Amy Levy Poems

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Amy Levy
Amy Levy (1861 – 1889) was a British poet and novelist. She was born in Clapham, London into a secular Jewish family. She was educated at Brighton High School, and studied at Newnham College, Cambridge; she was the first Jewish student at Newnham, when she arrived in 1879, but left after four terms. Her circle of friends included Clementina Black, Dollie Radford, Eleanor Marx (daughter of Karl Marx), and Olive Schreiner. Levy wrote stories essays and poems for periodicals, Her second novel "Reuben Sachs" (1889) was concerned with Jewish identity and mores in the England of her time (and was consequently controversial); "Reuben Sachs," her first novel "Romance of a Shop," and other writings, including the daring "Ballad of Religion and Marrriage," reveal feminist concerns. Xantippe and Other Verses (1881) includes a poem in the voice of Socrates's wife; the volume "A Minor Poet" has dramatic monologues too as well as lyric poems. Her final book of poems, "A London Plane-Tree" (1889), contains lyrics that are among the first to show the influence of French symbolism. She travelled widely in Europe and was said to have fallen in love with Violet Paget (Vernon Lee), the fiction writer and literary theorist, who was six years older than herself. She had suffered from depression from an early age which, together with her growing deafness, led her to commit suicide at the age of twenty-seven by inhaling carbon monoxide.

the rabbit
 
 
The rabbit has a charming face:
Its private life is a disgrace.
I really dare not name to ... [read poem]
as i walked out in the streets of laredo
 
 
As I walked out in the streets of Laredo,
As I walked out in Laredo one day,
I spied a poo... [read poem]
a flea and a fly in a flue
 
 
A flea and a fly in a flue
Were imprisoned, so what could they do?
Said the fly: `Let... [read poem]
the red river valley
 
 
From this valley they say you are going,
We will miss your bright eyes and sweet smile,
Fo... [read poem]
midnight special
 
 
If you evah go to Houston,
You better walk right;
You better not gamble
And you bette... [read poem]
there was a young bard of japan
 
 
There was a young bard of Japan
Whose limericks never would scan;
When they said it w... [read poem]
in women is rest, peas, and pacience
 
 
In women is rest, peas, and pacience --
No season -- for soth, outht of charite --
Bothe... [read poem]
down in the valley
 
 
Down in the valley,
The valley so low,
Hang your head over,
Hear the wind blow.
... [read poem]
the old man's wish
 
 
If I live to be old, for I find I go down,
Let this be my fate: In a country town
May I ha... [read poem]
beauty sat bathing by a spring
 
 
Beauty sat bathing by a spring,
Where fairest shades did hide her;
The winds blew calm... [read poem]
i don't want to die
 
 
I WANT to go home,
I want to go home,
I don't want to go in the trenches no more,
Whe... [read poem]
patience
 
 
Pacience is a poynt, Þa3 hit displese ofte.
When heuy herttes ben hurt wyth h... [read poem]
beowulf
 
 
Hwæt. We Gardena in geardagum,
LO, praise of the prowess of peop... [read poem]
roll me over
 
 
Now, this is number one,
And the fun has just begun.
Roll me over, lay me down,
And d... [read poem]
the three ravens
 
 
There were three ravens sat on a tree,
They were as black as they might be.

The one... [read poem]
the two sisters
 
 
There was twa sisters in a bowr,
Edinburgh, Edinburgh
There was twa sisters in a bowr,... [read poem]
the twa corbies
 
 
As I was walking all alane,
I heard twa corbies making a mane;
The tane unto the t'other s... [read poem]
frankie and johnnie
 
 
Frankie and Johnnie were lovers,
O, my Gawd, how they could love,
They swore to be true to... [read poem]
the time when i first fell in love
 
 
The time when first I fell in love,
Which now I must lament;
The year wherein I lost s... [read poem]
a jest of robin hood
 
 
Lyth and lystyn, gentilmen,
All that nowe be here;
Of Litell Johnn, that was the knigh... [read poem]
the bells of hell
 
 
The bells of hell go ting-a-ling-a-ling
For you but not for me:
And the little devils how ... [read poem]
western wind, when will thou blow?
 
 
Western wind, when will thou blow?
The small rain down can rain.
Christ, if my love were in my arms,
And I in my bed again!
trifles
 
 
The massive gates of Circumstance
Are turned upon the smallest hinge,
And thus some se... [read poem]
ubi sunt qui ante nos fuerunt?
 
 
Were beth they biforen us weren,
Hound{.e}s ladden and havek{.e}s beren,
And hadden fe... [read poem]
knees up, mother brown
 
 
Oh, knees up, Mother Brown,
Knees up, Mother Brown.
Come along, dearie, let it go,
Ee... [read poem]
o death, o death, rock me asleep
 
 
O Death, O Death, rock me asleep,
Bring me to quiet rest;
Let pass my weary guiltless ghos... [read poem]
stay with me, god
 
 
Stay with me, God. The night is dark,
The night is cold: my little spark
Of courage dies. ... [read poem]
there was a young lady of riga
 
 
There was a young lady of Riga
Who smiled as she rode on a tiger;
They returned from ... [read poem]
there is a tavern in the town
 
 
There is a tavern in the town, in the town,
And there my true love sits him down, sits him down... [read poem]
the twa sisters o' binnorie
 
 
There were twa sisters sat in a bow'r;
(Binnorie, O Binnorie!)
A knight cam' there, a ... [read poem]

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