a poem a day, more or less
The expense of spirit in a waste of shame
Is lust in action; and till action, lust
Is perjured, murderous, bloody, full of blame,
Savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust,
Enjoy’d no sooner but despised straight,
Past reason hunted, and no sooner had
Past reason hated, as a swallow’d bait
On purpose laid to make the taker mad;
Mad in pursuit and in possession so;
Had, having, and in quest to have, extreme;
A bliss in proof, and proved, a very woe;
Before, a joy proposed; behind, a dream.
All this the world well knows; yet none knows well
To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell.
— William Shakespeare
The Gladdest Thing is meant to be a repository of good poems. You can read them here, or subscribe to have them emailed to you as new poems are posted. The site is maintained by Michelle McGinnis.
"The Gladdest Thing" is a phrase from Edna St. Vincent Millay's poem "Afternoon on a Hill".
James
September 18th, 2008 at 11:32 am
Hi, I found your blog on this new directory of WordPress Blogs at blackhatbootcamp.com/listofwordpressblogs. I dont know how your blog came up, must have been a typo, i duno. Anyways, I just clicked it and here I am. Your blog looks good. Have a nice day. James.
Cascadepoet
September 18th, 2008 at 7:31 pm
It was great to find some good poetry without advertisements and other distractions. I like your taste and still have much, much more to read. You’ve inspired me to write my first sonnet at work today! I may hate it tomorrow, but so be it? Sonnet #1 is done and perhaps one day I will have written 129…
Thanks…
Tracy Wolff
September 25th, 2008 at 10:16 am
Oooh– this has always been one of my favorites. He uses such strong language that it gives me shivers.