Alzheimer’s: The Wife
by C. K. Williams
‘Alzheimer’s: The Wife’ by C. K. Williams is a powerful and moving poem. In it, the poet depicts a woman suffering from Alzheimer’s and a few simple moments from her day.
An Advancement of Learning
by Seamus Heaney
In ‘An Advancement of Learning’, a boy is faced with a rat, and through confronting it he addresses his fear and returns more confident.
Another Reluctance
by Annie Finch
‘Another Reluctance’ by Annie Finch is a beautiful short poem about a childhood experience. The speaker describes waiting for and watching chestnuts fall.
Anything Can Happen
by Seamus Heaney
‘Anything Can Happen’ depicts a contemporary anxiety while referring to a mythological past. The poem has four quatrains with no fixed rhyme-scheme.
Artist’s Life
by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
‘Artist’s Life’ by Ella Wheeler Wilcox describes the personal and emotional connection a speaker has to Strauss’ composition, Artist’s Life.
At Castle Boterel
by Thomas Hardy
‘At Castle Boterel’ was written in 1913. The poem remembers a certain moment in life that is associated with a deeply significant memory.
Autumn Valentine
by Dorothy Parker
‘Autumn Valentine’ by Dorothy Parker reveals two moments in the scope of the narrator’s pain — one when the pain was new and one when it had endured for a time in the shadows.
Barbed Wire
by Henry Taylor
‘Barbed Wire’ is a poem about the tragic death of a horse on a summer afternoon. This piece explores the quick, sudden death of the horse.
Blackberry-Picking
by Seamus Heaney
In ‘Blackberry-Picking’ the speaker is recalling a recurring scene from his youth: each August, he would pick blackberries and relish in their sweet taste.
Brendon Gallacher
by Jackie Kay
The best stories, it is often said, contain within them elements of truth. A story that is entirely fictional is
Can Someone Bring Me My Entire Self
by Noshi Gillani
Although ‘Can Someone Bring Me My Entire Self’ is a short poem it packs in a lot of content and
Casehistory: Alison (Head Injury)
by U.A. Fanthorpe
Ursula Askham Fanthorpe, who wrote ‘Casehistory: Alison (head injury),’ was an Oxford-educated English poet. Fanthorpe held a variety of miscellaneous positions,
Christmas Bells
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
One of the most significant events that Henry Wadsworth Longfellow would have experienced during his lifetime was the severe division
Cold Knap Lake
by Gillian Clarke
Human memory is a strange, difficult, and wonderful thing, if rather unreliable at times. Even life-defining moments tend to become
Coming Home
by Owen Sheers
‘Coming Home’ by Owen Sheers is a thoughtful poem that describes the transitory nature of life. The poet explores aging, family, and the impact of change.
Confessions
by Robert Browning
Robert Browning’s dramatic monologue ‘Confessions,’ as the title says, is written in the confessional mode and is about a speaker’s secretive meetings with a girl.
Crocus
by Alfred Kreymborg
‘Crocus’ by Alfred Kreymborg is a five stanza poem that is separated into sets of four lines or quatrains. These
Crossing the Loch
by Kathleen Jamie
In this poem, ‘Crossing the Loch’, Kathleen Jamie uses a young female speaker to tell a story through a conversation
Cwm Farm near Capel Curig
by Huw Menai
Huw Menai’s poem ‘Cwm Farm near Capel Curig’ is a poem providing a sweeping commentary on the whole of Welsh history.
Dark house, by which once more I stand
by Alfred Lord Tennyson
‘Dark house, by which once more I stand’ by Alfred, Lord Tennyson is the seventh part of the long poem
Digging
by Seamus Heaney
Here is an analysis of the poem ‘Digging’ by Seamus Heaney. Heaney was an Irish playwright, poet, and academic; he
Distant Fields/ANZAC Parade
by Rhian Gallagher
‘Distant Fields/ANZAC Parade’ by Rhian Gallagher is a poem about witnessing one parade commemorating the service of the deceased soldiers.
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.
Early One Morning
by W.S. Merwin
‘Early One Morning’ by W.S. Merwin is a short poem that showcases what seems to be an older man who is stuck in reminiscing about his younger days.
Easter, 1916
by William Butler Yeats
‘Easter, 1916’ is a reflection on the events surrounding the Easter Rising, an armed insurrection that began in Dublin on Easter Monday, April 24, 1916.
Echo
by Christina Rossetti
An echo is a concept that initially might feel ill-suited for poetic purposes. Of course, most are familiar with the
Eden Rock
by Charles Causley
In the poem, Eden Rock, by Charles Causley the speaker, who is a poet himself, is shown imagining about his
Elegy VII: Nature’s lay idiot, I taught thee to love
by John Donne
‘Elegy VII’ by John Donne, also known as ‘Nature’s lay idiot, I taught thee to love,’ is a typical piece about unrequited love.
Nature’s lay idiot, I taught thee to love,
And in that sophistry, oh, thou dost prove
Too subtle: Fool, thou didst not understand
The mystic language of the eye nor hand:
Facing It
by Yusef Komunyakaa
‘Facing It’ by Yusef Komunyakaa speaks of one man’s reaction to seeing the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Fairer through Fading — as the Day
by Emily Dickinson
‘Fairer through Fading — as the Day’ by Emily Dickinson describes the sun and the value of all things. She uses the day as a symbol for what’s lost and will come again.
Fairer through Fading — as the Day
Into the Darkness dips away —
Half Her Complexion of the Sun —
Hindering — Haunting — Perishing —
