‘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.
Bards of Passion and of Mirth,
Ye have left your souls on earth!
Have ye souls in heaven too,
Doubled-lived in regions new?
‘In Heaven’ by Stephen Crane offers a parable-like anecdote that contrasts humility with self-righteous pride. It also challenges religion and those the poet’s speaker deemed hypocritical.
‘Twas the old — road — through pain—’ by Emily Dickinson describes a woman’s path from life to death and her entrance into Heaven.
‘Gradatim’ by Josiah Gilbert Holland is a poem about the lifetime of work it takes to climb the ladder to Heaven. One needs to dedicate themselves to a life of good deeds to reach God.
‘Nobility’ by Alice Cary is a straightforward, inspirational poem about where honor and nobility truly come from.
‘The Eternal Goodness’ by John Greenleaf Whittier is a relatively unknown 19th-century poem that explores religious themes and the various ways that God’s love comes through.
Apostate’ by Léonie Adams describes the freedom a speaker sees in the joyful stars and how she aches to live as they do.
‘Birches’ is one of the most famous, admired, and thoughtful Robert Frost poems. The poem profoundly describes something simple, an ordinary incident, in elevated terms.
‘Consumption’ by William Cullen Bryant describes the fast-approaching death of a tuberculosis patient and her path to heaven.
‘De Profundis’ by Christina Rossetti describes a speaker’s longing for heaven, and the impossibility of reaching it during one’s lifetime.
‘Holy Sonnet II’ by John Donne is the second in a series of religious sonnets that Donne is well-known for. This poem is directed to God and explores a speaker’s concerns about their fate.
‘Holy Sonnet IX’ by John Donne, also known by its first line ‘If poisonous minerals, and if that tree’ is one of several “Holy Sonnets” the poet composed during his lifetime. This particular poem focuses on a dispute between the speaker and God.
William Blake’s poem, ‘Holy Thursday,’ was first published in 1789. It was included in a poetry collection called ‘Songs of Innocence’.
‘Hymn to God, My God, in My Sickness’ by John Donne is written from the perspective of a dying man hoping to gain access to heaven.
‘I did not reach Thee’ by Emily Dickinson is a complex poem about a speaker’s journey through life. She expresses both optimism and hesitation in the face of her death and attempts to reach God.
‘I saw no Way – The Heavens were stitched’ by Emily Dickinson depicts heaven and the afterlife. The poet thoughtfully explores how she feels about the breadth of the universe.
‘Lucifer in Starlight’ describes Lucifer’s power, past, attempted ascent from Hell back into Heaven, and the sights seen along the way.
‘Mad Girl’s Love Song’ by Sylvia Plath explores the truth of a relationship. The speaker wonders how deep and meaningful it really was.
‘Mad Song’ by William Blake describes the intense madness a speaker feels and the frantic pain that accompanies the dawning of a new day.
‘My life closed twice before its close’ by Emily Dickinson uses heartbreak as a metaphor for death. She also experiments with the meaning of “closure.”
‘No Coward Soul Is Mine’ by Emily Brontë describes a speaker’s overwhelming passion for God and the strength she is able to draw from her faith.
‘October, 1803’ by William Wordsworth describes England’s fear over an expected French invasion and how the speaker sees the world being transformed.