Inspirational Poems
to Lift the Spirit (Part 2)

This is the second part of this compilation of beautiful inspirational poems. And here is the first part in case you missed it!

The Journey

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do
determined to save
the only life you could save.

Mary Oliver American Poet

Last Night as I Was Sleeping

(Version by Robert Bly)

Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt - marvelous error!-
that a spring was breaking
out in my heart.
I said: Along which secret aqueduct,
Oh water, are you coming to me,
water of a new life
that I have never drunk?

Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt -marvelous error!-
that I had a beehive
here inside my heart.
And the golden bees
were making white combs
and sweet honey
from my old failures.

Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt -marvelous error!-
that a fiery sun was giving
light inside my heart.
It was fiery because I felt
warmth as from a hearth
and sun because it gave light
and brought tears to my eyes.

Last night as I slept,
I dreamt -marvelous error!-
that it was God I had
here inside my heart.

Antonio Machado Spanish Poet

Integer Vitae

The man of life upright, Whose guiltless
heart is free, From all dishonest deeds
Or thought of vanity:

The man whose silent days, In harmless
joys are spent, Whom hopes cannot
delude, Nor sorrow discontent:

That man needs neither towers, Nor
Armour for defense, Nor secret vaults to
Fly, From thunder’s violence.

He only can behold, With unaffrighted
Eyes, The horrors of the deep, And
Terrors for the skies.

Thus scorning all the cares, that fate or
fortune brings, he makes the heaven his
book, his wisdom heavenly things,

Good thought his only friends, His
wealth a well-spent age, The earth his
sober inn, And quiet pilgrimage.

Thomas Campion

A Bridge to the Heart…

I hope you enjoyed these inspirational poems. The aim of this page is to bring you closer to that space of wholeness and peace that “transcends all understanding”... That space is right in your heart!

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