If you’re someone who takes pleasure in reading poetry and literature, you’ll know that not all poems have to rhyme.
In fact, some of the best pieces of literature in the world do a great job at conveying their message in a subtle, beautiful manner without rhyming every verse. That said, having a few rhyming verses sure does make a poem better in terms of reading and recitation.
If you think about it, verses that rhyme seamlessly are so much easier to recite in public. It just sets the perfect mood for a poetry recital and allows the poems to come off as beautiful and, more importantly, impactful.
If you’re going to be performing on-stage at a poetry recital and want to impress the audience, your best (and safest bet) would be to go with a poem that rhymes. Rhyming verses roll off the tongue naturally, and there’s less room to mess up with your delivery.
Compare this to an elaborate, complex poem that doesn’t rhyme – you’ll have no on-the-spot pointers on how to deliver each verse. And if you haven’t prepared beforehand, that sounds like a certain recipe for disaster
So that you can ace your poetry recital, we’ve gathered for your a list of the top 43 rhyming poems. The list includes both long and short poems with some selections perfect for kids:
Rhyming Poems For All Occasions
1.) Forever
Forever we remain oblivious to the future,
lost to the past and enduring our torture.
Forever we take chances to settle our scores,
losing some battles and winning some wars.
Forever praying out loud hoping someone will hear,
forever crying softly but never shedding a tear.
Forever exists behind a disguise,
but the belief in forever keeps our hearts alive
– Teri Nicole Tharrington
2.) Cinder Girl
An ember sparked will softly glow,
and fed by fuel, will grow and grow.
I once was cinder, sparked by you,
first timid. . . till the flames then grew.
And so our start was touch of dawn,
with amber hue, for I was drawn
to eyes so welcoming and warm
I never guessed you’d do me harm.
Like morning glory, love in June
the rapture of mid-afternoon,
romance of which the ancients wrote,
our passion had no antidote.
And with the dusk, though scarlet tinged,
our love began to come unhinged,
for clouds arrived, which filled your eyes,
extinguishing bright twilight skies.
With cold of night came shadows’ pall,
and I could not tear down your wall.
By midnight’s hour, the fire was dead.
Mere ashes smoldered in its stead.
You left, and should you reappear,
I’ve vowed to shun you. Now I fear
the very thing for which I yearn –
one touch. . . and then again – to burn
– Andrea Dietrich
3.) If I Thought
If I thought for just one moment that this would be my last breath,
I’d tell you I’ll love you forever, even beyond death.
If I thought for just one moment that your face would be the last I’d see,
I’d take a million pictures and save them just for me.
If I thought for just one moment that your voice would be the last I’d hear,
I’d listen attentively and promise not to shed a tear.
If I thought for just one moment that your touch would be the last I’d feel,
I’d embrace you and know that this has all been real.
If I thought for just one moment that my heart would beat its last beat,
I’d thank the Lord for allowing us to meet.
– Dana Schwartz
4.) We Never Know How High
We never know how high we are
Till we are called to rise;
And then, if we are true to plan,
Our statures touch the skies.
The heroism we recite
Would be a daily thing,
Did not ourselves the cubits warp
For fear to be a king.
– Emily Dickinson
5.) Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weep
Do not stand at my grave and weep;
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.
– Unknown
6.) Life Madness
Life gets faster every day,
No time to think, no time to play.
Hurry, chaos, lots of stress,
Tension leads to sleeplessness.
When will all this madness cease?
Where is free time? Where is peace?
I’m running, doing, till I drop.
Give me buttons: Pause, Mute, STOP!
– Joanna Fuchs
7.) Bedtime Wishes
When I go to sleep at night
Bathed in stars and plaest light
I know an angel guards my room;
You might know him as the moon.
Without fail, as sun does set.
My dreams and I are gently met
To be looked over all the way
Until we meet each bright new day.
– Ms Moem
8.) The Dreaded Task
I found the task I had dreaded so
Was not so difficult when once begun.
It was the dread itself that was the foe,
And dread once conquered means a victory won.
– Margaret E. Bruner
9.) Love Passing By
When the crimson rose has faded
And our day at last is done;
In the forest dark and shaded
Blows the tempest, dims the sun.
When the night holds us together
Shall forgiveness mend the past
Will despair bring sunny weather
And heal our hearts at last?
If we hide within the shadows
Will you stay here close to me;
Will we walk forgotten meadows
Or sail a foreign sea?
In vain the hour must reap
What we gathered in the sun;
And love’s harvest now will weep
For the battle never won.
Within the world’s disgrace
In the hour of Nevermore;
Will there be another race
To a far-off fabled shore?
We promised love tomorrow
We preen with pride today
Now pride and love will borrow
The tears of yesterday.
Our pride we now confess it
Is a sin that couldn’t last;
Our passion if we kiss it
Is like a dream now passed.
While fragrance scents the garden
And the misty moon rides high;
The wind whispers a pardon
When love goes passing by.
– Elizabeth Wesley
10.) Be Prud Of Who You Are
I come with no wrapping or pretty pink bows.
I am who I am, from my head to my toes.
I tend to get loud when speaking my mind.
Even a little crazy some of the time.
I’m not a size 5 and don’t care to be.
You can be you and I can be me.
I try to stay strong when pain knocks me down.
And the times that I cry are when no one’s around.
To error is human or so that’s what they say.
Well, tell me who’s perfect anyway.
– S Raine
11.) Where I Live
I live in a place filled with beauty that’s rare,
That the trees and the animals all get to share.
It has mountains and valleys and birds in the air;
The place where I live, you might want to live there.
The rivers and streams flow to lakes filled with life,
And the people can fish, boat and swim, free of strife.
The egret and hawk fish, and eagles fish, too,
But the lakes are so large, there’s still plenty for you.
Wild turkeys and critters like that come around,
Pretty deer with their fawns, and moose can be found
Right in your yard; what a wondrous delight;
It’s a paradise rare that just fills up your sight.
The mountains surround you, and their beauty survives,
As they slowly turn white, when winter arrives.
There is so much beauty, it just doesn’t seem fair;
The place where I live, you might want to live there.
– Karl Fuchs
12.) Life’s A Gift
Life’s a gift for you to send
Life’s a gift for god to end
Life’s a gift now you’re with me
Life’s a gift for all to see
Life’s a gift when love is true
Life’s a gift when times look blue
Life’s a gift with the one you trust
Life’s a gift even if unjust
Life’s a gift a ray of sun
Life’s a gift though your heads held to a gun
Life’s a gift when its handed on a tray
Life’s a gift even though it’s always on display
Life’s a gift it’s hard to understand how
Life’s a gift so take advantage of it now
– Sharon Ann Dawson
13.) We Don’t Know Why
The twinkling of stars on a balmy night,
The gabble of geese as they take flight,
A passionate look in your lover’s eye,
The graceful ballet of a butterfly.
Living on the edge, in a committed way,
Facing all challenges day by day,
Your life on the line—to do, not just try,
Life is exciting—a natural high.
Failure and boredom appear in your life;
Unhappiness cuts you, just like a knife.
“Where are all the good times,” you cry;
Is life just hard, and then you die?”
The freshening feel of an ocean breeze,
The colors of change in the leaves on the trees,
The feeling of peace as the days go by,
Life’s a dazzling puzzle—and we don’t know why.
– Joanna Fuchs
14.) What Are Heavy?
What are heavy? Sea-sand and sorrow;
What are brief? Today and tomorrow;
What are frail? Spring blossoms and youth;
What are deep? The ocean and truth.
– Christina Rosetti
15.) The Poet Who Never Was
I thought I was a poet who had a pen of gold
With clear access to writing that was mature and bold.
I thought I could go roaming beside the foaming sea
And watch the seagulls gliding to give a show for free.
I thought I was a poet who walked along the beach
In awe I stood and wondered, my hand stretched out to reach
The silver thread dividing the water from the sky
And traced Selena’s features as slowly she went by.
I thought I was a poet who knew what joy could be
On hearing water roaring cascading down with glee.
I looked for inspiration, experienced utmost thrill
When climbing down the valley or up the verdant hill.
I thought I was a poet in charge of heat and cold
But lost my true emotions when I was duped and told
I had to reach perfection to please my heart and mind
By means of imitation. My soul I left behind.
I thought I was a poet who had a pen of gold
But now all of a sudden I’m weary, frail and old.
I thought I was a poet. My pen is of no use.
With teary eyes I whisper to my dejected muse.
– Paul Callus
16.) Nothing Gold Can Stay
Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
– Robert Frost
17.) A Simple Plan
Simple Sam was a simple man.
He lived each day by a simple plan.
Enjoy your life and live while you can.
Make each day count and take a stand.
Stand on the left or stand on the right,
Whichever one you think is right.
Live each day as if your last.
Life’s too short and gone too fast.
– Irwin Mercer
18.) Uncharted Waters
An ocean tumbles through dreams of you. In depths unknown,
I float above. Oh, how I long to dive beneath your surface,
yet I am timid in matters of love. If brave, I’d have shown
you the whole of my gushing heart, no less than tides of bliss.
Seeking depths unknown, I long to dive beneath your surface.
Searching your eyes, I want for treasures lost on the ocean’s floor.
The sun, like a gold coin, drops, splashing this face of regret. I blush
in secret thoughts of you and turn away from the endless shore.
A swoop from seagulls catches the light of your smile and breaks the hush
of late sky. Turning away from the endless shore of regret, I blush.
My lonely shore may flood, a wish to bathe in the caress of you
granted. I shall break from fear, to brave a rolling river between us.
Down current, I’ll swim until I reach your ocean of sparkling blues.
I would drown in the waves of your uncharted waters. Glorious
would be death in the caress of you, your uncharted waters…glorious.
– Rhonda Johnson-Saunders
19.) With Love For You
Sun flow progressed from east to west,
with rays of light, the day is blessed.
Like suns imbue, rays beaming through,
my heart still shines with love for you.
Sun rays presume that flowers bloom,
and fill the air with sweet perfume.
Like flowers hue of red and blue,
my heart still blooms with love for you.
The charmed mystique of forest creek
that trickles down a mountain’s cheek.
Like streamlets spew their water through,
my heart still flows with love for you.
From Moon’s soft glow, the moonbeams flow,
and light the darkness down below.
Like moonbeams strew the silvery hue,
my heart still glows with love for you.
A candle’s light glows in the night
as shadows dance with calm delight.
Like flames that grew with heat on cue,
my heart still burns with love for you.
– John Gondolf
20.) Fire And Ice
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
– Robert Frost
21.) Yearning For Summer
In a cold, nasty winter
I’m yearning for summer.
All this snow, slush and ice,
It’s really a bummer.
Kick the snowshoes and skis
Slick boards out the door.
Banish short, gloomy days;
Hey, winter’s a bore!
Sunny rays warming me,
Bring on the heat!
Lazy time on a sandy beach
Just can’t be beat.
When it all starts to thaw,
And Spring is a comer,
Oh, hurry up! Hurry up!
Please, give me summer!
– Joanna Fuchs
22.) Forever And Always
You are the sun that shines brightly throughout my day.
You are the gravity that holds me down in every way.
You are the moon that shimmers throughout my night.
You are stars that glimmer oh so bright.
You are the oxygen that keeps me alive.
You are my heart that beats inside.
You are the blood that flows through me.
You are the only guy I can see.
You have the voice of when a mockingbird sings.
You are my everything.
You are my one and only.
You stop me from being so lonely.
We plan our future as if we have a clue.
I never want to lose you.
I want you to be my husband, and I want to be your wife.
I want to be with you for the rest of my life.
– Mercedes
23.) My Melody
Amazing and beautiful,
not a flower or a tree.
Much prettier than that,
and only I can see.
Loving and caring
right down to the core.
Filling me with happiness
and so much more.
Eyes are so stunning,
cannot look away.
Gorgeous and shining
all throughout the day.
Here in your arms
is where I belong.
The beating of your heart
is like a beautiful song.
– Eric Pribyl
24.) Best Friend Defined
What’s a best friend,
But the smell before rain?
The hand that we give,
When a friend is in pain
It’s the things that we do,
The words that we say
That pulls a friend through,
When their heart’s torn away
It’s the steps that we take,
The songs that we sing
It’s the choices we make,
And the hope that we bring
I’m here through the tears,
I’m here through the laughter,
I’ll always be here
Until death, and after
It’s the things we give up;
The things we give in
When our heart’s full of love,
And selfless begins
It’s the hearts that we touch,
The things that we won’t
We never give up,
We could, but we don’t
It’s the people we save,
With the hands that we give
When we’re lost, we still say,
You’re my reason to live
I’m here through the tears,
I’m here through the laughter
I’ll always be here,
Until death, and after
– Dana Smith
25.) TREES
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth’s sweet Rowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.
– Joyce Kilmer
26.) You
It’s that look in your eye.
It’s the smile on your face
That makes time slip by,
And I know I’m in a better place.
It’s the memories of you I have
That make any grey sky turn blue
And lets me know these feelings I have
Are true.
Getting lost in my dreams
With the mere image of you.
It’s hard to imagine; it seems
A future lost, one without you.
So I leave my arms open,
And I’ll wish and may pray,
Eyes focused and hoping
For your embrace just one more day.
– Bryce Jennings
27.) Our Brothers We Shall Defend
To those whom I’ve fought with
and to those I don’t know your name,
we fought by one another.
You did not die in vain.
We fought, you died,
we bled, and I cried,
Even until our untimely end,
our country, our families, our brothers,
we shall defend.
– Justin Montana Williams
28.) I Miss You
I miss you in the morning;
I miss you late at night.
Just to think about you
Is my joy and my delight.
I can’t wait to see you;
Please hurry and come back.
You always make me happy;
You have that special knack!
– Joanna Fuchs
29.) Eldorado
Gaily bedight,
A gallant knight,
In sunshine and in shadow,
Had journeyed long,
Singing a song,
In search of Eldorado.
But he grew old–
This knight so bold–
And o’er his heart a shadow–
Fell as he found
No spot of ground
That looked like Eldorado.
And, as his strength
Failed him at length,
He met a pilgrim shadow’
Shadow,’ said he,
‘Where can it be
This land of Eldorado?’
‘Over the Mountains
Of the Moon,
Down the Valley of the Shadow,
Ride, boldly ride,
The shade replied,–
‘If you seek for Eldorado!’
– Edgar Allan Poe
30.) If Only She Knew
She has her own special way
Of turning around my terrible day.
She makes all the bad things go away
The second that she says hey.
And when I look into her eyes,
I see pure beauty with no disguise.
Just a glance at her makes my heartbeat rise.
I know for a fact that these feelings aren’t lies.
If only she knew
How much my love for her grew,
Maybe, just maybe, we could start something new,
And then I’d never feel blue.
And if beauty were inches, she’d go on for miles.
I’d better catch her before I go out of style.
I’m going to let my heart be my dial
So I can tell her what I’ve been feeling for a while.
– Kiara Wilson
31.) In Strangler’s Wood
In forest’s night, the trees bend low
beneath a slice of half moon’s glow;
silent shadows waver there,
chilled by gusts of autumn air.
Quavering, as if afraid,
they fall on stumps from trees decayed.
Among those stumps the shadows creep
and shroud a form that seems asleep.
Lightning flashes . . . Thunder peals.
A sight forlorn the light reveals –
a man, quite dead, in woolen coat,
with scarf of death left on his throat.
The shadows saw, and now they quake,
lone witnesses in murder’s wake.
They cannot speak, but if they could,
they’d tell all travelers of the wood:
“We’re not the foe. It’s one of you
that makes us tremble as we do.
Although we loom and cause you fear,
something worse is lurking here.”
Then Thunder echoes in accord
as from the sky, cold rain is poured.
And silent shadows start to shrink
into a night of blackened ink.
– Andrea Dietrich
32.) I’m Nobody, Who Are You?
I’m nobody! Who are you?
Are you nobody, too?
Then there’s a pair of us — don’t tell!
They’d advertise — you know!
How dreary to be somebody!
How public like a frog
To tell one’s name the livelong day
To an admiring bog!
– Emily Dickinson
33.) Bed In Summer
In winter I get up at night
And dress by yellow candle-light.
In summer, quite the other way,
I have to go to bed by day.
I have to go to bed and see
The birds still hopping on the tree,
Or hear the grown-up people’s feet
Still going past me in the street.
And does it not seem hard to you,
When all the sky is clear and blue,
And I should like so much to play,
To have to go to bed by day?
– Robert Louis Stevenson
34.) In A Disused Graveyard
The living come with grassy tread
To read the gravestones on the hill;
The graveyard draws the living still,
But never anymore the dead.
The verses in it say and say:
“The ones who living come today
To read the stones and go away
Tomorrow dead will come to stay.”
So sure of death the marbles rhyme,
Yet can’t help marking all the time
How no one dead will seem to come.
What is it men are shrinking from?
It would be easy to be clever
And tell the stones: Men hate to die
And have stopped dying now forever.
I think they would believe the lie.
– Robert Frost
35.) TOUCH
I want to touch your life
and leave a mark …
… a deep impression …
So you will think of me
and of my smile …
… my sweet expression …
I long to touch your life
and leave a sign …
… a warm inscription …
So you will care for me
and keep in mind …
… a clear description …
I need to touch your life
and leave a joy ..,.
… an inspiration …
So you will love me soon
in reality …
… not imagination …
– Linda-Marie SweetHeart
36.) The First
Heart is pounding, pulse is quickening
Two bodies come together.
Both people shaking like a leaf
despite the steamy weather.
This time is absolutely tarrying
Don’t think I am a miss.
Because nothing is more scary
than a very first kiss.
– Sharon Hendricks
37.) My Mistress’ Eyes Are Nothing Like The Sun
My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips’ red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress when she walks treads on the ground.
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.
– William Shakespeare
38.) Anatomy Of A Poet
Go in through the eyes of a poet
deep into her alphabet mind.
Ideas like flotsam and jetsam
dodge poetry fragments and lines.
Beware the dark shadows of memory,
knife-sharp and bloodied by time,
or gentle, orgasmic and sensual,
swirling eddies, some without rhyme.
Softly notice the spirit in hiding.
Tiptoe past the bruised heart mending there,
knitting poems, pearls strung on a necklace,
unfinished jewels everywhere.
Take note on your tour of this poet
the outside no different you see,
but inside, my God, a passionate abyss,
the poet, the woman, the me.
– C.J. Heck
39.) Concord Hymn
By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood
And fired the shot heard round the world.
The foe long since in silence slept;
Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;
And Time the ruined bridge has swept
Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.
On this green bank, by this soft stream,
We set today a votive stone;
That memory may their deed redeem,
When, like our sires, our sons are gone.
Spirit, that made those heroes dare
To die, and leave their children free,
Bid Time and Nature gently spare
The shaft we raise to them and thee.
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
40.) Sunday Morning
Down the road someone is practising scales,
The notes like little fishes vanish with a wink of tails,
Man’s heart expands to tinker with his car
For this is Sunday morning, Fate’s great bazaar;
Regard these means as ends, concentrate on this Now,
And you may grow to music or drive beyond Hindhead anyhow,
Take corners on two wheels until you go so fast
That you can clutch a fringe or two of the windy past,
That you can abstract this day and make it to the week of time
A small eternity, a sonnet self-contained in rhyme.
But listen, up the road, something gulps, the church spire
Open its eight bells out, skulls’ mouths which will not tire
To tell how there is no music or movement which secures
Escape from the weekday time. Which deadens and endures.
– Louis Macneice
41.) Someone Came Knocking
Someone came knocking
At my wee, small door;
Someone came knocking,
I’m sure – sure – sure;
I listened, I opened,
I looked to left and right,
But naught there was a-stirring
In the still dark night;
Only the busy beetle
Tap-tapping in the wall,
Only from the forest
The screech-owl’s call,
Only the cricket whistling
While the dewdrops fall,
So I know not who came knocking,
At all, at all, at all.
– William de la Mare
42.) The Barnacle
The barnacle is rather odd —
It’s not related to the clam
Or limpet. It’s an arthropod,
Though one that doesn’t give a damn.
Cousin to the crab and shrimp,
When larval, it can twitch and swim,
And make decisions — tiny imp
That flits according to its whim.
Once grown, with nothing more to prove
It hunkers down, and will remain
Stuck fast. And once it does not move,
Has no more purpose for a brain.
Its one boast is, it will not budge,
Cemented where it chanced to sink,
Sclerotic, stubborn as a grudge.
Settled, it does not need to think.
– A.E. Stallings
43.) Childhood
Going back to the time, doing all that I want,
Just living up my life, getting all that I can’t!
Great was the childhood, innocent were the smiles.
Walking through the woods was better than today’s long drive of miles!
Getting nostalgic at the sight of old places,
Feeling the magic of love, affection and kisses.
Wish I could be selfless and joyous once again,
And forget the mess that ends up only in pain!
– Aniket Jangam
Summary
And there you have it. 43 of the most famous, simple yet elegant rhyming poems that span a variety of themes and genres and are perfect for you to recite to someone If you found a poem you liked, feel free to share it with your friends and family so that they, too, can appreciate these beautiful pieces of art.
These rhyming poems are also ideal for introducing beginners to poetry, such as grade school students. It’s best to introduce them to poetry with these relatively easier poems so that they develop a positive first impression and associate poetry with something like singing.
