate in the rock
The Tw...[read poem]
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We are the guardians of the gate in the rock
The Tw...
the revolutionary
Look at them standing there in authority
The pale-faces,
As if it could have any effect an...[read poem]
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The pale-faces,
As if it could have any effect an...
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