Hilaire Belloc Poems (166 Poems)
Heroic Poem in Praise of Wine (Hilaire Belloc Poems)
To exalt, enthrone, establish and defend,To welcome home mankind’s mysterious friendWine, true begetter of all arts that be;Wine, privilege of the completely free;Wine the recorder; wine the sagely strong;Wine, bright avenger of sly-dealing wrong,Awake, Ausonian Muse, and sing the vineyard … Continue reading
Lines to a Don (Hilaire Belloc Poems)
Remote and ineffectual DonThat dared attack my Chesterton,With that poor weapon, half-impelled,Unlearnt, unsteady, hardly held,Unworthy for a tilt with men—Your quavering and corroded pen;Don poor at Bed and worse at Table,Don pinched, Don starved, Don miserable;Don stuttering, Don with roving … Continue reading
The South Country (Hilaire Belloc Poems)
When I am living in the MidlandsThat are sodden and unkind,I light my lamp in the evening:My work is left behind;And the great hills of the South CountryCome back into my mind. The great hills of the South CountryThey stand … Continue reading
Jim (Hilaire Belloc Poems)
There was a Boy whose name was Jim;His Friends were very good to him.They gave him Tea, and Cakes, and Jam,And slices of delicious Ham,And Chocolate with pink insideAnd little Tricycles to ride,And read him Stories through and through,And even … Continue reading
Matilda Who told Lies, and was Burned to Death (Hilaire Belloc Poems)
Matilda told such Dreadful Lies,It made one Gasp and Stretch one’s Eyes;Her Aunt, who, from her Earliest Youth,Had kept a Strict Regard for Truth,Attempted to Believe Matilda:The effort very nearly killed her,And would have done so, had not SheDiscovered this … Continue reading
To The Balliol Men Still In Africa (Hilaire Belloc Poems)
Years ago when I was at Balliol, Balliol men-and I was one-Swam together in winter rivers, Wrestled together under the sun.And still in the heart of us, Balliol, Balliol, Loved already, but hardly known,Welded us each of us into the others: Called a levy … Continue reading
Godolphin Horne,Who was cursed with the Sin of Pride, and Became a Boot-Black. (Hilaire Belloc Poems)
Godolphin Horne was Nobly Born;He held the Human Race in Scorn,And lived with all his Sisters whereHis father lived, in Berkeley Square.And oh! The Lad was Deathly Proud!He never shook your Hand or Bowed,But merely smirked and nodded thus:How perfectly … Continue reading
Sarah Byng, Who Could Not Read And Was Tossed Into A Thorny Hedge By A Bull (Hilaire Belloc Poems)
Some years ago you heard me singMy doubts on Alexander Byng.His sister Sarah now inspiresMy jaded Muse, my failing fires.Of Sarah Byng the tale is toldHow when the child was twelve years oldShe could not read or write a line.Her … Continue reading
Lord Lundy II – Second Canto (Hilaire Belloc Poems)
It happened to Lord Lundy then,As happens to so many men:Towards the age of twenty-six,They shoved him into politics;In which profession he commandedThe Income that his rank demandedIn turn as Secretary forIndia, the Colonies, and War.But very soon his friends … Continue reading
The Death and Last Confession of Wandering Peter (Hilaire Belloc Poems)
When Peter Wanderwide was youngHe wandered everywhere he would:All that he approved was sung,And most of what he saw was good. When Peter Wanderwide was thrownBy Death himself beyond Auxerre,He chanted in heroic toneTo priests and people gathered there: “If … Continue reading
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