Favorite Poems

I started collecting favorite poems in high school. I like these old poems; I think you'll enjoy them, too. My little notebook with my handwritten poems was started in 1958, it says on the first page. I kept it all these years, the edges of the pages brown with age. Now I'll share these poems here, and maybe some other favorite works by poets other than me.

My husband Karl wrote this first poem, below, about me and our early time together, but it's so personal that it doesn't fit on any other page. It is one of my very favorite poems. Note that the word "stupid" is pronounced "stoo-PID" to make the meter work. We laughed every time we came to that part.

While going through his papers after his death, I found the original, hand-written copy. At the top, he wrote: 

Can-do people can do it all
thanks to the strength of their intellect and character.

The Can-Do Kid

From the time that I met her,
And I'm glad that I did,
She's been known in my heart
As the can-do kid.

'Twas a restaurant lobby,
The place where we met.
We talked and drank and danced a bit,
The first time I met the can-do kid.

A weekend at the campground
Sealed my fate;
We didn't do much,
But it sure was great.

From that time on,
I knew I'd bid
To spend the rest of my life
With the can-do kid.

Giving lectures, helping singles,
Selling sausage at the fair,
Whatever we tried,
She was always there.

Thinking, striving, plotting,
A pot of energy without a lid,
Life was exciting
With the can-do kid.

The reaper almost got me
Before my time.
In the hospital I suffered,
Not doing fine.

Then she came and got me,
From the reaper we hid,
And I'm here to tell it
'Cause of the can-do kid.

Some jobs were worked,
Some jobs were lost.
To the mind and the spirit
There was a strong cost.

So she'll write her stories,
Lest her good God forbid.
Nothing can slow down
The can-do kid.

Now we hold hands together,
Through the excitement of life,
And I sure am happy
To have her for my wife.

I'll hold onto her dearly,
For I'm not stupid,
And I'm so proud to be the partner
Of the can-do kid.

By Karl Fuchs

Here's one for those who are married to their iPods.

A Fragment: To Music

Silver key of the fountain of tears,
Where the spirit drinks till the brain is wild;
Softest grave of a thousand fears,
Where their mother, Care, like a drowsy child,
Is laid asleep in flowers.

By Percy Bysshe Shelley

In the early 1900s, Edgar Guest wrote a daily poem for a newspaper for many years. The feature at its peak was syndicated in more than 300 newspapers. His book, "It Takes A Heap of Living," sold more than a million copies. You can still buy his books at Amazon.com, including his collected works, which I own and recommend.

It Couldn't Be Done

Somebody said that it couldn't be done,
But he with a chuckle replied
That maybe it couldn't, but he would be one
Who wouldn't say no till he'd tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
On his face. If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done, and he did it.

Somebody scoffed: "Oh, you'll never do that;
At least no one ever has done it;"
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
And the first thing we knew he'd begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done, and he did it.

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
There are thousands to prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out to you, one by one,
The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle in with a bit of a grin,
Just take off your coat and go to it;
Just start to sing as you tackle the thing
That "cannot be done," and you'll do it.

By Edgar A. Guest

This one could apply to individuals, to organizations, to governments, to nations.

"...There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at its flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat,
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures."

By William Shakespeare

In our stressed-out world, is there anyone left who could actually "laugh and go," as in the following favorite poem?

I Meant To Do My Work Today

I meant to do my work today,
But a brown bird sang in the apple tree,
And a butterfly flitted across the field,
And all the leaves were calling me.

And the wind went sighing over the land,
Tossing the grasses to and fro,
And a rainbow held out its shining hand--
So what could I do, but laugh and go?

By Richard Le Galliene

This favorite poem gives me motivation when my energy is low

Don't Quit

When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile but you have to sigh,
When all is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must, but don't you quit.

Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver tint on the clouds of doubt,
And you can never tell how close you are;
It may be near when it seems far.

So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit;
It's when things go wrong that you must not quit.

--John Greenleaf Whittier

Curious about the Christian religion? What is Christianity?
What is a Christian? What is Christian faith?
To see the answers and find out how to become a Christian,
check out this Web site.

There are more than 1,000 poems at this site.
Be sure to check our Site Map to see all of them.

Would you like a book of our poems?

This 8 1/4 by 11 inch, 469-page paperback contains more than 1,000 poems we wrote for Poemsource.com. Click Here to go directly to the Amazon.com page where you can purchase it.

JUST A REMINDER: I get paid based on ad revenue now, so if you wouldn’t mind whitelisting Poemsource.com if you run an ad blocker that would be great.

Custom Search