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    Fire and Ice

    Fire and Ice

    [ranking: 1]
    Some say the world will end in fire,Some say in ice.From what I??ve tasted of desireI hold with those who favor fire.But if it had to perish twice,I think I know enough of hateTo say that for destruction iceIs also greatAnd would suffice. Author: Robert Frost

    Nothing Gold Can Stay

    Nothing Gold Can Stay

    [ranking: 2]
    Nature??s first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf??s a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay. Author: Robert Frost

    First Fig

    First Fig

    [ranking: 3]
    My candle burns at both ends; It will not last the night;But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends?? It gives a lovely light! Author: Edna St. Vincent Millay

    I'm Nobody! Who Are You?

    I'm Nobody! Who Are You?

    [ranking: 4]
    I'm nobody! Who are you?Are you nobody, too?Then there's a pair of us - don't tell!They'd banish us, you know.
    How dreary to be somebody!How public, like a frogTo tell your name the livelong dayTo an admiring bog! Author: Emily Dickinson

    Trees

    Trees

    [ranking: 5]
    I think that I shall never seeA poem lovely as a tree.
    A tree whose hungry mouth is prestAgainst the earth??s sweet flowing breast;
    A tree that looks at God all day,And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
    A tree that may in Summer wearA nest of robins in her hair;
    Upon whose bosom snow has lain;Who intimately lives with rain.
    Poems are made by fools like me,But only God can make a tree. Author: Joyce Kilmer

    Risk

    Risk

    [ranking: 6]
    And then the day came,when the riskto remain tightin a budwas more painfulthan the riskit tookto Blossom. Author: Ana?s Nin

    The Dust of Snow

    The Dust of Snow

    [ranking: 7]
    The way a crowShook down on meThe dust of snowFrom a hemlock tree
    Has given my heartA change of moodAnd saved some partOf a day I had rued. Author: Robert Frost

    Invictus

    Invictus

    [ranking: 8]
    Out of the night that covers me, Black as the pit from pole to pole,I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul.
    In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud.Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody, but unbowed.
    Beyond this place of wrath and tears Looms but the Horror of the shade,And yet the menace of the years Finds and shall find me unafraid.
    It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll,I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul. Author: William Ernest Henley

    The Purple Cow

    The Purple Cow

    [ranking: 9]
    I never saw a Purple Cow,I never hope to see one,But I can tell you, anyhow,I??d rather see than be one! Author: Gelett Burgess

    Harlem

    Harlem

    [ranking: 10]
    What happens to a dream deferred?
    Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore?? And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over?? like a syrupy sweet?
    Maybe it just sags like a heavy load.
    Or does it explode? Author: Langston Hughes

    The Rainy Day

    The Rainy Day

    [ranking: 11]
    The day is cold, and dark, and dreary;It rains, and the wind is never weary;The vine still clings to the mouldering wall,But at every gust the dead leaves fall,And the day is dark and dreary.
    My life is cold, and dark, and dreary;It rains, and the wind is never weary;My thoughts still cling to the mouldering Past,But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast,And the days are dark and dreary.
    Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;Thy fate is the common fate of all,Into each life some rain must fall,Some days must be dark and dreary. Author: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

    Death

    Death

    [ranking: 12]
    Nor dread nor hope attendA dying animal;A man awaits his endDreading and hoping all;Many times he died,Many times rose again.A great man in his prideConfronting murderous menCasts derision uponSupersession of breath;He knows death to the bone -Man has created death. Author: William Butler Yeats

    My Life Has Been the Poem

    My Life Has Been the Poem

    [ranking: 13]
    My life has been the poem I would have writBut I could not both live and utter it. Author: Henry David Thoreau

    Heart, We Will Forget Him!

    Heart, We Will Forget Him!

    [ranking: 14]
    Heart! We will forget him!You an I, tonight!You may forget the warmth he gave,I will forget the light.
    When you have done, pray tell meThat I my thoughts may dim;Haste! lest while you're lagging.I may remember him! Author: Emily Dickinson

    This Is Just To Say

    This Is Just To Say

    [ranking: 15]
    I have eatenthe plumsthat were inthe icebox
    and whichyou were probablysavingfor breakfast
    Forgive methey were deliciousso sweetand so cold Author: William Carlos Williams

    Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

    Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

    [ranking: 16]
    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.
    Though wise men at their end know dark is right,Because their words had forked no lightning theyDo not go gentle into that good night.
    Good men, the last wave by, crying how brightTheir frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
    Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,Do not go gentle into that good night.
    Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sightBlind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
    And you, my father, there on the sad height,Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.Do not go gentle into that good night.Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Author: Dylan Thomas

    Shall I compare thee to a summer??s day?

    Shall I compare thee to a summer??s day?

    [ranking: 17]
    Shall I compare thee to a summer??s day?Thou art more lovely and more temperate.Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,And summer??s lease hath all too short a date.Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,And often is his gold complexion dimmed;And every fair from fair sometime declines,By chance, or nature??s changing course, untrimmed;But thy eternal summer shall not fade,Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow??st,Nor shall death brag thou wand??rest in his shade,When in eternal lines to Time thou grow??st. So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. Author: William Shakespeare

    I Stood Upon a High Place

    I Stood Upon a High Place

    [ranking: 18]
    I stood upon a high place, And saw, below, many devils Running, leaping, and carousing in sin. One looked up, grinning, And said, "Comrade! Brother!" Author: Stephen Crane

    A Dream Within a Dream

    A Dream Within a Dream

    [ranking: 19]
    Take this kiss upon the brow!And, in parting from you now,Thus much let me avow ??You are not wrong, who deemThat my days have been a dream;Yet if hope has flown awayIn a night, or in a day,In a vision, or in none,Is it therefore the less gone? All that we see or seemIs but a dream within a dream.
    I stand amid the roarOf a surf-tormented shore,And I hold within my handGrains of the golden sand ??How few! yet how they creepThrough my fingers to the deep,While I weep ?? while I weep!O God! Can I not graspThem with a tighter clasp?O God! can I not saveOne from the pitiless wave?Is all that we see or seemBut a dream within a dream? Author: Edgar Allan Poe

    Eldorado

    Eldorado

    [ranking: 20]
    Gaily bedight, A gallant knight,In sunshine and in shadow, Had journeyed long, Singing a song,In search of Eldorado.
    But he grew old?? This knight so bold?? And o??er his heart a shadow?? Fell as he found No spot of groundThat looked like Eldorado.
    And, as his strength Failed him at length,He met a pilgrim shadow?? ??Shadow,?? said he, ??Where can it be??This land of Eldorado???
    ??Over the Mountains Of the Moon,Down the Valley of the Shadow, Ride, boldly ride,?? The shade replied,????If you seek for Eldorado!?? Author: Edgar Allan Poe

    Because I Could Not Stop for Death

    Because I Could Not Stop for Death

    [ranking: 21]
    Because I could not stop for Death ?C He kindly stopped for me ?C The Carriage held but just Ourselves ?C And Immortality.
    We slowly drove ?C He knew no hasteAnd I had put awayMy labor and my leisure too,For His Civility ?C
    We passed the School, where Children stroveAt Recess ?C in the Ring ?C We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain ?C We passed the Setting Sun ?C
    Or rather ?C He passed us ?C The Dews drew quivering and chill ?C For only Gossamer, my Gown ?C My Tippet ?C only Tulle ?C
    We paused before a House that seemedA Swelling of the Ground ?C The Roof was scarcely visible ?C The Cornice ?C in the Ground ?C
    Since then ?C ??tis Centuries ?C and yetFeels shorter than the DayI first surmised the Horses?? Heads Were toward Eternity ?C Author: Emily Dickinson

    The New Colossus

    The New Colossus

    [ranking: 22]
    Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, 
    With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
    Here at our sea-washed sunset shores shall stand
    A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
    Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
    Mother of Exiles.  From her beacon-hand
    Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
    The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
    "Keep, oh ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
    With silent lips.  "Give me your tired, your poor,
    Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
    The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
    Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
    I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
    Author: Emma Lazarus

    The World Is Too Much With Us

    The World Is Too Much With Us

    [ranking: 23]
    The world is too much with us; late and soon,Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;??Little we see in Nature that is ours;We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;The winds that will be howling at all hours,And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;For this, for everything, we are out of tune;It moves us not. Great God! I??d rather beA Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;Or hear old Triton blow his wreath??d horn. Author: William Wordsworth

    The Red Wheelbarrow

    The Red Wheelbarrow

    [ranking: 24]
    so much dependsupon
    a red wheelbarrow
    glazed with rainwater
    beside the whitechickens. Author: William Carlos Williams

    Much Madness Is Divinest Sense

    Much Madness Is Divinest Sense

    [ranking: 25]
    Much Madness is divinest Sense -To a discerning Eye -Much Sense - the starkest Madness -??Tis the MajorityIn this, as all, prevail -Assent - and you are sane -Demur - you??re straightway dangerous -And handled with a Chain - Author: Emily Dickinson

    Richard Cory

    Richard Cory

    [ranking: 26]
    Whenever Richard Cory went down town,We people on the pavement looked at him:He was a gentleman from sole to crown,Clean favored, and imperially slim.
    And he was always quietly arrayed,And he was always human when he talked;But still he fluttered pulses when he said,"Good-morning," and he glittered when he walked.
    And he was rich??yes, richer than a king??And admirably schooled in every grace:In fine, we thought that he was everythingTo make us wish that we were in his place.
    So on we worked, and waited for the light,And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,Went home and put a bullet through his head. Author: Edwin Arlington Robinson

    To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time

    To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time

    [ranking: 27]
    Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, Old Time is still a-flying;And this same flower that smiles today Tomorrow will be dying.
    The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun, The higher he??s a-getting,The sooner will his race be run, And nearer he??s to setting.
    That age is best which is the first, When youth and blood are warmer;But being spent, the worse, and worst Times still succeed the former.
    Then be not coy, but use your time, And while ye may, go marry;For having lost but once your prime, You may forever tarry. Author: Robert Herrick

    Death Be Not Proud

    Death Be Not Proud

    [ranking: 28]
    Death, be not proud, though some have called theeMighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrowDie not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,And soonest our best men with thee do go,Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,And poppy or charms can make us sleep as wellAnd better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?One short sleep past, we wake eternallyAnd death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die. Author: John Gunther

    Sigh No More, Ladies

    Sigh No More, Ladies

    [ranking: 29]
    Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more. Men were deceivers ever,One foot in sea, and one on shore, To one thing constant never.Then sigh not so, but let them go, And be you blithe and bonny,Converting all your sounds of woe Into hey nonny, nonny.
    Sing no more ditties, sing no more Of dumps so dull and heavy.The fraud of men was ever so Since summer first was leafy.Then sigh not so, but let them go, And be you blithe and bonny,Converting all your sounds of woe Into hey, nonny, nonny. Author: William Shakespeare

    The Man He Killed

    The Man He Killed

    [ranking: 30]
    "Had he and I but met By some old ancient inn,We should have sat us down to wet Right many a nipperkin!
    "But ranged as infantry, And staring face to face,I shot at him as he at me, And killed him in his place.
    "I shot him dead because ?? Because he was my foe,Just so: my foe of course he was; That's clear enough; although
    "He thought he'd 'list, perhaps, Off-hand like ?? just as I ??Was out of work ?? had sold his traps ?? No other reason why.
    "Yes; quaint and curious war is! You shoot a fellow downYou'd treat if met where any bar is, Or help to half-a-crown." Author: Thomas Hardy

    The Emperor of Ice Cream

    The Emperor of Ice Cream

    [ranking: 31]
    Call the roller of big cigars,The muscular one, and bid him whipIn kitchen cups concupiscent curds.Let the wenches dawdle in such dressAs they are used to wear, and let the boysBring flowers in last month??s newspapers.Let be be finale of seem.The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.
    Take from the dresser of deal,Lacking the three glass knobs, that sheetOn which she embroidered fantails onceAnd spread it so as to cover her face.If her horny feet protrude, they comeTo show how cold she is, and dumb.Let the lamp affix its beam.The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream. Author: Wallace Stevens

    London Roses

    London Roses

    [ranking: 32]
    "Rowses, Rowses! Penny a bunch!" they tell you--Slattern girls in Trafalgar, eager to sell you.Roses, roses, red in the Kensington sun,Holland Road, High Street, Bayswater, see you and smell you--Roses of London town, red till the summer is done. Roses, roses, locust and lilac, perfumingWest End, East End, wondrously budding and bloomingOut of the black earth, rubbed in a million hands,Foot-trod, sweat-sour over and under, entombingHighways of darkness, deep gutted with iron bands. "Rowses, rowses! Penny a bunch!" they tell you,Ruddy blooms of corruption, see you and smell you,Born of stale earth, fallowed with squalor and tears--North shire, south shire, none are like these, I tell you,Roses of London perfumed with a thousand years. Author: Willa Cather

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About Random Best Short Poems to Memorize

It's an exciting tool for displaying random best short poems to memorize. We collected a list of "Random Best Short Poems to Memorize" from ranker, which was screened by countless online votes. You can view random best short poems to memorize shows from this page, click on "Show all by ranking" button to show the complete list, or visit the original page for a more detailed introduction.

What is the best short poem to memorize? This list includes great poems that are easy to memorize such as "Dream within a Dream," "This Is Just to Say," "Richard Cory," and "First Fig." Memorizing poetry will prove to be an impressive trick at parties, will bring you closer to the poem, and foster a lifelong bond with literature that simply reading these poems doesn't offer. Poetry buffs might also enjoy the best poems about love, the best rhyming poems, and the best epic poems, while theatre fans may want to see the best short monologues. 

Written works have the ability to make us feel. They make us want to believe, be inspired, and live vicariously through the stories we read on the page. They can make us love, laugh, and cry. Though brief, these famous short poems are full of rich imagery and hidden meaning. It is these elements which provoke readers to dig deeper, and memorizing the poem furthers that relationship even more.

Poets and their poetry have the ability to take readers places and into worlds never imagined. Poets can often be tortured souls or great thinkers who allow readers a new view on the world. Their skills with words, even when the poem is only a few lines long, draw the reader in, making us want to memorize certain works, like those on this list.

Vote up all good short poems to memorize below or add the easiest famous poems to recite if they aren't already on the list.

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