• Submit Poetry
  • About Us
  • Members
  • Support SCP
Wednesday, September 24, 2025
Society of Classical Poets
  • Poems
    • Beauty
    • Culture
    • Satire
    • Art
    • Children’s Poetry
    • Covid-19
    • Ekphrastic
    • Epic
    • Epigrams and Proverbs
    • Found Poems
    • Human Rights in China
    • Humor
    • Music
    • Performing Arts
    • Riddles
    • Science
    • Song Lyrics
    • Terrorism
    • The Environment
    • The Raven
  • Poetry Forms
    • Acrostic
    • Alexandroid
    • Alliterative
    • Blank Verse
    • Chant Royal
    • Clerihew
    • Haiku
    • Limerick
    • Pantoum
    • Rhupunt
    • Rondeau Redoublé
    • Rondeau
    • Rondel
    • Rubaiyat
    • Sapphic Verse
    • Sestina
    • Shape Poems
    • Sonnet
    • Terza Rima
    • Triolet
    • Villanelle
  • Great Poets
    • Geoffrey Chaucer
    • Emily Dickinson
    • Homer
    • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
    • Dante Alighieri
    • John Keats
    • John Milton
  • Love Poems
  • Contests
  • SCP Academy
    • Educational
    • Teaching Classical Poetry—A Guide for Educators
    • Poetry Forms
    • The SCP Journal
    • Books
No Result
View All Result
Society of Classical Poets
  • Poems
    • Beauty
    • Culture
    • Satire
    • Art
    • Children’s Poetry
    • Covid-19
    • Ekphrastic
    • Epic
    • Epigrams and Proverbs
    • Found Poems
    • Human Rights in China
    • Humor
    • Music
    • Performing Arts
    • Riddles
    • Science
    • Song Lyrics
    • Terrorism
    • The Environment
    • The Raven
  • Poetry Forms
    • Acrostic
    • Alexandroid
    • Alliterative
    • Blank Verse
    • Chant Royal
    • Clerihew
    • Haiku
    • Limerick
    • Pantoum
    • Rhupunt
    • Rondeau Redoublé
    • Rondeau
    • Rondel
    • Rubaiyat
    • Sapphic Verse
    • Sestina
    • Shape Poems
    • Sonnet
    • Terza Rima
    • Triolet
    • Villanelle
  • Great Poets
    • Geoffrey Chaucer
    • Emily Dickinson
    • Homer
    • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
    • Dante Alighieri
    • John Keats
    • John Milton
  • Love Poems
  • Contests
  • SCP Academy
    • Educational
    • Teaching Classical Poetry—A Guide for Educators
    • Poetry Forms
    • The SCP Journal
    • Books
No Result
View All Result
Society of Classical Poets
No Result
View All Result
Home Poetry

‘Little Girl’ and Other Poetry by Martin John King

June 22, 2018
in Poetry
A A
15

Little Girl

She’s fishing in a rock pool
just abandoned by the sea
She’s too engrossed within her world
to notice you and me.

She sprawls to draw a picture
open book upon the sand
Great masters never wielded
so delicate a hand.

Her rainbow spreads across the page
to seek a pot of gold
Our little girl within her world
thinks never to grow old.

 

Yours

Thinking bye and bye, my dear
Of youths fresh beauty flawed,
And glories of past form, I fear
Times distance has ignored.

Then thinking bye and bye, my love
Life’s work and toil and chores,
Remind me how, as wings to dove
I’m yours, and yours, and yours.

 

Martin John King is a retiree living in Somerset, England.

ShareTweetPin
The Society of Classical Poets does not endorse any views expressed in individual poems or commentary.
Read Our Comments Policy Here
Next Post
‘The Beast Once Foretold’ by Evan Mantyk

'The Beast Once Foretold' by Evan Mantyk

A Sonnet by Edward Hoke

A Sonnet by Edward Hoke

A Translation of André Chénier’s ‘Elegy XX’ by Douglas Thornton

A Translation of André Chénier's 'Elegy XX' by Douglas Thornton

Comments 15

  1. Bruce Wren says:
    7 years ago

    Quite charming, both! A touch of Dickinson and Rossetti. Have you a collection?

    Reply
    • Martin King says:
      7 years ago

      Thank you Bruce. As a beginner (age 73) I had to look up the 2 poets you mention, high praise indeed.
      I do have a very small collection of work which will depend on Evan deeming them to be of merit to appear here.

      Reply
  2. Gregory Spicer says:
    7 years ago

    As well executed an eight and six as my eyes have ever beheld!

    Reply
    • Martin King says:
      7 years ago

      Wow! I am speechless, thank you very much.

      Reply
  3. David Watt says:
    7 years ago

    Martin, I really enjoyed your charming poems!

    My only suggestion would be a slight revision as shown below:

    Yours

    Thinking bye and bye, my dear
    Of Youth’s fresh beauty flawed,
    And glories of past form, I fear
    Time’s distance has ignored.

    Then thinking bye and bye, my love
    Life’s work and toil and chores,
    Remind me how, as wings to dove
    I’m yours, and yours, and yours.

    This would serve to make the plural possessives consistent.

    Reply
    • Martin King says:
      7 years ago

      Thank you David for your helpful comments. I did not think “youth’s” needed a capital, as I had in mind that period of physical appearance which sadly is too often only a memory in maturity.

      If I am wrong, I stand corrected and thank you again for your help.

      Reply
      • David Watt says:
        7 years ago

        Hello Martin, I was thinking of Youth’s as qualifying for a capital due to personification. I can see your point, given the context, that lower case is correct. I look forward to seeing more of your work.

        Reply
  4. Father Richard Libby says:
    7 years ago

    These poems are beautifully simple and simply beautiful!

    Reply
    • Martin King says:
      7 years ago

      Thank you so much. Your comment is a poem in itself.

      Reply
  5. Amy Foreman says:
    7 years ago

    A beginner, just now, at age 73:
    What a fine time to write for the great SCP!

    Welcome, Mr. King!

    Is it “bye and bye” or “by and by?” Dickens may have occasionally said, “by and bye,” so perhaps either is correct. But I think I’ve usually seen it as “by and by,” as in the hymn, “In the Sweet By and By.”

    Reply
    • Martin King says:
      7 years ago

      Hello Amy,
      I think that you are correct with “by” in a modern sense, although “bye” seemed to please my old fashioned brain at the time of writing.
      It is dedicated to my wonderful wife Margaret.
      Thank you for your help.

      Reply
  6. Dave Whippman says:
    7 years ago

    “Little Girl” skilfully evokes the intensity of childhood. It’s a pleasure to praise a piece by a fellow West Countryman!

    Reply
    • Martin King says:
      7 years ago

      Thank you Dave “yer tiz”.

      Reply
  7. C.B. Anderson says:
    7 years ago

    Very appealing lyrics, indeed, these two. You might have set the record for the age at which a poet started writing poems. I started at age 54, and I thought that was something.

    Reply
    • Martin King says:
      7 years ago

      Thank you very much C.B. I must confess that most were written 10 years ago and then I had Aortic valve replacement and after the op. my brain did not seem inspired to write more.
      However after finding SCPoets I have polished the old ones and am trying to think of new themes.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  1. Margaret Coats on ‘The Joyful Warrior’: A Poem for Charlie Kirk by Adam WasemSeptember 24, 2025

    Please see comments from cosmic cyberland

  2. Margaret Coats on ‘The Joyful Warrior’: A Poem for Charlie Kirk by Adam WasemSeptember 24, 2025

    "Forever in our memory now"

  3. Margaret Coats on ‘The Joyful Warrior’: A Poem for Charlie Kirk by Adam WasemSeptember 24, 2025

    Adam, this deeply affectionate elegy certainly shows you are one of the many who now say, "We are Charlie." He…

  4. Daniel Howard on ‘Come Away with Me’: A Poem by Daniel HowardSeptember 23, 2025

    Dear Mary Jane, Thanks for your kind comment. The syllabic overlap between my poem and tanka is just a coincidence;…

  5. Joseph S. Salemi on ‘Ode to Antifa’: A Satirical Poem by Warren BonhamSeptember 23, 2025

    When Napoleon had to deal with rioting mobs in Paris, he issued this order to his troops: "Give them a…

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.

Daily Poems

Subscribe to receive updates in your email inbox

Facebook Twitter Youtube

Archive

Categories

Quick Links

  • Submit Poetry
  • About Us
  • Become a Member
  • Members List
  • Support the Society
  • Advertisement Placement
  • Comments Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Poems
    • Beauty
    • Culture
    • Satire
    • Art
    • Children’s Poetry
    • Covid-19
    • Ekphrastic
    • Epic
    • Epigrams and Proverbs
    • Found Poems
    • Human Rights in China
    • Humor
    • Music
    • Performing Arts
    • Riddles
    • Science
    • Song Lyrics
    • Terrorism
    • The Environment
    • The Raven
  • Poetry Forms
    • Acrostic
    • Alexandroid
    • Alliterative
    • Blank Verse
    • Chant Royal
    • Clerihew
    • Haiku
    • Limerick
    • Pantoum
    • Rhupunt
    • Rondeau Redoublé
    • Rondeau
    • Rondel
    • Rubaiyat
    • Sapphic Verse
    • Sestina
    • Shape Poems
    • Sonnet
    • Terza Rima
    • Triolet
    • Villanelle
  • Great Poets
    • Geoffrey Chaucer
    • Emily Dickinson
    • Homer
    • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
    • Dante Alighieri
    • John Keats
    • John Milton
  • Love Poems
  • Contests
  • SCP Academy
    • Educational
    • Teaching Classical Poetry—A Guide for Educators
    • Poetry Forms
    • The SCP Journal
    • Books

© 2025 SCP. WebDesign by CODEC Prime.

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.