Howl by Allen Ginsberg
‘Howl’ is Allen Ginsberg’s best-known poem and is commonly considered his greatest work. It is an indictment of modern society and a celebration of anyone living outside it.
DEAD by Kanye West
‘DEAD’ by Kanye West addresses feelings of alienation and isolation. Specifically, those surrounding the writer’s relationship with his now ex-wife, Kim Kardashian.
Docker by Seamus Heaney
‘Docker’ is a 1966 poem by Seamus Heaney which depicts the life of a dockworker in Belfast and explores his personal and religious sense of discord.
Love Cycle by Chinua Achebe
‘Love Cycle’ by Chinua Achebe describes sunrise, sunset, and their effects on Earth using the metaphor of a barely happy couple.
Jack Johnson Does The Eagle Rock by Cornelius Eady
‘Jack Johnson Does The Eagle Rock’ appears in Cornelius Eady’s poetry collection Victims of the Latest Dance Craze. This poem is an allusion to the great American boxer Jack Johnson and how he was denied a ticket on the Titanic.
Postfeminism by Brenda Shaughnessy
‘Postfeminism’ by Brenda Shaughnessy is a powerful poem that uses imagery to depict a woman’s experience in the world while alluding to the phases of feminism.
The Ballad of the Landlord by Langston Hughes
‘The Ballad of the Landlord’ is a poem that explores the relationship between a Black tenant and his white landlord. The latter refuses to fulfill his duties and the former ends up in jail.
The Laboratory by Robert Browning
‘The Laboratory’ is one of Browning’s most popular dramatic monologues in which we discover the evil schemings of a spurned wife, plotting the demise of her rival.
After Auschwitz by Anne Sexton
‘After Auschwitz’ by Anne Sexton explores the poet’s emotional reaction to the horrors of the Holocaust and her plea to God to hear her.
Friesian Bull by Gillian Clarke
‘Friesian Bull’ by Gillian Clarke is a tale of a bull that is angry at his current state of being locked in his “brick and concrete stall”.
The Tiger in the Menagerie by Emma Jones
‘The Tiger in the Menagerie’, by the poet Emma Jones is a poem about the introduction of violence and wildness into a civilized society and what that would physically look like.
Foxes Among the Lambs by Ernest G. Moll
In ‘Foxes Among the Lambs’, Ernest Moll takes us on a farmer’s journey, where he discovers some lambs savaged by foxes out in the fields, and documents his reprisal.
Anthem for Doomed Youth by Wilfred Owen
As the First World War raged on to its completion, Wilfred Owen, the poem, spent the final days of the war incarcerated in Craiglockhart, suffering from an acute case of shellshock and trying to write through the trauma using poetry.
A Poison Tree by William Blake
The poem ‘A Poison Tree,’ published in the year 1794, is one of the most wonderful and appreciated works of poetry by William Blake.
I Said To Love by Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy’s ‘I Said To Love’ is about love and the difficulties that love creates on people. This poem reveals a speaker’s agonized reaction to love.
