Inspiration for the Spirit

A lovely place to wander for poetry and inspiration to soothe the soul

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A Winter Night

by Sara Teasdale

wintere window

My window-pane is starred with frost, The world is bitter cold to-night, The moon is cruel and the wind Is like a two-edged sword to smite. God pity ... Read more

Filed under compassion, winter.

Acquainted with the Night

by Robert Frost

clock tower

I have been one acquainted with the night. I have walked out in rain—and back in rain. I have outwalked the furthest city light. I have looked down ... Read more

Filed under solitude.

After Love

by Sara Teasdale

There is no magic any more, We meet as other people do, You work no miracle for me Nor I for you. You were the wind and I the sea— There is no ... Read more

Filed under love lost.

Afternoon on a Hill

by Edna St. Vincent Millay

I will be the gladdest thing Under the sun! I will touch a hundred flowers And not pick one. I will look at cliffs and clouds With quiet eyes, Watch ... Read more

Filed under happiness.

Alchemy

by Sara Teasdale

I lift my heart as spring lifts up A yellow daisy to the rain; My heart will be a lovely cup Altho' it holds but pain. For I shall learn from flower ... Read more

Filed under grief & sadness, hope.

An Old Man’s Winter Night

by Robert Frost

elderly man

All out-of-doors looked darkly in at him Through the thin frost, almost in separate stars, That gathers on the pane in empty rooms. What kept his eyes ... Read more

Filed under aging, winter.

Ashes of Life

by Edna St. Vincent Millay

"Flaming June" by Sir Frederic Leighton, 1895

Love has gone and left me and the days are all alike; Eat I must, and sleep I will,— and would that night were here! But ah!—to lie awake and hear the ... Read more

Filed under love lost.

Assault

by Edna St. Vincent Millay

frog

I. I had forgotten how the frogs must sound After a year of silence, else I think I should not so have ventured forth alone At dusk upon this ... Read more

Filed under courage.

Barter

by Sara Teasdale

girl

Life has loveliness to sell, All beautiful and splendid things, Blue waves whitened on a cliff, Soaring fire that sways and sings, And children's ... Read more

Filed under happiness, life.

Because

by Sara Teasdale

holding hands

Oh, because you never tried To bow my will or break my pride, And nothing of the cave-man made You want to keep me half afraid, Nor ever with a ... Read more

Filed under love.

Bond and Free

by Robert Frost

Love has earth to which she clings With hills and circling arms about— Wall within wall to shut fear out. But Thought has need of no such things, For ... Read more

Filed under love.

Childhood is the Kingdom Where Nobody Dies

by Edna St. Vincent Millay

child

Childhood is not from birth to a certain age and at a certain age The child is grown, and puts away childish things. Childhood is the kingdom where ... Read more

Filed under children, death, family.

Fire and Ice

by Robert Frost

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 ... Read more

Filed under hate, love.

Ghost House

by Robert Frost

old house

I dwell in a lonely house I know That vanished many a summer ago, And left no trace but the cellar walls, And a cellar in which the daylight falls And ... Read more

Filed under lonliness.

Going for Water

by Robert Frost

babbling brook

The well was dry beside the door, And so we went with pail and can Across the fields behind the house To seek the brook if still it ran; Not loth to ... Read more

Filed under autumn, water.

Grandfather’s Love

by Sara Teasdale

They said he sent his love to me, They wouldn't put it in my hand, And when I asked them where it was They said I couldn't understand. I thought they ... Read more

Filed under family, love.

Here is a wound that never will heal, I know

by Edna St. Vincent Millay

sad woman

Here is a wound that never will heal, I know, Being wrought not of a dearness and a death But of a love turned ashes and the breath Gone out of ... Read more

Filed under love lost.

I know I am but summer to your heart

by Edna St. Vincent Millay

I know I am but summer to your heart, And not the full four seasons of the year; And you must welcome from another part Such noble moods as are not ... Read more

Filed under love.

If I should learn, in some quite casual way

by Edna St. Vincent Millay

people

If I should learn, in some quite casual way, That you were gone, not to return again— Read from the back-page of a paper, say, Held by a neighbor in a ... Read more

Filed under love lost.

In a Garden

by Sara Teasdale

The world is resting without sound or motion, Behind the apple tree the sun goes down Painting with fire the spires and the windows In the elm-shaded ... Read more

Filed under flowers.

Justice Denied in Massachusetts

by Edna St. Vincent Millay

columns

Let us abandon then our gardens and go home And sit in the sitting-room. Shall the larkspur blossom or the corn grow under the cloud? Sour to the ... Read more

Filed under death.

Love is not all: it is not meat nor drink

by Edna St. Vincent Millay

Love is not all: it is not meat nor drink Nor slumber nor a roof against the rain; Nor yet a floating spar to men that sink And rise and sink and rise ... Read more

Filed under love.

Lovely Chance

by Sara Teasdale

blue night

O lovely chance, what can I do To give my gratefulness to you? You rise between myself and me With a wise persistency; I would have broken body and ... Read more

Filed under gratitude.

May Day

by Sara Teasdale

A delicate fabric of bird song Floats in the air, The smell of wet wild earth Is everywhere. Red small leaves of the maple Are clenched like a ... Read more

Filed under spring.

Meeting and Passing

by Robert Frost

As I went down the hill along the wall There was a gate I had leaned at for the view And had just turned from when I first saw you As you came up the ... Read more

Filed under love.

Nothing Gold Can Stay

by Robert Frost

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 ... Read more

Filed under life.

October

by Robert Frost

golden days

O hushed October morning mild, Thy leaves have ripened to the fall; To-morrow's wind, if it be wild, Should waste them all. The crows above the forest ... Read more

Filed under autumn.

Oh, oh, you will be sorry for that word!

by Edna St. Vincent Millay

Oh, oh, you will be sorry for that word! Give back my book and take my kiss instead. Was it my enemy or my friend I heard?— "What a big book for such ... Read more

Filed under marriage.

Old Tunes

by Sara Teasdale

As the waves of perfume, heliotrope, rose, Float in the garden when no wind blows, Come to us, go from us, whence no one knows; So the old tunes ... Read more

Filed under aging, life.

Portrait by a Neighbor

by Edna St. Vincent Millay

Before she has her floor swept Or her dishes done, Any day you'll find her A-sunning in the sun! It's long after midnight Her key's in the lock, And ... Read more

Filed under garden.

Reluctance

by Robert Frost

lone tree

Out through the fields and the woods And over the walls I have wended; I have climbed the hills of view And looked at the world, and descended; I have ... Read more

Filed under letting go.

Say what you will, and scratch my heart to find

by Edna St. Vincent Millay

Say what you will, and scratch my heart to find The roots of last year's roses in my breast; I am as surely riper in my mind As if the fruit stood in ... Read more

Filed under love lost.

Snowfall

by Sara Teasdale

"She can't be unhappy," you said, "The smiles are like stars in her eyes, And her laugh is thistledown Around her low replies." "Is she unhappy?" you ... Read more

Filed under grief & sadness.

Spring Rain

by Sara Teasdale

rain in the city

I thought I had forgotten, But it all came back again To-night with the first spring thunder In a rush of rain. I remembered a darkened doorway Where ... Read more

Filed under love, spring.

The Hill Wife—V. The Impulse

by Robert Frost

It was too lonely for her there, And too wild, And since there were but two of them, And no child, And work was little in the house, She was free, And ... Read more

Filed under love lost.

The Penitent

by Edna St. Vincent Millay

"She Sleeps" by Stephanie Law, watercolor, 2015

I had a little Sorrow, Born of a little Sin, I found a room all damp with gloom And shut us all within; And, "Little Sorrow, weep," said I, "And, ... Read more

Filed under sadness.

The Return

by Sara Teasdale

lovers kissing

I turned the key and opened wide the door To enter my deserted room again, Where thro' the long hot months the dust had lain. Was it not lonely when ... Read more

Filed under loneliness.

The Road Not Taken

by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To ... Read more

Filed under life.

The Silken Tent

by Robert Frost

She is as in a field of silken tent At midday when the sunny summer breeze Has dried the dew and all its ropes relent, So that in guys it gently sways ... Read more

Filed under people.

Thinking

by Walter D. Wintle

man jumping

If you think you are beaten, you are. If you think you dare not, you don't. If you'd like to win, but think you can't, it's almost a cinch you ... Read more

Filed under encouragement, hope, loving yourself.

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Welcome
Inspiration for the Spirit is all about love—not only romantic love, but also love for our fellow man, loving life and its many wonders and, most importantly, the love of self that comes when you are truly content with the person you are ... Read more
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In the end, only three things matter: how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you. —Buddha
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Beginnings

love tree It had been a pivotal year for me. A bad breakup early on had left me feeling fragile and fragmented and looking inward for answers ... Read more

The Simplicity of Tea

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When I drink tea, there is only me, and the tea. The rest of the world dissolves. There are no worries about the future. No dwelling on past mistakes. ... Read more

The Language of Flowers

During the Victorian era, people often gave each other flowers and used the "language of flowers" (sometimes called floriography) to express feelings ... Read more

My Miracle Heart
A true story

Native American Wisdom

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The Great Spirit is in all things: He is in the air we breathe. The Great Spirit is our father, but the Earth is our Mother. She nourishes us; that ... Read more

Sign My Guestbook

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One of the first things you discover when you put an inspirational website online, is that a lot of people will write to you. ... Read more

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