The Concise Verse

Recent Episodes

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Sept. 27, 2026

"In September" by Amy Levy

The sky is silver-grey; the long Slow waves caress the shore.— On such a day as this I have been glad, Who shall be glad no more.
52
Sept. 20, 2026

"Thought" by Alice Dunbar-Nelson

A swift, successive chain of things, That flash, kaleidoscope-like, now in, now out, Now straight, now eddying in wild rings, No order, neither law, compels their moves, But endless, constant, always swiftly roves.
51
Sept. 13, 2026

"To My Sister" by Henry Reed Conant

May still thy deeds of innocence, Like stars of heaven, shine; And thou retain thy purity, Till Heaven itself is thine!
50
Sept. 6, 2026

"Dunbar" by Anne Spencer

Ah, how poets sing and die! Make one song and Heaven takes it; Have one heart and Beauty breaks it; Chatterton, Shelley, Keats and I— Ah, how poets sing and die!
49
Aug. 30, 2026

"Chapter Heading" by Ernest Hemingway

For we have thought the longer thoughts And gone the shorter way. And we have danced to devils’ tunes, Shivering home to pray; To serve one master in the night, Another in the day.
48
Aug. 23, 2026

"Taking Leave of a Friend" by Ezra Pound

Blue mountains to the north of the walls, White river winding about them; Here we must make separation And go out through a thousand miles of dead grass. Mind like a floating wide cloud, Sunset like the parting of old acquaintances Who bow over their clasped hands at a distance. Our horses neigh to each other as we are departing.

Recent Blog Posts

Sept. 27, 2026

Autumn Melancholy: Amy Levy's "In September"

Published in 1889 in her acclaimed final collection A London Plane Tree and Other Verse, "In September" is a brief, poignant four-line meditation on memory and loss by Amy Levy (1861–1889). Levy was a trailblazing Victorian figure—she was the first …
Sept. 20, 2026

The Wandering Mind: Alice Dunbar-Nelson's "Thought"

First published in 1895 in her groundbreaking debut collection Violets and Other Tales, "Thought" is a dynamic five-line meditation on the inner workings of human consciousness by Alice Dunbar-Nelson (1875–1935). Dunbar-Nelson was just twenty years …
Sept. 13, 2026

Celestial Grace: Henry Reed Conant's "To My Sister"

First published in 1882 in his collection Poems, "To My Sister" is a heartfelt four-line blessing by Henry Reed Conant. Conant represents a classic slice of 19th-century New England literary culture—a devout poet who frequently captured quiet domest…