Poetry

That article on the rise of the regular people here and in Europe brought to mind Rudyard Kipling's the wrath of the awakened Saxon.  I know, neo-nazis co-opted it, but it doesn't take away from the poem.
Anyway, are there any other poetry lovers on here?  Kipling is my hands down favorite. Out of the many works he did, off the top of my head I'd say my favorites are Gunga Din, if, and Tommy.  Oh yeah, can't forget the gods of the copybook headings.
What about you guys?

I used to read some poetry in my youth, I remember reading Gunga Dhin, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, There Once Was a Girl From Dundee......

Terry

I still do from time to time.

Robert Frost

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Mending Wall “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall.” (such a profound line)

The Road Not Taken

That's way above my level of poetry.

"Around the curve
lickety split
it's a beautiful car
wasn't it?"
Burma Shave

If by Rudyard Kipling
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

I used to read some poetry in my youth, I remember reading Gunga Dhin, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, There Once Was a Girl From Dundee......

Terry

Gunga Din is an incredibly powerful poem!
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46783/gunga-din

To me, enjoyable poetry must have more than rhyme. It should also have rhythm so that the words roll effortlesly off the tongue. Next, it should have a message that moves you. Srjdsmith likes Robert Frost. His rhyme and rhythm are impeccable and his messages are subtle but still they move you. Myself , I prefer Alfred Lord Tennyson, Longfellow, and especially Rudyard Kipling. In my younger days I heard guys say that poetry was wimpy and girly. Read the charge of the light brigade and then tell me that is effeminate!
Before you guys think I'm some educated snob, I only graduated high school.

So you're an UNeducated snob?

That's way above my level of poetry.

"Around the curve
lickety split
it's a beautiful car
wasn't it?"
Burma Shave

Dad used to quote Burmashave:

In this veil
Of tears and sin
Your head
Grows bald
But not
Your chin


There’s actually a Burmashave series close to where I live. Not sure if it’s original or if the owners bought the signs and put them up along their fence.