by M.A. Dal Cero

Created on: May 05, 2009

Time passes and seasons change, but the words of the great poets have remained in the hearts, souls, and minds of human beings throughout the course of history. The true magicians of words, poets posses the power to transform a group of solitary words into enchanting poems that unleash the emotions held deep within us. They conjure up imagery that moves, inspires, and changes us. The gifts of the great poets have been passed down from generation to generation as a gentle reminder of how, in the right hands, words have the power to be magical.

The following are just several of the many great lines in poetry:

-"She walks in beauty like the night; Of cloudless climes and starry skies; And all that's best of dark and bright; Meet in her aspect and her eyes." - She Walks in Beauty Like the Night, Lord Byron

-"How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height; My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight; For the ends of Being and ideal Grace." - How Do I Love Thee?, Elizabeth Barrett Browning

-"Shall I compare thee to a summers day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate. Rough winds do not shake the darling buds of May; And summer's lease hath all too short a date." - Shall I Compare Thee to a Summers Day, Sonnet 18, William Shakespeare

-"The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep." - Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, Robert Frost

-"O Captain!, my captain! our fearful trip is done; The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won." - O Captain! My Captain, Walt Whitman

-"Half a league, half a league; Half a league onward; All in the valley of Death; Rode the six hundred." - The Charge of the Light Brigade, Alfred Lord Tennyson

-"Because I could not stop for Death, He kindly stopped for me; The carriage held but just ourselves; And Immortality." - Because I Could Not Stop for Death, Emily Dickinson

-"Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, Old Time is still a-flying: And this same flower that smiles today; Tomorrow will be dying." - To the Virgins, to Make much of Time, Robert Herrick

-"I wondered lonely as a cloud; That floats on high o'er vales and hills; When all at once I saw a crowd; A host of golden daffodils." - I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, William Wordsworth

-"Do not go gentle into that good night; Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light." - Do Not Go Gentle Into the Good Night, Dylan Thomas

-"Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary; Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore; While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping; As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door." - The Raven, Edgar Allen Poe

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