John Keats’ “Ode on a Grecian Urn” is a poem that ponders the meaning and permanence of art. The speaker questions whether the urn’s beauty is fleeting or eternal, and he marvels at the ability of the artist to capture a moment in time. The urn itself seems to offer a contradictory perspective, as the … Read more
The Romantic poets were greatly inspired by nature. For them, nature was a source of beauty, peace, and happiness. They believed that nature had the power to heal the soul and to connect people with the divine. Poets such as William Wordsworth and John Keats wrote poetry that celebrates the natural world. They described the … Read more
Emily Dickinson’s “Much Madness is divinest Sense” is a poem about the line between sanity and insanity. Dickinson suggests that there is a lot of wisdom to be found in madness, and that it can be a source of divine inspiration. She argues that those who are considered to be insane are often the ones … Read more
Edgar Allan Poe is known to have written many gothic poems with darkness, death, or gloomy themes. According to Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore, Edgar Allan Poe is considered the inventor of detective fiction genre in his mysterious “Thou Art the Man” (1844). His most famous poem might be “The Raven”, published in 1845. … Read more
Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge is a poem which at first glance appears to be an epic poem. However, Kubla Khan is actually the introduction of the poem and only describes how Kublai Khan came to power. Kublai was the grandson of Genghis Khan and inherited his grandfather’s empire. Kublai was ruler of the … Read more
William Wordsworth’s poem Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey recalls a blissful time William had spent with his sister and William Cook on a stroll through the Wye Valley in 1798. William first describes how he is ‘half-sad’ because of the happiness he experienced, but also half-happy because it was not permanent. William … Read more
Emily Dickinson’s poetry has been a source of inspiration for many people. Emily was born in Amherst, Massachusetts on December 10, 1830 and died there on May 15, 1886. Emily wrote over 1800 poems during her life that were discovered by her sister Lavinia after Emily’s death. Emily publicly shared fewer than a dozen of … Read more
Aemilia Lanyer was a poet and the first published English woman author who came from a middle class family (though her father was considered as part of an old gentry-class group) Aemilia Lanyer used this poem as a way to show her interpretation of Eve’s role in the “Fall. ” Aemilia Lanyer’s poem “Eve’s Apology … Read more
Edgar Allan Poe is widely considered to be one the most influential and successful American writers of short stories and poems. His works, such as “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Raven,” have been read, taught, and studied for years for their poetic style and clever plots. Edgar Allan Poe’s poems are studied for their tone, … Read more
This poem is from the Romantic era period. Romanticism was an artistic and intellectual movement that began in Europe through a return to nature, medievalist, and a fascination with folk art and folklore. The Romantics stressed individualism over traditional rules of aesthetics and expected emotional response from the audience. Romanticism is known for its emphasis … Read more
In Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken,” the speaker discusses two paths in life. He “took the one less traveled by,” and this decision made all the difference in his life. This poem is a great example of Robert Frost’s use of imagery to set scenes, create moods, and describe scenes in his poems. … Read more
Sonnet 65 is a Shakespeare Sonnet. Sonnets are poems that have fourteen lines, while following a specific rhyme scheme and a particular meter. Sonnets typically speak of love or relationships in some way, while also being about the author’s thoughts on life. In Sonnet 65, Shakespeare uses an old man as a symbol for time … Read more
Emily Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet known for her unconventional and secluded life. Although Emily wrote poetry most of her life, fewer than a dozen of her almost 1,800 poems were published during her lifetime. Emily lived most of her adult life in the white bedroom of the … Read more
My Papa’s Waltz is about abuse. It tells the story of a little girl being abused by her father, but I never knew that until someone told me. My papa’s waltz was just a song that meant nothing to me growing up. My dad would sing it to me all of the time, and I … Read more
Robert Frost’s poetry reflects the nature of his time, especially Robert Frost and the Depression. Robert Frost died in January 1963, almost three months after John F. Kennedy was assassinated. He began writing more than 75 years earlier on a cold afternoon in San Francisco when he was only eleven years old. Robert Frost has … Read more
William Shakespeare is a well known poet in English history. His works include the famous Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and many others. William Shakespeare was a fascinating character in his time period. Location: William Shakespeare wrote this poem when he was in London from 1592-1593 William Shakespeare was born on April 23rd 1564 according to … Read more
Sonnet 18 is one of William Shakespeare’s most famous and recognizable sonnets. It is a part of the Dark Lady series, which describes William Shakespeare falling in love with a woman he knows as ” dark lady”. William Shakespeare was not happy about falling in love with this particular woman and William Shakespeares Sonnet 18 … Read more
Joseph Proper: I Heard A Fly Buzz-When I Died was first published in 1885 and is written as a poem. It has six stanzas that explain death and the narrator’s mood over their time with Death. The poem can be found in any poetry collection, such as “The Best Loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis”. … Read more
Robert Herrick was a Cavalier poet who wrote in the 17th century. Robert Herrick’s poetry is actually quite different from metaphysical poetry, which we will talk about in a bit. Robert Herrick mostly wrote love poems and even some religious poetry. Robert Herrick grew up in Devon and this influenced most of his work, but … Read more
William Shakespeare’s poem “My Mistress’ Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun” is a love poem depicting how something as beautiful as the sun could never compare to his mistress’ beauty. William Shakespeare was an English playwright and poet, widely regarded as the greatest writer of the English language. He wrote many sonnets throughout his life, … Read more
Robert Hayden’s poem “Those Winter Sundays” talks about a father and son relationship during the early 1900s. It is told from a third person point of view, but it focuses on the son as he thinks about his relationship with his father. The poem takes place in winter because that’s when they used to see … Read more
I have always been fascinated by Daddy, the poem written by Sylvia Plath. Daddy is a poem that was created in one of her worst depressive moments and it shows clearly how she felt, what she thought about her father Otto Plath. Otto Plath was born on November 6th, 1880 in Grabow (Germany). He had … Read more
“My Last Duchess” is a poem by Robert Browning first published in 1842. My Last Duchess is narrated by the Duke of Ferrara who has murdered his last wife for her infidelity, and is now showing around the new potential bride – with whom he falls desperately in love at first sight. My Last Duchess … Read more
Roethke’s poem “Root Cellar” is about Theodore Roethke’s place of birth, Saginaw County in Michigan. It was an agricultural community that included orchards, cornfields, apple trees and root cellars. The poem recalls the sounds, scents and feel of the root cellar including its coolness in summer time, the vegetables growing on hooks from the ceiling … Read more
Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was born on December 10, 1830 in Amherst Massachusetts. Emily Dickinson is known for her unusual poetry- which is controversial because it does not rhyme and the ordering of the lines are not conventional. Emily Dickinson died on May 15, 1886 at age 55 from Bright’s disease (inflammation of the kidneys). Emily … Read more
Emily Dickinson showed her view on God in some of the poems that she wrote. Emily Dickinson was known to go through hard times, especially when it came to losing people close to her. Emily Dickinson’s poems reflect that and how she dealt with those losses and what God meant to her and what he … Read more
The poem The Boy Died in My Alley by Gwendolyn Brooks tells a story of a woman finding a young boy dead in her alley after gunshots were heard. In this article, we will take a look at The Boy Died in My Alley and discuss the meaning of the poem. The Boy Died In My … Read more
“The Bull Moose” was a poem written in the 1970s by Alden Nowlan. It talks about a situation where two people, who are very close and haven’t seen each other for a while, meet again. A “bull moose” is an animal that lives in Canada. They aren’t called this anywhere else in the world. The … Read more
Sonnet 130 is a poem written by William Shakespeare. Sonnet 130 is part of the Fair Youth Sonnets. Sonnet 130 talks about how the speaker will never love anyone as much as he loves his beloved (the “Fair Youth”). Sonnets are lyric poems that people commonly try to analyze through certain perspectives. Sonnets are usually … Read more
The following The Road Not Taken essay discusses the figurative and literal meaning of the poem. The poem The Road Not Taken was written by Robert Frost in 1920. The poem has many interpretations that are based on multiple factors, including diction choice, tone, meter, and symbols used in the poem. The following The Road … Read more
Beowulf is an Old English epic poem that was composed somewhere between the 8th and 11th century. Beowulf follows a great hero who comes to the aid of Hroðgar, the king of the Danes, whose mead hall in Heorot has been under attack by a man-eating creature known as Grendel. Beowulf kills Grendel and, too … Read more
Audre Lorde was born on February 18, 1934 in New York City Coal is one of her greatest poems Coal deals with themes such as discrimination, oppression and racism Coal deals with life and death Coal deals with hatred Coal deals with anger Coal deals with the black community Coal tells us about Audre Lorde’s … Read more
The poem The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost addresses the idea of decision-making and choosing what direction life will take you. The speaker of the poem is discussing a dilemma he faced, and how he ultimately chose one path over another. The roads were essentially identical in nature, and it was only after choosing … Read more
The poem The Raven, by Edgar Allan Poe is written in a very melancholic tone that evokes feelings of sorrow and sadness. The actions of the narrator throughout the story also exude these sad emotions. The setting helps to create this tone as well because the focus on death and darkness adds to the morbid … Read more
Emily Dickinson’s poems explore the realms of spirituality and transcendentalism. Emily Dickinson’s poems explore concepts such as God, eternity, eternal life, and death in a transcendentalist way. Emily Dickinson was a strong believer in a spiritual world which transcended the physical one. She wanted to live forever because she felt that there were not enough … Read more
In her poem “Because I Could Not Stop for Death,” death is portrayed as a gentleman who comes to give the speaker a ride to eternity. Because the poem is in first-person narration, Death also serves as a metaphor for depression; Death would be an escape from the pains of life. One day, I was … Read more
Emily Dickinson’s poem, “Hope” is the Thing With Feathers, it includes a comparison of hope to a bird. Emily Dickinson uses symbolism throughout the poem to help convince the reader that hope can be found in laughter and birds. In “Hope” is the Thing With Feathers, she uses many of her techniques to make the … Read more
The poem The Most of It by Robert Frost is an excerpt from a longer poem called The Tuft of Flowers. The poem The Tuft of Flowers was written in 1913, but the excerpt The Most of It was published in 1916. The full text for The Tuft of Flowers can be found here. The … Read more
Poems are read by many for their personal entertainment and often rhyme. As such, these poems may also have a deeper meaning that only fewer people bother to seek out. Along with this, there is also an inevitable theme that lies within each and every poem made by one author merging all of their ideas … Read more
“Life is a dream walking. Death is going home. ” – Chinese proverb. If life was supposed to be easy, everyone would go through the days knowing the answers to their lives. Nothing would be an unexpected surprise to people, but that is not the case. Instead, we attempt to plan out every day and … Read more
Poetry has existed as long as language itself. It is omnipresent throughout every society, and is used in every language ever conceived by a human mind. The poets responsible for the poetry come from all corners of the world and represent all the eras in human history, thus creating an ever growing eclectic range of … Read more
Line 1: No worst, there is none. Pitched past pitch of grief, For an overworked and alienated priest, Gerard Manley Hopkins was able to exert an immense amount of creativity during and memorable lines into his poem ‘No worst, there is none. ’, as its named in short. Let’s begin the analysis right away at … Read more
Poe was the poet. His poems were about horror, mystery, death and even misery. At the age of three, Poe was separated from his parents being that his mother died from tuberculosis and his father just abandoned him. Being stripped away from his brother William and his sister Rosalie, Poe went through a lifetime of … Read more
Line 1: Because I could not stop for Death – This line presupposes an argument and a counterargument. Dickinson raises a question straightaway and her being not able to stop Death raises certain grim apprehensions in the mind. Why the poet mentions death, why the poet is gripped with such an imminent belief that she … Read more
Every author is unique in terms of their writing. Some authors are more famous than others because of their literary works. Emily Dickinson is a world renown poet. The reason she is so famous is because of the universal themes, styles, and techniques she incorporated into her poems. Emily Dickinson became extremely famous due to … Read more
Elizabeth Barrett Browning is a Victorian poet that is renowned for her poetry that focuses on the social conscience of people in western culture. One of Browning’s most controversial poems is called “A Curse for a Nation,” which is a didactic poem that aims to persuade its target audience to speak out against the slave … Read more
The Harshness of War Effects Soldiers, As Well As the People Close to Them in “The Wound Dresser” and “Wars is Kind” @”The Wound Dresser” by Walt Whitman and “War is Kind” by Stephen Crane, are both sad yet beautifully poetic works of art that focus on the harshness of war with many similarities displayed … Read more
The Ruined Maid The “Ruined Maid” was written by Thomas Hardy in 1866. This poem has six stanzas, which consists of four quatrains each. In the beginning of each stanza the farm girl speaks, and ‘Melia, the “ruined girl” speaks just for the last line; however for the last stanza ‘Melia begins to respond to … Read more
Poetry is a way for the author to communicate feelings, ideas, and stories to a reader. The poet A. E. Housman wrote the poems “When I Was One-And-Twenty” and “To An Athlete Dying Young”. In the poem “To An Athlete Dying Young” the poetic devices of repetition and irony are important to the poem. The … Read more
The period of European history referred to as the Renaissance was a time of great social and cultural change in Europe. It spanned from the sixteenth to the seventeenth century, and was regarded as the rebirth of antiquity. It was a time in which learning was transformed, and became an age of daring experimentation. Some … Read more
