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Poetry Guides
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all 773 poetry guides.
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The Snow Man
by Wallace Stevens
Wallace Stevens's "The Snow Man" was first published in Poetry magazine in 1921 and then appeared in Stevens's influential debut collection Harmonium (1923). Gazing on a bleak winter landscape of s...
A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London
by Dylan Thomas
"A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London" mourns a young victim of Germany's air raids on London during World War II. One of Dylan Thomas's best-known war poems, its "Refusal" i...
The Dong with a Luminous Nose
by Edward Lear
"The Dong with a Luminous Nose" is one of Edward Lear's melancholy nonsense poems. It tells the tale of how a lonely fellow known as the Dong came to construct his famous nose, a huge bright-red pr...
The Snow Man
by Wallace Stevens
Wallace Stevens's "The Snow Man" was first published in Poetry magazine in 1921 and then appeared in Stevens's influential debut collection Harmonium (1923). Gazing on a bleak winter landscape of s...
A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London
by Dylan Thomas
"A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London" mourns a young victim of Germany's air raids on London during World War II. One of Dylan Thomas's best-known war poems, its "Refusal" i...
The Dong with a Luminous Nose
by Edward Lear
"The Dong with a Luminous Nose" is one of Edward Lear's melancholy nonsense poems. It tells the tale of how a lonely fellow known as the Dong came to construct his famous nose, a huge bright-red pr...
Recuerdo
by Edna St. Vincent Millay
Edna St. Vincent Millay's "Recuerdo" is a joyful celebration of life's simple pleasures. The poem describes two friends (or, perhaps, lovers) having a wonderful time riding a ferry back and forth, ...
The Snow Man
by Wallace Stevens
Wallace Stevens's "The Snow Man" was first published in Poetry magazine in 1921 and then appeared in Stevens's influential debut collection Harmonium (1923). Gazing on a bleak winter landscape of s...
A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London
by Dylan Thomas
"A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London" mourns a young victim of Germany's air raids on London during World War II. One of Dylan Thomas's best-known war poems, its "Refusal" i...
The Dong with a Luminous Nose
by Edward Lear
"The Dong with a Luminous Nose" is one of Edward Lear's melancholy nonsense poems. It tells the tale of how a lonely fellow known as the Dong came to construct his famous nose, a huge bright-red pr...
Recuerdo
by Edna St. Vincent Millay
Edna St. Vincent Millay's "Recuerdo" is a joyful celebration of life's simple pleasures. The poem describes two friends (or, perhaps, lovers) having a wonderful time riding a ferry back and forth, ...
The Owl and the Pussy-Cat
by Edward Lear
Edward Lear's "The Owl and the Pussy-Cat" is a classic children's poem, originally published in Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany and Alphabets (1871). Its heroes, an owl and a cat, fall madly in lov...
The Death of the Hired Man
by Robert Frost
Robert Frost's "The Death of the Hired Man" details a tense conversation between a farmer and his wife, who are debating whether or not to let their old farmhand, Silas, return to the farm after br...
Recuerdo
by Edna St. Vincent Millay
Edna St. Vincent Millay's "Recuerdo" is a joyful celebration of life's simple pleasures. The poem describes two friends (or, perhaps, lovers) having a wonderful time riding a ferry back and forth, ...
The Owl and the Pussy-Cat
by Edward Lear
Edward Lear's "The Owl and the Pussy-Cat" is a classic children's poem, originally published in Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany and Alphabets (1871). Its heroes, an owl and a cat, fall madly in lov...
The Death of the Hired Man
by Robert Frost
Robert Frost's "The Death of the Hired Man" details a tense conversation between a farmer and his wife, who are debating whether or not to let their old farmhand, Silas, return to the farm after br...
Nettles
by Vernon Scannell
In "Nettles," by British poet Vernon Scannell, the speaker's son gets hurt after stumbling into a patch of stinging plants. Horrified at seeing the boy in pain, the speaker charges into the yard wi...
Absence
by Elizabeth Jennings
"Absence" was written by British poet Elizabeth Jennings and first appeared in her 1958 collection A Sense of the World. The poem explores the pain of losing someone when the rest of the world does...
On Sitting Down to Read King Lear Once Again
by John Keats
"On Sitting Down to Read King Lear Once Again" is a sonnet about the power, pain, and challenge of great art. Getting ready to reread Shakespeare's King Lear for the umpteenth time, the poem's spea...
Sestina
by Elizabeth Bishop
"Sestina," by the American poet Elizabeth Bishop, explores family trauma, the gap between adult understanding and childhood innocence, and the persistence of grief. The poem describes what at first...
Skunk Hour
by Robert Lowell
"Skunk Hour" is the final poem in Robert Lowell's trailblazing collection Life Studies (1959). Its speaker first describes some features and residents of a declining coastal town, then confesses th...
Poetry
by Marianne Moore
"Poetry," by the American modernist poet Marianne Moore, grapples with what makes a poem important or worthwhile—or even a poem at all. Its speaker urges poets to take their craft seriously and not...
Epitaph on a Tyrant
by W. H. Auden
"Epitaph on a Tyrant," one of W. H. Auden's best-known political poems, appears in the collection Another Time (1940). Written months before the outbreak of World War II, it assesses the career and...
Ode on Indolence
by John Keats
"Ode on Indolence" is (probably) one of the earliest of John Keats's great Odes, a sequence of six poems he composed between the spring and autumn of 1819. In this poem, a speaker (who has more tha...
Loveliest of Trees
by A. E. Housman
"Loveliest of Trees" is a poem by the British writer A. E. Housman, published in his popular first collection A Shropshire Lad (1896). The poem reflects on the fleeting beauty of nature as well as ...
The Owl and the Pussy-Cat
by Edward Lear
Edward Lear's "The Owl and the Pussy-Cat" is a classic children's poem, originally published in Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany and Alphabets (1871). Its heroes, an owl and a cat, fall madly in lov...
The Death of the Hired Man
by Robert Frost
Robert Frost's "The Death of the Hired Man" details a tense conversation between a farmer and his wife, who are debating whether or not to let their old farmhand, Silas, return to the farm after br...
Nettles
by Vernon Scannell
In "Nettles," by British poet Vernon Scannell, the speaker's son gets hurt after stumbling into a patch of stinging plants. Horrified at seeing the boy in pain, the speaker charges into the yard wi...
Absence
by Elizabeth Jennings
"Absence" was written by British poet Elizabeth Jennings and first appeared in her 1958 collection A Sense of the World. The poem explores the pain of losing someone when the rest of the world does...
On Sitting Down to Read King Lear Once Again
by John Keats
"On Sitting Down to Read King Lear Once Again" is a sonnet about the power, pain, and challenge of great art. Getting ready to reread Shakespeare's King Lear for the umpteenth time, the poem's spea...
Sestina
by Elizabeth Bishop
"Sestina," by the American poet Elizabeth Bishop, explores family trauma, the gap between adult understanding and childhood innocence, and the persistence of grief. The poem describes what at first...
Skunk Hour
by Robert Lowell
"Skunk Hour" is the final poem in Robert Lowell's trailblazing collection Life Studies (1959). Its speaker first describes some features and residents of a declining coastal town, then confesses th...
Poetry
by Marianne Moore
"Poetry," by the American modernist poet Marianne Moore, grapples with what makes a poem important or worthwhile—or even a poem at all. Its speaker urges poets to take their craft seriously and not...
Epitaph on a Tyrant
by W. H. Auden
"Epitaph on a Tyrant," one of W. H. Auden's best-known political poems, appears in the collection Another Time (1940). Written months before the outbreak of World War II, it assesses the career and...
Ode on Indolence
by John Keats
"Ode on Indolence" is (probably) one of the earliest of John Keats's great Odes, a sequence of six poems he composed between the spring and autumn of 1819. In this poem, a speaker (who has more tha...
Loveliest of Trees
by A. E. Housman
"Loveliest of Trees" is a poem by the British writer A. E. Housman, published in his popular first collection A Shropshire Lad (1896). The poem reflects on the fleeting beauty of nature as well as ...
Nettles
by Vernon Scannell
In "Nettles," by British poet Vernon Scannell, the speaker's son gets hurt after stumbling into a patch of stinging plants. Horrified at seeing the boy in pain, the speaker charges into the yard wi...
Absence
by Elizabeth Jennings
"Absence" was written by British poet Elizabeth Jennings and first appeared in her 1958 collection A Sense of the World. The poem explores the pain of losing someone when the rest of the world does...
On Sitting Down to Read King Lear Once Again
by John Keats
"On Sitting Down to Read King Lear Once Again" is a sonnet about the power, pain, and challenge of great art. Getting ready to reread Shakespeare's King Lear for the umpteenth time, the poem's spea...
Sestina
by Elizabeth Bishop
"Sestina," by the American poet Elizabeth Bishop, explores family trauma, the gap between adult understanding and childhood innocence, and the persistence of grief. The poem describes what at first...
Skunk Hour
by Robert Lowell
"Skunk Hour" is the final poem in Robert Lowell's trailblazing collection Life Studies (1959). Its speaker first describes some features and residents of a declining coastal town, then confesses th...
Poetry
by Marianne Moore
"Poetry," by the American modernist poet Marianne Moore, grapples with what makes a poem important or worthwhile—or even a poem at all. Its speaker urges poets to take their craft seriously and not...
Epitaph on a Tyrant
by W. H. Auden
"Epitaph on a Tyrant," one of W. H. Auden's best-known political poems, appears in the collection Another Time (1940). Written months before the outbreak of World War II, it assesses the career and...
Ode on Indolence
by John Keats
"Ode on Indolence" is (probably) one of the earliest of John Keats's great Odes, a sequence of six poems he composed between the spring and autumn of 1819. In this poem, a speaker (who has more tha...
Loveliest of Trees
by A. E. Housman
"Loveliest of Trees" is a poem by the British writer A. E. Housman, published in his popular first collection A Shropshire Lad (1896). The poem reflects on the fleeting beauty of nature as well as ...
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