101 Poems, Number 23

Favorite Poems Throughout My Life

23: “The Kraken,” 1830, by Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809–92)

I had to learn this, didn’t I?

A kraken poem, Yo!

I can’t ignore such monster verse—

For should the kraken show

Itself to me out on the sea—

And threaten death and all,

I’ll just say, “Kraken—listen, Bro,

I don’t just want to stall

Your dinner now, but listen, Yo,

And let me now rehearse

That poem all about you—yes,

That’s right, I know the verse!”

The kraken, satisfied, will dive

Back deep into the sea,

And I will thank it for my life—

And thank the poetry!

Link to poem.