Credo by Robinson Jeffers
‘Credo’ by Robinson Jeffers is a powerful poem that asserts the poet’s beliefs about humanity’s connection to the natural world and explores how they contrast with the main tenants of Transcendentalism.
Riprap by Gary Snyder
Gary Snyder’s ‘Riprap’ describes how the oddly beautiful order of nature is “a riprap of things,” set in order from time immemorial. This piece taps on the themes of metaphysics, nature, and language.
Allegory of the Cave by Stephen Dunn
In this poem, Stephen Dunn alludes to Plato’s Allegory of the Cave or Plato’s Cave by the same title. This piece raises a number of philosophical questions with respect to the political history of the 20th century.
Nothing To Be Said by Philip Larkin
Larkin’s ‘Nothing To Be Said’ pessimistically explores the slow, steady and inevitable aproach of death. To Larkin, life is meerly a prolonged death.
The Eolian Harp by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
‘The Eolian Harp’ by S.T. Coleridge, has been entitled after the ‘Aeolian harp’, which creates melodious music while the wind blows across its strings. It is one of Coleridge’s early conversation poems.
If Ever the Lid Gets off my Head by Emily Dickinson
‘If Ever the Lid gets off my head’ by Emily Dickinson is a thought-provoking poem. In it, the poet makes a distinction between her mind and common sense.
A Dream within a Dream by Edgar Allan Poe
Published in 1849, ‘A Dream Within a Dream’ by Edgar Allan Poe examines the subtleties of time. His speaker delves into our perception of it and its effects.
