Bards of Passion and of Mirth
by John Keats
‘Bards of Passion and of Mirth’ by John Keats is one of the poet’s early odes. In it, Keats confirms that bards, or authors, have two souls, with one rising to heaven, and the other staying on earth.
Personal Helicon
by Seamus Heaney
Heaney’s ‘Personal Helicon’ draws inspiration from his rural carefree childhood and intimate connection with nature.
Home
by Edgar Guest
‘Home’ by Edgar Guest is a moving and highly relatable poem in which the poet describes the necessity of turning a house into a home and how that process plays out.
I Am Offering this Poem
by Jimmy Santiago Baca
‘I Am Offering this Poem’ by Jimmy Santiago Baca taps into what most lovers of poetry probably already know, that poetry supplies spiritual and emotional sustenance to humankind. It was published in 1979 in “Immigrants in Our Own Land.”
Nature is what we see
by Emily Dickinson
‘Nature is what we see’ by Emily Dickinson is a poem about how humanity tries and fails, to define nature.
Ode
by Arthur O'Shaughnessy
‘Ode’ or ‘We are the music makers’ was written in 1873, and it has nine full stanzas, where the first three are the most commonly quoted. This poem celebrates the energy and the spirit of the Victorian era.
Ode on a Grecian Urn
by John Keats
‘Ode on a Grecian Urn,’ an ekphrastic poem, is one of John Keats’ “Great Odes of 1819”.
“Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all”, have you ever wondered how confident a poet can be to utter these memorable words?
Ode on Melancholy
by John Keats
‘Ode on Melancholy,’ while not amongst the most lauded of the Odes, is perhaps the most uplifting and hopeful of all of Keat’s Odes. Keats addresses the reader, a sufferer of Melancholy, and tells him not to worry.
Ode to a Butterfly
by Thomas Wentworth Higginson
‘Ode to a Butterfly’ by Thomas Wentworth Higginson is a thoughtful meditation on nature’s one of the daintiest creations, the butterfly. Higginson glorifies this tiny insect by using several metaphors and symbols.
Ode to a Nightingale
by John Keats
‘Ode to a Nightingale’ was written in 1819, and it is the longest one, with 8 stanzas of 10 lines each and is one of six famous odes John Keats wrote.
The Darkling Thrush
by Thomas Hardy
‘The Darkling Thrush’ is typical of Thomas Hardy’s work in that it shows life on Earth, human as well as animal, existing under the iron grip of an unsympathetic force, in this case, Nature.
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.
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.
The Stinking Rose
by Sujata Bhatt
‘The Stinking Rose’ by Sujata Bhatt describes the way that garlic is judged based on its name and how a changed name might influence that fact.
To a Butterfly
by William Wordsworth
There are two poems by the title ‘To a Butterfly’ in William Wordsworth’s 1807 poetry collection, “Poems, in Two Volumes.” The first poem is the best-known in comparison to the latter one.
To a Skylark
by Percy Bysshe Shelley
‘To a Skylark’ by Percy Bysshe Shelley is an ode. It celebrates the beauty of nature and the bliss of a skylark’s song.
To Hope
by John Keats
‘To Hope’ by John Keats depicts the power and influence that Hope, as a personified force sent by God, can have on a struggling world.