Moonlight
by Sara Teasdale
‘Moonlight’ is a short lyrical poem by Sara Teasdale that uses various literary devices to depict the sorrows of a troubled youth.
Morning Land
by George Essex Evans
‘Morning Land’ by George Essex Evans describes the trials and hardships associated with reaching a new land, as well as the new hopes and dreams that can be achieved after one scales all obstacles.
Morning Poem
by Mary Oliver
‘Morning Poem’ by Mary Oliver uses the dawn of a new day to speak of hope and new beginnings, offering an optimistic message.
My God! O Let Me Call Thee Mine!
by Anne Brontë
‘My God! O Let Me Call Thee Mine!’ by Anne Brontë is a prayer that takes the form of a poem. In it, the speaker makes their requests known to God, while reverencing him.
My Heart Leaps Up
by William Wordsworth
On the surface, William Wordsworth’s ‘My Heart Leaps Up’ is about the simple beauty of a rainbow. Looking at it more closely, the poet is saying people should maintain their sense of childlike wonder well into adulthood and old age.
My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
Nothing Gold Can Stay
by Robert Frost
The poem, ‘Nothing Gold Can Stay’, by Robert Frost, is about the impermanence of life. It describes the fleeting nature of beauty by discussing time’s effect on nature.
Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
One’s-Self I Sing
by Walt Whitman
‘One’s-Self I Sing’ by Walt Whitman is a short poem that explores a few of the themes Whitman is going to use in Inscriptions. The poem celebrates the beauty and wonder of the common and separate identities of humanity.
Passers-by
by Carl Sandburg
‘Passers-by’ by Carl Sandburg describes the emotions interpreted and the sights seen by speaker after a walk through the streets of a city.
Pomegranates (translated by Graeme Wilson)
by Sin Hum
The poem, Pomegranates, is written in sijo (the word is both singular and plural), a Korean poetic form that had
Pride
by Jackie Kay
‘Pride’ by Jackie Kay is a moving poem about identity and pride. The poet utilized her personal experience when writing this piece.
Provide, Provide
by Robert Frost
‘Provide, Provide’ by Robert Frost is a powerful depiction of the inevitability of death. Frost spends time talking about the ways one can face the fact that they aren’t going to live forever.
The witch that came (the withered hag)
To wash the steps with pail and rag,
Was once the beauty Abishag,
Ragged Island
by Edna St. Vincent Millay
‘Ragged Island’ by Edna St. Vincent Millay is a personal poem about Millay’s days spent on Ragged Island off the coast of Maine. It explores the peace of mind the place was able to bring out in her.
Sequence in a Hospital
by Elizabeth Jennings
‘Sequence in a Hospital’ by Elizabeth Jennings speaks on the hopes, fears, and routines that develop during a long stay at a hospital.
Sonnet 1
by William Shakespeare
Shakespeare’s first sonnet, ‘From fairest creatures we desire increase,’ serves to introduce many of the themes which echo through the rest of the collection.
From fairest creatures we desire increase,
That thereby beauty’s rose might never die,
But as the riper should by time decease,
His tender heir might bear his memory;
Sonnet 118
by William Shakespeare
‘Sonnet 118,’ also known as ‘Like as, to make our appetites more keen,’ by William Shakespeare uses metaphors to depict the current state of the speaker and Fair Youth’s relationship.
Like as, to make our appetites more keen,
With eager compounds we our palate urge;
As, to prevent our maladies unseen,
We sicken to shun sickness when we purge;
Sonnet 130
by William Shakespeare
When contemporary poets chose to glorify their loved ones by using hyperbolic expressions, Shakespeare preferred an unflattering and realistic tone in his ‘Sonnet 130’. The speaker of this sonnet ignores all the elevating epithets and stays in solace with his beloved as she is.
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red, than her lips red:
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
Sonnet 16
by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
‘Sonnet 16’ by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, also known as ‘And yet, because thou overcomest so,’ speaks to the poet’s intention to live happily from now on.
Sonnet 20 (Beloved, my Beloved, when I think)
by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
‘Sonnet 20’ by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, also known as ‘Beloved, my Beloved, when I think’ explores the ways that a new love changed a speaker’s life.
Sonnet 29
by William Shakespeare
‘When, in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes’ by William Shakespeare is part of the “Fair Youth” sequence of poems. In these poems, the speaker expresses his love and adoration for a young man.
When, in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself and curse my fate,
Sonnet 7
by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
‘Sonnet 7’ by Elizabeth Barrett Browning is a love sonnet that is dedicated to the poet’s husband, Robert Browning. It expresses her happiness that he came into her life and changed her outlook as he did.
The Ballad of William Sycamore
by Stephen Vincent Benét
‘The Ballad of William Sycamore’ by Stephen Vincent Benet is a nostalgic articulation of a dead person about his eventful mortal days.
The Ghazal “In Real Time” By Agha Shahid Ali
by Agha Shahid Ali
‘The Ghazal “In Real Time”’ by Agha Shahid Ali intertwines pain, suffering, and injustice. The powerful poem creates meaning within the complex structure of a ghazal.
The Hour is Come
by Louisa Lawson
‘The Hour is Come’ offers a heroic view of womanhood and celebrates those who are willing to fight for their rights and beliefs.
The Love Poem
by Carol Ann Duffy
Duffy’s ‘The Love Poem’ is a collection of verses from other love poems, composed by poets like Shakespeare, Sidney, Donne, Shelley, Barrett and Browning.
Till love exhausts itself, longs
for the sleep of words -
my mistress' eyes -
to lie on a white sheet, at rest
The Night Dances
by Sylvia Plath
In ‘The Night Dances’, Plath reflects on the fleeting human experience and the inevitability of death and emptiness.
The River
by Sara Teasdale
‘The River’ by Sara Teasdale is a short and effective poem. It uses a river as a narrator and describes its journey towards the ocean.
The Road
by Nancy Fotheringham Cato
‘The Road’ is simultaneously a thrilling car journey at night and a deeply personal mediation on time, humanity and the natural world.
The Road Not Taken
by Robert Frost
Robert Frost’s ‘The Road Not Taken’ is about the choices and opportunities in life. The poem highlights the sensation of regret that accompanies all the roads that a person doesn’t take.
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I couwld
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
The Same Note
by Jackie Kay
‘The Same Note’ by Jackie Kay depicts Bessie Smith’s musical ability and how she could unite people from all walks of life.
Timothy Winters
by Charles Causley
‘Timothy Winters’ by Charles Causley is a ballad written in the 1950s about a boy who was afflicted with misfortune. Here’s a complete analysis.
