Rock of Ages by Augustus Montague Toplady

Apr 30, 2012 | Hymn, Rhymed Couplets, The Work of Greater Minds

Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in Thee; Let the water and the blood, From Thy wounded side which flowed, Be of sin the double cure; Save from wrath and make me pure. Not the labor of my hands Can fulfill Thy law’s demands; Could my zeal no respite...

Noah Wakes from a Recurring Nightmare

Apr 17, 2012 | Bible Story, Gus Stevens, Rhymed Couplets, The Unspeakable Name vol. 1

Before the earth was swallowed up in sea Noah barred the doors and all skies darkened grey, for once the gate was shut, he heard no beggar’s plea; to flinch at life’s last moment could not the hammer stay. Did he hear their clawing hands in his dreams? The...

Elegy 20 To His Mistress Going to Bed by John Donne

Mar 25, 2012 | Erotic, Love, Rhymed Couplets, The Work of Greater Minds

COME, madam, come, all rest my powers defy; Until I labour, I in labour lie. The foe ofttimes, having the foe in sight, Is tired with standing, though he never fight. Off with that girdle, like heaven’s zone glittering, But a far fairer world encompassing. Unpin...

Daedalus Talks to his Discontent

Feb 28, 2012 | Gus Stevens, Quatrains, Rhymed Couplets, Sinner's Psalms vol. 1

You are in me like an absence, a void, one that could be filled with all the wanted things— an emptiness made of what I’ve not enjoyed. My bird wears none so fine a set of wings. The woman is not ill-dressed, but if only she would display her treasures on the...

It was a hard thing to undo this knot by Gerard Manley Hopkins

Dec 6, 2011 | Marilee (Clement) Brewer, Rhymed Couplets, The Work of Greater Minds

It was a hard thing to undo this knot. The rainbow shines but only in the thought Of him that looks. Yet not in that alone, For who makes rainbows by invention? And many standing round a waterfall See one bow each, yet not the same to all, But each a hand’s...

Footnote to All Prayer by C.S. Lewis

Nov 26, 2011 | Rhymed Couplets, Sonnet, The Work of Greater Minds, Victorian Sonnet

He whom I bow to only knows to whom I bow When I attempt the ineffable Name, murmuring Thou, And dream of Pheidian* fancies and embrace in heart Symbols (I Know) which cannot be the thing Thou art. Thus always, taken at their word, all prayers blaspheme Worshiping...