14 Must-Read James Joyce Poems

James Joyce was an incredibly important Irish writer. He completed short stories, novels, and poetry throughout his life. He also worked as a literary critic and teacher. His best-known work is Ulysses. Other well-known novels are Finnegans Wake and A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man.

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A Prayer

‘A Prayer’ by James Joyce is a bemoaning poem that agonizes over love’s overwhelming capacity to instill both great passion and dreadful misery upon those afflicted with it.

This was the final poem to be written by James Joyce for his second poetry collection 'Pomes Penyeach.' Making it the culmination of a decades-long project by the writer, one that chronicled his movements around Europe with forlorn clarity. In this poem, he immerses the reader into the feverish mind of a speaker consumed by desire and anguish.

Again!

Come, give, yield all your strength to me!

From far a low word breathes on the breaking brain

Its cruel calm, submission's misery,

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The twilight turns from amethyst

‘The twilight turns from amethyst’ by James Joyce is a poignant piece of vibrant and romantic poetry by the modernist Irish novelist.

This poem by James Joyce illustrates a scene of loving intimacy, one encompassed by the evening's deepening dark and the sound of a solitary woman at the piano. It's also the second poem that appears in 'Chamber Music' — the collection in which it was first published — as well as introducing the object of the speaker's amorous emotions.

The twilight turns from amethyst

To deep and deeper blue,

The lamp fills with a pale green glow

The trees of the avenue.

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At that hour when all things have repose

‘At that hour when all things have repose’ by James Joyce is a lyrical poem that explores themes of lovelorn solitude and the sublime beauty of music.

This poem by James Joyce conjures up a scene characterized by both romantic yearning and an overbearing loneliness. It was first published in his debut poetry collection 'Chamber Music,' a collection of 36 love poems told from the perspective of a speaker gripped by love. Here, the speaker addresses the "lonely watcher of the skies" as they observe a lonely personification of love.

At that hour when all things have repose,

O lonely watcher of the skies,

Do you hear the night wind and the sighs

Of harps playing unto Love to unclose

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Bahnhofstrasse

‘Bahnhofstrasse’ by James Joyce recalls a moment of physical discomfort that’s ingrained itself in the mind of the speaker as being exemplary of the woes inherent to old age.

Many of the poems James Joyce wrote appear as recollections of cities the writer and his family called home around continental Europe. This poem recounts his time in Zürich, Switzerland, a city he was loathe to leave despite its association with his ailing vision. The result is a poem that communicates the laborious nature of navigating city streets when afflicted by old age's effects.

The eyes that mock me sign the way

Whereto I pass at eve of day.

Grey way whose violet signals are

The trysting and the twining star.

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Loving Someone You Can't Have

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Strings in the earth and air

‘Strings in the earth and air’ by James Joyce is a romantic poem that imagines love as a youth playing sweetly enchanting music.

This poem by James Joyce is the first one found within his 1907 collection 'Chamber Music.' One that introduces the titular motif of music that echoes throughout as an enchanting symbol of love's beauty. Like so many of the poems in the collection, it reveals the Irish writer's talent for conjuring poignant scenes of romance and passion.

Strings in the earth and air

Make music sweet;

Strings by the river where

The willows meet.

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Tutto Sciolto

‘Tutto Sciolto’ by James Joyce ruminates over the melancholic depths our lovelorn anxieties can sink us into.

As with many of the poems found inside James Joyce's collection 'Pomes Penyeach,' this one was conceived with a specific city in mind, namely the Italian port of Trieste. Staring out over the "sea-dusk" the speaker attempts to girdle themselves in the comfort of their beloved's memory. Yet, possibly due to the melancholic atmosphere of their surroundings or some other ambiguous anxiety, they only grow more forlorn.

A birdless heaven, sea-dusk and a star

Sad in the west;

And thou, poor heart, love’s image, fond and far,

Rememberest:

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Dear heart, why will you use me so

‘Dear heart, why will you use me so’ by James Joyce both revels and despairs the rapturous reign and inevitable sundering that love delivers.

This poem by James Joyce appears in his first poetry collection, 'Chamber Music,' and it represents one of the more lamentable love poems in the book. Here, the speaker wrestles with their heart and eyes, struggling to reconcile their intense passion with an equally rampant sadness. Both of these emotions are inspired by their love for a woman beyond their reach.

Dear heart, why will you use me so?

Dear eyes that gently me upbraid,

Still are you beautiful—but O,

How is your beauty raimented!

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Nightpiece

‘Nightpiece’ by James Joyce unfolds as a beguiling but depressing vision of a nearly star-less night as it envelops the sky above the speaker.

This would be the final poem that James Joyce would compose while living in the Italian city of Trieste. As if foreshadowing his doleful departure in 1915, the poem manifests a poignant vision of night shrouding itself over the seaport. Yet unlike many of the poems found in 'Pomes Penyeach,' this one doesn't directly concern itself with a lovelorn yearning but rather focuses on painting a vivid scene filled with religious imagery.

Gaunt in gloom,

The pale stars their torches,

Enshrouded, wave.

Ghostfires from heaven's far verges faint illume,

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Be Not Sad

‘Be Not Sad’ is a short poem that explores the strength a relationship can achieve if they block out the noises from the outside.

This poem was first published in Joyce's 1907 collection 'Chamber Music,' which contained many of his best poems. It deals with issues of love, like many in the collection, but does not engage with music in the manner of Joyce's best poems.

Be not sad because all men

Prefer a lying clamour before you:

Sweetheart, be at peace again — -

Can they dishonour you?

#10

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All Day I Hear The Noise Of Waters

‘All Day I Hear The Noise Of Waters’ muses on solitude through the eternal sound of water, blending grief with nature’s rhythm.

All day I hear the noise of waters

Making moan,

Sad as the sea-bird is when, going

Forth alone,

#11

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Ecce Puer

‘Ecce Puer’ was published in 1932 and it is featured in Collected Poems. Joyce wrote this poem in order to mourn the recent death of his father, John Stanislaus Joyce.

Of the dark past

A child is born;

With joy and grief

My heart is torn.

#12

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Flood

‘Flood’ melds nature’s upheaval with love’s intensity, depicting a landscape—and heart—irrevocably changed by their forces.

Gold-brown upon the sated flood

The rock-vine clusters lift and sway:

Vast wings above the lambent waters brood

Of sullen day.

#13

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I Hear An Army

‘I Hear An Army’ by James Joyce is a lyrical poem that expresses the lamentation of lost love.

I hear an army charging upon the land,

And the thunder of horses plunging, foam about their knees:

Arrogant, in black armour, behind them stand,

Disdaining the reins, with fluttering whips, the charioteers.

#14

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On the Beach at Fontana

‘On the Beach at Fontana’ by James Joyce is a poem about paternal love and protectiveness. Read the poem with, a summary and complete analysis.

Wind whines and whines the shingle,

The crazy pier-stakes groan;

A senile sea numbers each single

Slime-silvered stone.

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