Welcome to my Poem Anthology!

My poem anthology is composed of 4 original poems written by me, and 8 poems written by other poets, some popular and well known, and some anonymously over the Internet!

Each of the poems have their own separate tabs, you can navigate through them over here ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->

My theme is sorrow. I chose this theme because I feel as if it's something that everyone feels one way or the other and usually poems about sorrow are easy to relate too. Also, this theme helps blend through other themes, such as love and loss, given that sorrow is a feeling of great emotional distress.

I hope you enjoy my selection and my own written creations!

-Alec

12. My Prayer For You In Your Loss - Liz Mackay

May my poems of loss
Be filled with Compassion,
Bring to your heart
Peace in some fashion.
Your loss is great,
It can't be denied,
But life unfolds
On a path less wide.
Never the same
With your loved one gone.
The pain must be faced,
The work of grieving done.
But a life can be made
Again, though a price is paid
Of a vacant chair
And an empty bed.
Keep the memories strong,
As you journey along.
You, too can help those
Struggling through woes.
Be at peace
As life onward flows.

Source -
http://www.squidoo.com/poemsofloss
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This is a narrative poem that is about a person wishing the best for a friend or acquaintance who is suffering through difficult times.

I chose this poem because I feel as if it is a satisfying end to this anthology. It wishes the best for people, and tries to tell people that life goes on, and that there is no use to dwell on what happened, and to continue with your life.

The entire poem is just how the narrator wants you to understand that even if your 'loss is great', you need to 'be at peace as life onward flows'.

The figurative elements are - Oxymoron (Lines 1 & 2)

11. Losing a Person - Alec Mazurek

Why did this end
Like a separation of land
With something lost
It will no longer last

It finished this way
with a huge fray
And now you are gone
And I am alone

My thoughts are gone with the wind
Nothing else to find
I feel as though as I am blind
I'm in the wrong state of mind

I am glad of this end
Nothing else left to bend
Don't depend or defend, just descend
You're no longer a friend.
_
This poem is a narrative poem about a person losing his/her friend.

The first stanza is about he/her reflecting on why did it end, and that it will never come back. The second stanza is how the person left after a fight. The third stanza is how the narrator is shocked of the person leaving and their feelings coping with their loss. Finally the fourth stanza is the narrator accepting the fact that they might be happier with the person out of their life.

I wrote this poem based on a personal experience that I've had with a certain person.

The figurative elements in this poem are - Similie (Line 2) Personification (Line 9), Alliteration (Line 11)

10. Lemon Sorrow - Samantha Guinen

Have you ever tasted sorrow, 
I think it taste like lemons, 
If all feelings had a taste i think of lemons, 
They can be sour then can get sweet, 
Lemons sweet or sour then comes the sorrow taste, 
Sorrow taste of rain, 
Sorrow taste of lemons,

Source -
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/lemon-sorrow/
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This poem is a very short free-verse poem about how sorrow is like lemons.

Lines 1-4 is how feelings can be like lemons, because they can be different, like sweet or sour. Finally, when those feelings go away, there's the 'sorrow' taste, which is everything feeling wrong.

I chose this poem because I thought it was a fun analogy, comparing sorrow to lemons. It breaks up the sadness or grief of most sorrow poems and makes it a bit fun.

The figurative elements in this poem are - Personification (Lines 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7) Metaphor (Line 3)

9. Bitter-Sweet Memories - Eike Nigro

Sorrow played its melodies, 

sometimes slow, sometimes fast, 
happiness coming and passing, 

Sorrows never long-lasting. 

Until a day, like no other day, 
a heart-stopping blow
reduced me to tears of unending
flow.

Sorrow knew no boundaries, 
endless tears brought no relief, 
but flourished in their salted grief.

As time went by, 

Sorrow wore a gentler face, 
a blameless one I could embrace.

Sometimes slow and achingly sad, 
sometimes fast, brimming with joy, 

Sorrow plays its bitter-sweet memories 
of long-ago.

Source - 
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/bitter-sweet-memories-2/
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This poem is about how sorrow can come out of nowhere, and it can have different effects, and how it passes.

Lines 1-3 is comparing sorrow to music, in that it can have different tempos. Lines 4-9 is about how sorrow isn't a gradual process, it's that it's sudden and can bring you down quickly. Lines 10-13 is about how there is no relief for sorrow. Lines 14-17 is how you come to accept the sorrow. Lines 18-22 is how sorrow passes, and how you come to finally accept it and let it pass.

I chose this poem because it talks about how to pass through sorrow, and it's gradual effects on people.

The figurative elements are - Metaphor (Lines 1, 16), Personification (Line 12), Exaggeration (Lines 5, 6 & 7)

8. The Sorrowful Man - Alec Mazurek

This is the story of the sorrowful man

He was a very successful man
A rags to riches type story
He used to have a difficult life
He was neglected and beaten
Persevered until the very end

This is the story of the sorrowful man

He started to work
And he quickly came with an idea
He created it, made it his one power
Amazed the world with his invention
Shock befell all those around him

This is the story of the sorrowful man

He lived life to its full potential
He did whatever money could bring
He found his one true love
And he felt all was complete
Although he was blissfully unaware

This is the story of the sorrowful man

He quickly learned of the true dangers
Of bad decisions and greed
His company went backrupt
He lost all that he kept dear
He even lost his love

This is the story of the sorrowful man

From riches to rags
He was at a loss
Where did it all go wrong?
He did not know
Although he tries to remember
Of the oppertunity he was given
He still feels his own sorrow
With the loss of all the things he held dear

This is the story of the sorrowful man
It is to come to a close
An ending to a book
The end of a lifetime
Gone
Lost
Forgotten
_
This is a narrative poem about a man that fell from grace, and now his life is sad and he feels as if it could all end.

The first stanza is about his early life, which was difficult because he was neglected by his parents, but he tried to continue on. The second stanza about him creating an object that was revolutionary, and sold very well, which made him rich.

The third stanza is the man taking life to the maximum with his new earned riches. He tries to have as much fun as he can, and he finds someone he 'loves', but is unaware of how quickly life can change. The fourth stanza is him making bad decisions in his life, and losing everything that he held dear. The fifth stanza is him reflecting on his losses, and how he should have been more careful with his blessings, and the sixth and final stanza is wrapping up the poem with how his life ended there.

I wrote this because I tried to convert a story into a poem, which was fairly difficult but I think I didn't do too bad for a first time.

The figurative elements are - Repetition (this is the story of the sorrowful man), Allusion (sort of Lord of the Rings? Line 9-10, forging of the One Ring), Metaphor (line 36)

7. The Raven - Edgar Allan Poe

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 some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
`'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, `tapping at my chamber door -
Only this, and nothing more.'

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow; - vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow - sorrow for the lost Lenore -
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels named Lenore -
Nameless here for evermore.

(The rest of the poem can be read here - 
http://www.heise.de/ix/raven/Literature/Lore/TheRaven.html)
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This story is about a man who is sorrowful over the loss of a woman named 'Lenore'. He hears knocking at the door, and opens it. Once he does, he hears the echo of the word 'Lenore'. Thinking it's just the wind, he closes it and goes back to sit, He hears tapping at the window, and he opens it and a raven comes in. The man starts asking the raven questions, to which the raven replies 'Nevermore' Becoming increasingly frustrated with the raven's continuous use of 'Nevermore', he finally feels that his soul will 'nevermore' leave the raven's shadow.

I really like this poem because it tells a wonderful story in such a short time. It has a lot of imagery, and it also well made. I really like the rhyming scheme, and I like the repetition in the story. I chose it because of these same reasons, and because I wanted to put a story into my anthology. 

The figurative elements in this excerpt of the story are - Onomatopoeia (lines 3, 4 & 5)

6. Loss - Alec Mazurek

A feeling of great distress
No hope, no light at the end
Like fallen trees
In a torn down forest

The light is weak
My thoughts are bleak
My body is broken
My mind won't be mended

Light grey skies
Leave-less trees
Open plains with no end
Save me from this state
_
This is a free-verse poem about feeling distressed.

The first stanza is about how everything is so plain, and that it feels endless. The second stanza is how the person feels weak, physically and emotionally. Finally the third stanza is about how he wants help, but he doesn't know who or what to turn to because he feels so alone.

I wrote this poem after driving past a place where there used to be a forest, but got cut down.

The figurative elements are - Similie (Lines 3-4) & Imagery (Lines 9-11)

5. Melancholetta - Lewis Caroll

With saddest music all day long
She soothed her secret sorrow:
At night she sighed "I fear 'twas wrong
Such cheerful words to borrow.
Dearest, a sweeter, sadder song
I'll sing to thee to-morrow."
 
I thanked her, but I could not say
That I was glad to hear it:
I left the house at break of day,
And did not venture near it
Till time, I hoped, had worn away
Her grief, for nought could cheer it!
 
My dismal sister! Couldst thou know
The wretched home thou keepest!
Thy brother, drowned in daily woe,
Is thankful when thou sleepest;
For if I laugh, however low,
When thou'rt awake, thou weepest!
 
I took my sister t'other day
(Excuse the slang expression)
To Sadler's Wells to see the play
In hopes the new impression
Might in her thoughts, from grave to gay
Effect some slight digression.
 
(The rest of the poem is here -

http://www.poetrysoup.com/famous/poem/1298/Melancholetta)

This poem is about a girl who is really stricken with sadness, and her brother takes her out with 3 of his friends to cheer her up. In spite of his attempts, she always shuts out his attempts to humour her and is clearly negative and sad.

This poem is a narrative poem, because it tells a story. It also has a rhyming pattern, and a set rhythm. The pattern is ABABAB throughout the entire poem.

There are no figurative elements in this section of the poem.

4. Sorrow - Simone Brown

Sorrow, sorrow why have you catch me so
Why have you left me in such a big hole
sorrow, sorrow when will you leave my soul
and let my heart breath so
There is nowhere to go 
if you keep beating on my heart so
Sorrow, sorrow its time to go 
and let your heart be with your soul

Source - 
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/sorrow-44/
_

This poem is about a person reflecting on their personal feelings, and why they won't leave (line 3) to help them relax (line 4) and move on with whatever has passed through their life.

This is a ballad, because there is a specific rhyming scheme involved and because it has a specific rhythm.

In this poem, there are a lot of figurative elements. There are hyperboles (line 2 and 5), a metaphor (line 3), repetition (lines 1, 3 and 7) and finally personifications (lines 1, 4 and 6).

I chose this poem because, like the previous one, it is simple and it gives a lot of emotion given the subject matter. I love the figurative elements, and I really enjoy the emotion it gives out.

3. The Sorrow of Love - William Butler Yeats

Why does the thin grey strand 
Floating up from the forgotten 
Cigarette between my fingers, 
Why does it trouble me? 

Ah, you will understand;
When I carried my mother downstairs,
A few times only, at the beginning 
Of her soft-foot malady, 

I should find, for a reprimand
To my gaiety, a few long grey hairs
On the breast of my coat; and one by one
I let them float up the dark chimney.

Source - 
http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/david_herbert_lawrence/poems/14639.html

_

I believe this poem is about a man whom is reflecting on the death of his mother. The first stanza is him questioning the 'thin grey strand' and why it is bothering him. Proceeding this, it is told that he carried his mother at the start of her illness. Finally, the last stanza is him probably burning his coat or doing something to his coat, because it has his mothers hair on it.

This poem is a narrative poem, considering that it tells one story about his feelings towards his mothers death. 

I chose this poem because I felt that this poem tells a pretty big story in just three stanzas. Given the subject matter, I think William Butler Yeats put a lot of emotion in a fairly short poem, and also put a bit of imagery to add to the sadness of this poem.

2. The Walk - Alec Mazurek

I was walking down a lane
Thinking of something to numb the pain
I feel myself slowly wane

Sitting by a cackling fire
Remembering the tales of a liar
With nothing mentioned prior

I sat down by the bridge
Near the river, on the ledge
I've been pushed towards the edge

Looking down the river
The moon glistening like silver
Nothing left to deliver

I no longer have a hero
There is nothing left to borrow
Except for my own sorrow
_
This poem is about a person who simply couldn't handle everything that was happening to him/her and basically decided to reflect on what happened in different situations. I wrote this poem directly after taking a walk through a forest, where everything was sort of grim and bleak.

This poem is a ballad, with a rhyming scheme of one rhyme per stanza. The rhyming pattern would be AAA, BBB, CCC, DDD, EEE. It could also be a narrative poem, because it is in the first person and focuses on one story.


Figurative Elements - Onomatopoeia (Line 4) and Metaphor (Line 11)

1. Grief Poem - Karina Herrera

Life is dead without you. 
Feel an empty hole inside.
Can’t be me with you not near.
With a frown I cry.

Tears run down my face.
Needles go through my heart.
Felt a pain rushing in the day you went away.
Want to run away, and hide.

Leave this all behind.
Know that words won’t bring you back.
Still I have to try.

Can’t breath
Can’t see
Can’t live my life
Can’t bare the feeling I have inside.

Want to yell, and let it all out.
Instead I keep it all inside.
Hoping I won’t start to cry when I see you in my mind.
Felt a numbness coming in when I heard that you were gone.

Can’t stop the constant think of you
One day we’ll meet again. 

We’ll leave the world behind.
Until we meet another time my life is nothing, but in sorrow.

Source: My Sorrow, Grief Poem http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/my-sorrow-2#ixzz2OD4ffXR2 
_

This poem is simply about the loss of a close relative. It is a free-verse poem, with little figurative elements. There is repetition in the 4th stanza, with the word 'Can't'. 

I chose this poem because of how relatable it is to the average reader, and also because of its simplicity, and how much emotion is thrown into it, despite how simple it is.