Sunrise: Poems to Kick-Start Your Day

By Susie Gibbs

If you struggle to get out of bed in the morning, here’s a poetry collection that’s just right for you. Sunrise is an energizing and rousing collection of classic poetry all about purpose, hope and perseverance.

Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, pocket-sized classics with ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition is edited and introduced by Susie Gibbs.

Wise, reassuring words and magical verses conjure up the promise and possibilities of each new day. With contributions from poets such as William Wordsworth, G. K. Chesterton, Ian McMillan, Christina Rossetti, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson and Edward Lear, the wonderful poetry in Sunrise will inspire its readers to greet each day with optimism and confidence.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan
• Release date: Jan 19, 2023
• ISBN: 9781529091342

Book preview

HOPE

‘Piled for burning’

Piled for burning,

brushwood

starts to bud.

Bonchō (1640–1714)

from Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám

I

Awake! for Morning in the Bowl of Night

Has flung the Stone that puts the Stars to Flight:

And Lo! the Hunter of the East has caught

The Sultán’s Turret in a Noose of Light.

II

Dreaming when Dawn’s Left Hand was in the Sky

I heard a Voice within the Tavern cry,

‘Awake, my Little ones, and fill the Cup

‘Before Life’s Liquor in its Cup be dry.’

III

And, as the Cock crew, those who stood before

The Tavern shouted—‘Open then the Door!

‘You know how little while we have to stay,

‘And, once departed, may return no more.’

[...]

XXXVII

Ah, fill the Cup:—what boots it to repeat

How Time is slipping underneath our feet:

Unborn To-morrow, and dead Yesterday,

Why fret about them if To-day be sweet!

Edward Fitzgerald (1809–1883)

New Day

The day is so new

You can hear it yawning,

Listen:

The new day

is yawning

and stretching

and waiting to start.

In the clear blue sky

I hear the new day’s heart.

Ian McMillan (1956–)

from Song of Solomon

For, lo, the winter is past

The rain is over and gone;

The flowers appear on the earth;

The time of the singing of birds is come

And the voice of the turtle dove is heard in our land.

Written in March

The cock is crowing,

The stream is flowing,

The small birds twitter,

The lake doth glitter,

The green field sleeps in the sun;

The oldest and youngest

Are at work with the strongest;

The cattle are grazing,

Their heads never raising;

There are forty feeding like one!

Like an army defeated

The snow hath retreated,

And now doth fare ill

On the top of the bare