Terror Poems

an afternoon nap

by Arthur Yap

‘an afternoon nap’ by Arthur Yap explores the lacunae in the modern education system and how it results in anxiety and stress in students.

The terror of the tiger mother lingers throughout Yap's poem right from the very first lines.

the ambitious mother across the road

is at it again. proclaming her goodness

she beats the boy. shouting out his wrongs, with raps

she begins with his mediocre report-book grades.

I have never seen “Volcanoes”

by Emily Dickinson

‘I have never seen “Volcanoes”’ by Emily Dickinson is a clever, complex poem that compares humans and their emotions to a volcano’s eruptive power. 

The descriptions of the destructive power of erupting volcanoes is enough to inspire terror in the narrator and the readers too.

I have never seen "Volcanoes"—

But, when Travellers tell

How those old – phlegmatic mountains

Usually so still –

She Had Some Horses

by Joy Harjo

‘She Had Some Horses’ by Joy Harjo illustrates the plurality of differences among people.

The poem offers images that inspire feelings of fear and terror, of horses (i.e. people) who have been mistreated, abused, and ostracisized.

She had some horses.

She had horses who were bodies of sand.

She had horses who were maps drawn of blood.

She had horses who were skins of ocean water.

3 November 1984

by Sujata Bhatt

In ‘3 November 1984,’ Indian-English poet Sujata Bhatt shows how history plays a vital role in the process of writing poetry, and their interconnectedness.

A Stopwatch and an Ordnance Map

by Stephen Spender

‘A Stopwatch and an Ordnance Map’ by Stephen Spender explores the Spanish Civil War through the lyrical depiction of one man’s death. It is marked by a stopwatch, the olive trees, and the continued conflict around him. 

Air Raid

by Stephen Spender

Stephen Spender’s poem ‘Air Raid’ depicts the impact of the Blitz or German Luftwaffe air strike on the United Kingdom.

Amethyst Beads

by Eavan Boland

‘Amethyst Beads’ by Eavan Boland alludes to Greek mythology and the suffering of a child, Persephone, after she was separated from her mother, Demeter.

An awful Tempest mashed the air

by Emily Dickinson

‘An awful Tempest mashed the air’ by Emily Dickinson personifies a storm. The speaker follows it from its beginning to end and depicts how nature is influenced.

An awful tempest mashed the air,

The clouds were gaunt and few;

A black, as of a spectre's cloak,

Hid heaven and earth from view.

Ariel

by Sylvia Plath

‘Ariel’ by Sylvia Plath is a deeply metaphorical poem. It focuses on the speaker’s experiences during a terrifying horseback ride.

Stasis in darkness.

Then the substanceless blue

Pour of tor and distances.

District and Circle

by Seamus Heaney

‘District and Circle’, written by Seamus Heaney, depicts parts of a journey, or of several journeys, on the London Underground.

Dulce et Decorum Est

by Wilfred Owen

Wilfred Owen immortalized mustard gas in his indictment against warfare, ‘Dulce et Decorum Est.’ Written in 1917 while at Craiglockart, and published posthumously in 1920, ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ details what is, perhaps, the most memorable written account of a mustard gas attack.

Inspection

by Wilfred Owen

Wilfred Owen’s poem ‘Inspection’ was drafted at a military hospital Craiglockhart in August 1917, and completed in September, under the influence of wartime poet Siegfried Sassoon. In it, Owen writes about the loss and cheapness of life through war.

It was not Death, for I stood up

by Emily Dickinson

‘It was not Death, for I stood up’ by Emily Dickinson is a thoughtful poem about understanding depression. Specifically, the speaker is interested in understanding herself.

It was not Death, for I stood up,

And all the Dead, lie down -

It was not Night, for all the Bells

Put out their Tongues, for Noon.

Lot’s Wife (translated by Richard Wilbur)

by Anna Akhmatova

This intriguing poem, ‘Lot’s Wife’, by Anna Akhmatova, translated by Richard Wilbur, takes an age-old story that has been passed down from generation to generation and tells it from a new perspective, that of Lot’s wife.

On the Day of Judgment

by Jonathan Swift

Jonathan Swift’s acerbic poem ‘On the Day of Judgment’ is about a speaker’s vision of the judgment day with Jove or Jupiter giving his final ruling on humankind’s offenses.

One need not be a Chamber to be Haunted

by Emily Dickinson

‘One need not be a Chamber to be Haunted’ by Emily Dickinson explores the nature of the human mind. She presents the reader with images of mental and physical threats and how they can be confronted.

One need not be a chamber to be haunted,

One need not be a house;

The brain has corridors surpassing

Material place.

Passage to India

by Walt Whitman

‘Passage to India’ by Walt Whitman describes an imaginary journey that a speaker wants to take into fabled India. 

Sonnet LXXVII

by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

‘Sonnet LXXVII’ by Dante Gabriel Rossetti concerns aestheticism, or the manifestations of Beauty, as a form of religious obsession.

The Second Coming

by William Butler Yeats

Here is a summary and critical analysis of ‘The Second Coming’ by William Butler Yeats, looking line by line at what this poem is about and why.

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