Poetry Archives

A continuing selection of classic and contemporary poems.

Joyce Kilmer

Vain is the chiming of forgotten bells
 That the wind sways above a ruined shrine.
Vainer his voice in whom no longer dwells
 Hunger that craves immortal Bread and Wine.

Light songs we breathe that perish with our breath
 Out of our lips that have not kissed the rod.
They shall not live who have not tasted death.
 They only sing who are struck dumb by God.

Online text © 1998-2008 Poetry X. All rights reserved.
From Trees and Other Poems | 1914

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Tags, sometimes called “folksonomies,” are words that describe or categorize a poem, like “20th century modernism” or “Italian sonnet”. Tags can help you find poems that have something in common, based on how other people classify them.

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