Top 30 Best Halloween Poems Of All Time
Halloween Poems. Photo: KnowInsiders |
Some of literature's best-known poets have been inspired to write dark verses that have lingered through the ages like a specter. Maybe you'll find a spooky favorite among these 10 poems, perfect for Halloween or anytime you feel mysterious.
#1. It's Halloween
by Jack Prelutsky
It's Halloween! It's Halloween!
The moon is full and bright
And we shall see what can't be seen
On any other night.
Skeletons and ghosts and ghouls,
Grinning goblins fighting duels,
Werewolves rising from their tombs,
Witches on their magic brooms.
In masks and gowns
we haunt the street
And knock on doors
for trick or treat.
Tonight we are the king and queen,
For oh tonight it's Halloween!
#2. Night Of Fright
By Jasmine
Monsters stalking through the night.
Halloween is the Night of Fright.
Fear is what this night brings,
Along with many other things.
Are you sure you are prepared?
Tonight is not for the easily scared.
Creatures from hell roam on this night,
For tonight is the Night of Fright.
Trick or treat you say,
You should not have waited until the end of the day.
Tonight you will lose your tricks and treats,
For the monsters need to eat.
You better not take this night lightly,
Or else you will truly learn what fright means.
In ancient times people feared this night,
The night they greeted with fright.
Why they were so scared you will soon see,
On this "All Hollows' Eve."
#3. This Place is Haunted
By Richard Jones
In screaming woods and empty rooms
or gloomy vaults and sunken tombs;
Where monks and nuns in dust decay
and shadows dance at close of day.
Where the bat dips on the wing
and spectral choirs on breezes sing;
Where swords of ancient battles clash
and shimmering shades for freedom dash.
Where raging storms at midnight howl
and distant rolls of thunder growl.
Where the hounds of hell take flight
and ghost clouds race across the night.
Where silver webs of spiders weave
and star-crossed lovers take their leave.
Where curses lay the spirits low
and mortal footsteps fear to go.
Where death holds life in grim embrace
its lines etched on the sinner's face.
Where e'er the march of time is flaunted
voices cry - "this place is haunted."
#4. From the Lady of the Manor
By George Crabbe
Next died the Lady who yon Hall possessed;
And here they brought her noble bones to rest.
In Town she dwelt:- forsaken stood the Hall:
Worms ate the floors, the tapestry fled the wall:
No fire the kitchens cheerless grate displayed;
No cheerful light the long-closed sash conveyed;
The crawling worm, that turns a summer-fly,
Here spun his shroud and laid him up to die
The winter-death:- upon the bed of sate,
The bat shrill-shrieking wooed his flickering mate;
To empty rooms the curious came no more,
From empty cellars turned the angry poor,
And surly beggars cursed the ever-bolted door.
#5. Mystic Magination Night!
By Patricia L. Cisco
On one mystic, magic night,
Jack O Lanterns glowing bright,
kids with bags of candy sweet,
roam door to door and street to street,
all dressed up for trick or treat!
Wizards with wands, pirates with hooks,
monsters and clowns with spooky looks,
kings and queens with capes and crowns,
a princess in her royal gown,
witches with warts and fairies with wings
movies stars with sparkling rings,
vampires with fangs that bite,
ghost that boo all dressed in white.
Imaginations taken flight,
on that one mystic, magic night.
Oh, the fun of Halloween,
be young or old or in between!
#6. Homecoming
By Anne Pollock
Shiver me timbers, rattle me bones,
it's All Hallows' Eve, and I'm on me way home.
Home to me wifey, me Katy, me best--
been three hundred years since they laid us to rest.
Through bolted door I'll slither,
one night alone I'll stay;
though shrieking mortals scatter,
naught shall bar the way.
Sure I am to find her as in the bygone days,
knitting me tatters and mending me frays;
rocking and turning a pale, toothy grin
to greet her dear Johnny and welcome me in.
Loosed from the grave to become the walking dead,
we'll toast our health with a bottle of red;
then taunt our hosts with stories retold
of the good old days before we grew mold.
Haunting the house we once called home,
one night of the year with Katy, me own.
Teasing and carousing 'til the crack of dawn
When I lose her again to the black beyond.
#7. From the Haunted Palace
By Edgar Allen Poe
And travellers, now, within that valley
Through the red-litten windows see
Vast forms, that move fantastically
To a discordant melody
While, like a ghastly rapid river
Through the pale door
A hideous throng rush out forever
And laugh - but smile no more.
Photo: futureofworking |
#8. From the City of Dreadful Night
By James Thomson (B. V.)
A shadowy figure.
The City is of Night, but not of Sleep;
There sweet sleep is not for the weary brain;
The pitiless hours like years and ages creep
A night seems termless hell. This dreadful strain
Of thought and consciousness which never ceases
Or which some moments' stupor but increases
This, worse than woe, makes wretches there insane.
They leave all hope behind who enter there:
One certitude while sane they cannot leave
One anodyne for torture and despair;
The certitude of Death, which no reprieve
Can put off long; and which, divinely tender
But waits the outstretched hand to promptly render
That draught whose slumber nothing can bereave.
#9. The Stolen Child
By W. B. Yeats
The Fairy Pool on the Isle of Skye.
Where dips the rocky highland
Of Sleuth Wood in the lake
There lies a leafy island
Where flapping herons wake
The drowsy water rats;
There we've hid our faery vats
Full of berrys
And of reddest stolen cherries.
Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand
For the world's more full of weeping
than you can understand.
Where the wave of moonlight glosses
The dim gray sands with light
Far off by furthest Rosses
We foot it all the night
Weaving olden dances
Mingling hands and mingling glances
Till the moon has taken flight;
To and fro we leap
And chase the frothy bubbles
While the world is full of troubles
And anxious in its sleep.
Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand
For the world's more full of weeping
than you can understand.
Where the wandering water gushes
From the hills above Glen-Car
In pools among the rushes
That scarce could bathe a star
We seek for slumbering trout
And whispering in their ears
Give them unquiet dreams;
Leaning softly out
From ferns that drop their tears
Over the young streams.
Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand
For the world's more full of weeping
than you can understand.
Away with us he's going,
The solemn-eyed:
He'll hear no more the lowing
Of the calves on the warm hillside
Or the kettle on the hob
Sing peace into his breast
Or see the brown mice bob
Round and round the oatmeal chest.
For he comes, the human child
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand
For the world's more full of weeping
than he can understand.
#10. My Next Door Neighbor Is A Witch
By Samiya Vallee
My next door neighbor is a witch,
And she lives way down in a ditch.
Her clothing is a little strange,
Because she never wants to change.
She has a black robe and a black hat,
Green skin and a smelly black cat.
A big fat wart grows on her nose,
And seventeen pimples on her toes.
But...her food is EVEN worse,
Because she eats it course by course.
Her first course is seven dead bats,
Laid on top of seven rats.
Then she has twenty flies
With lots and lots of llama eyes.
Her main course is a horrible soup,
Because it's made with doggie poop.
But worst of all is her dessert.
It's little children rolled in dirt.
Last night she had a witch's feast
And turned into a greedy beast.
I think she cooked my best friend Tilly
And ate her with some peas and broccoli.
Source: https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/my-next-door-neighbor-is-a-witch
#11. Happy Halloween
It's late and we are sleepy,
The air is cold and still.
Our jack-o-lantern grins at us
Upon the window sill.
We're stuffed with cake and candy
And we've had a lot of fun,
But now it's time to go to bed
And dream of all we've done.
We'll dream of ghosts and goblins
And of witches that we've seen,
And we'll dream of trick-or-treating
On this happy Halloween.
#12. All Hallowe'en
by Pauline Clark
Witch and warlock all abroad
Revels keep by field and yard.
In the firelight of the farm
Boy and maiden one by one
Place their chestnuts in the grate
And for omens quietly wait;
To a string their apples tie,
Twirl them till they fallen lie;
Those whose fruits fall in a hurry,
They shall be the first to marry.
Witch and warlock all abroad
Revels keep by field and yard.
Apples from the beam hang down
To be caught by mouth alone,
Mugs of ale on Nut-Crack Night
And many a tale of ghost and sprite,
Come to cheer and chill the heart,
While the candles faint and start,
While the flickering firelight paints
Pictures of the hallowed saints.
Witch and warlock all abroad
Revels keep by field and yard.
#13. From the Haunted Wood
By Isaac McLellan
It is said that the Spirits of buried men
Oft come to this wicked world again;
That the churchyard turf is often trod
By the unlaid tenants of tomb and sod.
That the midnight sea itself is swept
By those who have long beneath it slept.
And they say of this old, mossy wood
Whose hoary trunks have for ages stood
That every knoll and dim-lit glade
Is haunted at night by its restless Shade.
#14. The Fairies
By William Allingham
Up the airy mountain
Down the rushy glen
We daren't go a-hunting
For fear of little men;
Wee folk, good folk
Trooping all together;
Green jacket, red cap
And white owl's feather!
Down along the rocky shore
Some make their home
They live on crispy pancakes
Of yellow tide-foam;
Some in the reeds
Of the black mountain-lake
With frogs for their watchdogs
All night awake.
High on the hill-top
The old King sits;
He is now so old and grey
He's nigh lost his wits.
With a bridge of white mist
Columbkill he crosses
On his stately journeys
From Slieveleague to Rosses;
Or going up with the music
On cold starry nights
To sup with the Queen
Of the gay Northern Lights.
They stole little Bridget
For seven years long;
When she came down again
Her friends were all gone.
They took her lightly back
Between the night and morrow
They thought that she was fast asleep
But she was dead with sorrow.
They have kept her ever since
Deep within the lake
On a bed of fig-leaves
Watching till she wake.
By the craggy hillside
Through the mosses bare
They have planted thorn trees
For my pleasure, here and there.
Is any man so daring
As dig them up in spite
He shall find their sharpest thorns
In his bed at night.
Up the airy mountain
Down the rushy glen
We daren't go a-hunting
For fear of little men;
Wee folk, good folk
Trooping all together;
Green jacket, red cap
And white owl's feather!
#15. Candy Corn
By Jan R
Against the black void, looms the lunar sphere.
Hungry ghosts haunt, satisfied by fright.
Oh my! The children's faces blanch in fear.
And thus the small summit embodies white.
Dwindle do the autumn leaves to the ground.
From the fire, the cold meets its warm demise.
Halloween's favorite gourd, carved and round
And thus the middle is where orange lies.
Farms and tractor-pulled rides, hay is handy.
The black cat's eerie eyes gleam from its face.
The vegetable tastes not like the candy.
And thus concludes yellow to form the base.
White, orange, and yellow make something sweet.
Enjoy some candy corn, Halloween's treat!
Photo: on pic |
#16. The Lake of the Dismal Swamp
By Thomas Moore
A swamp in the mist.
"They made her a grave, too cold and damp
For a soul so warm and true;
And she's gone to the Lake of the Dismal Swamp
Where, all night long, by a fire-fly lamp
She paddles her white canoe."
"And her fire-fly lamp I soon shall see
And her paddle I soon shall hear;
Long and loving our life shall be
And I'll hide the maid in a cypress tree
When the footstep of death is near."
Away to the Dismal Swamp he speeds -
His path was rugged and sore
Through tangled juniper, beds of reeds
Through many a fen where the serpent feeds
And man never trod before.
And when on the earth he sunk to sleep
If slumber his eyelids knew
He lay where the deadly vine doth weep
Its venomous tear and nightly steep
The flesh with blistering dew!
And near him the she-wolf stirr'd the brake
And the copper-snake breath'd in his ear
Till he starting cried, from his dream awake
"Oh! when shall I see the dusky Lake
And the white canoe of my dear?"
He saw the Lake, and a meteor bright
Quick over its surface play'd -
"Welcome," he said, "my dear one's light!"
And the dim shore echoed for many a night
The name of the death-cold maid.
Till he hollow'd a boat of the birchen bark
Which carried him off from shore;
Far, far he follow'd the meteor spark
The wind was high and the clouds were dark
And the boat return'd no more.
But oft, from the Indian hunter's camp
This lover and maid so true
Are seen at the hour of midnight damp
To cross the Lake by a fire-fly lamp
And paddle their white canoe!
#17. Halloween Chills
By Denise M. Cocchiaro
On this night of spooks and gnomes
Of swooning leaves and cringing crones
Of legends told from ear to ear
Of shrieking cats that grin and sneer
Over the hill and past the tree
A haunted house there said to be
With chill and mist to pierce your soul
And whispering winds to keep you cold
Heed the whispers straight from hell
To keep you safe from witchy spells
For through this night of devilish play
All who tread will rue the day
#18. A Trick of a Treat
by Nancy Hughes
Dressed up little creatures
on a dark October night
run from door to door
giving everyone a fright.
They come and ring your doorbell
and before they will retreat,
they beg you for some candy
by yelling "trick or treat".
When their bags are full,
they run home to eat their fill.
They taste a bit of everything
and by morning they are ill!
So to keep the youngsters healthy,
I've figured out a deal.
This year instead of candy,
I'll give them all oatmeal!
#19. The Unreturned
By Wilfred Owen
Phantom soldiers walking across a battlefield.
Suddenly night crushed out the day and hurled
Her remnants over cloud-peaks, thunder-walled.
Then fell a stillness such as harks appalled
When far-gone dead return upon the world.
There watched I for the Dead; but no ghost woke.
Each one whom Life exiled I named and called.
But they were all too far, or dumbed, or thralled
And never one fared back to me or spoke.
Then peered the indefinite unshapen dawn
With vacant gloaming, sad as half-lit minds
The weak-limned hour when sick men's sighs are drained.
And while I wondered on their being withdrawn
Gagged by the smothering Wing which none unbinds
I dreaded even a heaven with doors so chained.
#20. This Livinghand
By John Keats
An old person's and a young person's hands touching.
This living hand, now warm and capable
Of earnest grasping, would, if it were cold
And in the icy silence of the tomb
So haunt thy days and chill thy dreaming nights
That thou would wish thine own heart dry of blood
So in my veins red life might stream again
And thou be conscience-calm'd - see here it is -
I hold it towards you.
#21. The Witch
By Mary Elizabeth Coleridge
A spectral figure walking along a road.
I have walked a great while over the snow
And I am not tall nor strong.
My clothes are wet, and my teeth are set
And the way was hard and long.
I have wandered over the fruitful earth
But I never came here before.
Oh, lift me over the threshold, and let me in at the door!
The cutting wind is a cruel foe.
I dare not stand in the blast.
My hands are stone, and my voice a groan
And the worst of death is past.
I am but a little maiden still
My little white feet are sore.
Oh, lift me over the threshold, and let me in at the door!
Her voice was the voice that women have
Who plead for their heart's desire.
She came - she came - and the quivering flame
Sunk and died in the fire.
It never was lit again on my hearth
Since I hurried across the floor
To lift her over the threshold, and let her in at the door.
#22. Sibilla's Dirge
By Thomas Lovell Beddoes
A creepy looking graveyard at night.
We do lie beneath the grass
In the moonlight, in the shade
Of the yew-tree. They that pass
Hear us not. We are afraid
They would envy our delight
In our graves by glow-worm night.
Come follow us, and smile as we;
We sail to the rock in the ancient waves
Where the snow falls by thousands into the sea
And the drown'd and the shipwreck'd have happy graves.
#23. Spellbound
By Emily Bronte
Trees in a wood in winter at night.
The night is darkening round me
The wild winds coldly blow;
But a tyrant spell has bound me
And I cannot, cannot go.
The giant trees are bending
Their bare boughs weighed with snow.
And the storm is fast descending
And yet I cannot go.
Clouds beyond clouds above me
Wastes beyond wastes below;
But nothing drear can move me;
I will not, cannot go.
Photo: wishesmsg |
#24. I Wouldn't Live In A Haunted House
By Rick W. Cotton
I wouldn't live in a haunted house;
It's something I just wouldn't do.
Not in creepy haunted house.
Not with me or even with you.
There's ghosties that hide in the shadows,
And spiders spin webs down the walls.
Things going bumpety all night long,
And footsteps go stomping down halls.
Voices that whisper when nobody's there
And shadows abound in the nighttime.
And just when you think all the ghouls have moved out,
They return for some serious fright-time.
They'll give you a poke on the back of your neck,
Or someone unseen tugs your hair.
You just know there's someone standing behind
If you dare to look...nobody's there.
I wouldn't live in a haunted house,
But on the last of October,
I might drop in for a quick little stay
And bring all my candy right over.
When the sun goes down at the edge of town
And the moon rises glorious yellow,
There's something in Halloween's glowing time
That makes all the ghosties quite mellow.
Then little ones come, dressed in costumes galore.
A haunted house might be just dandy
For you and I, Love, to spend our Halloween
On our haunted porch, handing out candy!
#25. My Friend Jack
By Rick W. Cotton
Jack comes every year to visit me,
And his grin just makes me smile.
Nearly toothless, he doesn't care.
He happily laughs all the while.
Eyes glowing in mirth and merriment,
He makes this time of year happy,
Though he's not much in conversation,
And he has no repartee snappy.
Jack just stays for a few weeks
Every year when the leaves turn yellow.
He's as welcome as he could possibly be.
He's quite the fun old fellow.
Now the sun goes down and the moon comes up,
And the costumed monsters come calling.
Light a candle to get Jack going!
Fast! The eventide's falling!
All Halloween night he sits with me,
Grinning to greet the neighbors
'Til his candle's gone and he goes to sleep.
These are hours that I truly savor.
So long old Jack, tomorrow's November!
We'll see you again next year!
When you come to visit from the pumpkin patch,
We will all be waiting right here!
#26. The Listeners
By Walter De La Mare
A spooky house in a wood.
"Is there anybody there?" said the Traveller
Knocking on the moonlit door;
And his horse in the silence champed the grasses
Of the forest's ferny floor:
And a bird flew up out of the turret
Above the Traveller's head:
And he smote upon the door again a second time;
"Is there anybody there?" he said.
But no one descended to the Traveller;
No head from the leaf-fringed sill
Leaned over and looked into his grey eyes
Where he stood perplexed and still.
But only a host of phantom listeners
That dwelt in the lone house then
Stood listening in the quiet of the moonlight
To that voice from the world of men:
Stood thronging the faint moonbeams on the dark stair
That goes down to the empty hall
Hearkening in an air stirred and shaken
By the lonely Traveller's call.
And he felt in his heart their strangeness
Their stillness answering his cry
While his horse moved, cropping the dark turf
'Neath the starred and leafy sky;
For he suddenly smote on the door, even
Louder, and lifted his head:-
"Tell them I came, and no one answered
That I kept my word," he said.
Never the least stir made the listeners
Though every word he spake
Fell echoing through the shadowiness of the still house
From the one man left awake:
Ay, they heard his foot upon the stirrup
And the sound of iron on stone
And how the silence surged softly backward
When the plunging hoofs were gone.
#27. Her Strong Enchantments Failing
By Alfred Edward Housman
A ghostly woman in a white dress.
Her strong enchantments failing
Her towers of fear in wreck
Her limbecks dried of poisons
And the knife at her neck
The Queen of air and darkness
Begins to shrill and cry
"O young man, O my slayer
To-morrow you shall die."
O Queen of air and darkness
I think 'tis truth you say
And I shall die tomorrow;
But you will die to-day.
#28. Black Trees, Ghosts, And Bumble Bees
By Coral Leffew
Lying on your bed just like every other night,
There is something that'd give grown men fright,
There's a black figure stalking in the night,
And it won't go away until dark turns to light,
It's the very thing that we all give up breathing,
It's the latest toy it's a werewolf being,
It's so scary and it's breathing in the night,
The creature jumps off and it takes to flight,
You can scream all you want to but that won't scare,
Too small for a dragon but too large for a bear,
Leave your lights turned on and turn up your favorite song,
Call in your parents but they won't help you now,
You've gone too far so you can't get back out,
It's not that silly monster in your closet,
Your Aunt's picture in your heart shaped locket,
No old black magic or any trick of the mind,
It pulls you in and soon you're entwined
#29. Trick Or Treat
© Jim Ellis
Candy, candy in the bag.
It's that time of year.
Funny clown, witchy hag.
Another house is near.
Popcorn balls and tootsie rolls.
A handful is the best
Taken from the biggest bowls
At homes that pass the test.
Ding dong, ring the bell.
Trick-or-treat is said,
And if it does not go so well,
Then mark the first word said.
Trees draped in toilet paper,
Fecal bags on fire.
Dressed like an undertaker,
The trick was their desire.
Midnight comes, all bags are full.
Time to count the bounty.
The night is done; we've played our role
All throughout the county.
Enjoy this yearly fun-filled night,
Feast upon its riches
From the first and final bite
Of Hugs and Hershey Kisses.
#30. Spellbound
By Emily Bronte
Trees in a wood in winter at night.
The night is darkening round me
The wild winds coldly blow;
But a tyrant spell has bound me
And I cannot, cannot go.
The giant trees are bending
Their bare boughs weighed with snow.
And the storm is fast descending
And yet I cannot go.
Clouds beyond clouds above me
Wastes beyond wastes below;
But nothing drear can move me;
I will not, cannot go.
Which means the word Halloween?What does Halloween mean? The meaning of the word Halloween (in Irish Hallow E'en), derives from the contracted form of All Hallows ’Eve, where Hallow is the Gaelic word meaning Holy. The correct translation in Italian of Halloween, therefore, is "the night before (Eve) of All Saints", then of November 1st, Ognissanti, translated into English with All Hallows' Day. Furthermore, the English word for digging is " to hollow ”and the act of digging is“ hollowing ”, a sound that follows the very word of Halloween and symbolism linked to death. Why Do We Celebrate Halloween on October 31?Halloween falls on October 31 because the ancient Gaelic festival of Samhain considered the earliest known root of Halloween, occurred on this day. It marked a pivotal time of year when seasons changed, but more importantly, observers also believed the boundary between this world and the next became especially thin at this time, enabling them to connect with the dead. This belief is shared by some other cultures; a similar idea is mentioned around the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, which also typically occurs in October and involves saying prayers for the dead. This is also where Halloween gains its "haunted" connotations. |
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