Poems for Mothers
A collection of classic poems about motherhood, by Anne Bradstreet, William Blake, Christina Rossetti, Edgar Allan Poe, Rudyard Kipling, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, William Butler Yeats, Henry Van Dyke, Carl Sandburg, Langston Hughes and Claude McKay.

To My Mother by Edgar Allan Poe
Poems for Mothers: “To My Mother” by Edgar Allan Poe (1849)

My Mother by Claude McKay
Poems for Mothers: “My Mother” by Claude McKay (1922)

Mother o' Mine by Rudyard Kipling
Poems for Mothers: “Mother o’ Mine” by Rudyard Kipling (1891)

To My Mother by Christina Rossetti
Poems for Mothers: “To My Mother” by Christina Rossetti (1842)

Unfolded out of the Folds by Walt Whitman
Poems for Mothers: “Unfolded out of the Folds” by Walt Whitman (first published in 1860 edition of Leaves of Grass)

Nature — the Gentlest Mother is, by Emily Dickinson
Poems for Mothers: “Nature — the Gentlest Mother is,” (#790) by Emily Dickinson

There was a Child went Forth by Walt Whitman
Poems for Mothers: “There was a Child went Forth” by Walt Whitman (first published in 1855 edition of Leaves of Grass)

St. Crispin's Day speech from Henry V by William Shakespeare
Poems of War: St. Crispin’s Day speech from Henry V by William Shakespeare (1599)

Mother to Son by Langston Hughes
Poems for Mothers: “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes (1922)

Classic Nursery Rhymes
A collection of classic English and American nursery rhymes—the lullabyes, counting games, riddles and rhymed fables that are children’s earliest experiences of poetry.

Sonnets are full of love by Christina Rossetti
Poems for Mothers: “Sonnets are full of love” by Christina Rossetti (from <i>A Pageant and Other Poems</i>, 1881)

Summer Poems
A collection of poems for summer, including an anonymous medieval lyric and classics by Li Po, Thomas Nashe, William Shakespeare, Alexander Pope, William Blake, Henry David Thoreau, Emily Dickinson, John Greenleaf Whittier, John Clare, Walt Whitman, Robert Louis Stevenson, Paul Laurence Dunbar, James Russell Lowell, Amy Lowell, Carl Sandburg, Gerard Manley Hopkins and Edna St. Vincent Millay, plus new poems from contemporary poets around the world.

Spring Poems
A collection of poems for spring, including classics by Tu Fu, William Shakespeare, Thomas Nashe, John Webster, Thomas Carew, Robert Herrick, Matsuo Basho, Kobayashi Issa, William Blake, William Wordsworth, Christina Rossetti, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, D.H. Lawrence, Robert Louis Stevenson, Gerard Manley Hopkins, John Clare, Carl Sandburg, e.e. cummings, Edna St. Vincent Millay and A.E. Housman, plus new poems from contemporary poets around the world.

Song of the Old Mother by William Butler Yeats
Poems for Mothers: “Song of the Old Mother” by William Butler Yeats (from <i>The Wind Among the Reeds</i>, 1899)

Among School Children by William Butler Yeats
“Among School Children” by William Butler Yeats (from <i>The Tower</i>, 1928)

The Player Queen by William Butler Yeats
Poems for Mothers: “The Player Queen” by William Butler Yeats (from <i>Responsibilities and Other Poems</i>, 1916)

Poems Done on a Late Night Car by Carl Sandburg
Poems for Mothers: “Poems Done on a Late Night Car” by Carl Sandburg (1916)

Before the Birth of One of Her Children by Anne Bradstreet
Poems for Mothers: “Before the Birth of One of Her Children” by Anne Bradstreet (1678)

Baseball Poems
Our favorite baseball poems, selected for reading while you’re watching a game.

The Little Boy Found by William Blake
Poems for Mothers: “The Little Boy Found” by William Blake (from Songs of Innocence, 1791)

Poems of Sailors and Seafarers
An anthology of classic poems inspired by mariners, the sailing life and the sea itself, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Walt Whitman, Matthew Arnold, Christina Rossetti, Robert Louis Stevenson, John Masefield, Algernon Charles Swinburne, Ezra Pound, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Thomas Hardy, D.H. Lawrence and Carl Sandburg.

Sonnet
The sonnet defined, in our glossary of poetic forms, with links to examples of classic sonnets.

Song of Myself by Walt Whitman
“Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman (from Leaves of Grass, first published in the 1855 edition)

War Is Kind by Stephen Crane
Poems of War: “War Is Kind” by Stephen Crane (1899)

Poems for Fathers
A collection of classic poems about fatherhood, including classics by Su Tung-p’o, Robert Greene, Ben Jonson, Anne Bradstreet, Robert Burns, William Blake, William Wordsworth, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Edgar A. Guest, Rudyard Kipling, Gerard Manley Hopkins and William Butler Yeats, plus father poems contributed by contemporary poets.

How To Memorize a Poem
You memorize because you have to, the poem was written for you and you must make it your own, step-by-step you learn it by heart...

Poems of War and Remembrance
A collection of classic war poems, by Li Po, William Shakespeare, William Blake, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Herman Melville, Walt Whitman, Sophie Jewett, Stephen Crane, Thomas Hardy, Wilfrid Wilson Gibson, John McCrae, Rupert Brooke, Amy Lowell, Carl Sandburg, Wilfred Owen, Alan Seeger, Robert Frost, Siegfried Sassoon, William Butler Yeats, Robert Graves, Alice Dunbar-Nelson, Charlotte Mary Mew and Thomas McGrath.

The Witches' Spell from Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Halloween Poems: The Witches’ Spell from Macbeth by William Shakespeare (1606)

Guide to “The Second Coming”
Notes on context, form and content, commentary and quotations on William Butler Yeats’ poem “The Second Coming” (1920).

Winter Poems
A collection of poems for winter, including classics by William Shakespeare, Thomas Campion, Robert Burns, William Blake, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Charlotte Bronte, Walt Whitman, Robert Louis Stevenson, George Meredith, Emily Dickinson, Robert Bridges, Thomas Hardy, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Robert Frost and Wallace Stevens, plus new poems from contemporary poets around the world.

Sonnet 43 by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Love Poems: Sonnet 43 (“How do I love thee?”) from Sonnets from the Portuguese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1850)

Mother Earth by Henry Van Dyke
Poems for Mothers: “Mother Earth” by Henry Van Dyke (1909)

Autumn Poems
A collection of poems for the fall season, including classics by William Blake, John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Robert Louis Stevenson, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Carl Sandburg, William Butler Yeats, Amy Lowell and Robert Frost, plus new poems from contemporary poets around the world.

Love Poems
A collection of classic love poems by Christopher Marlowe, William Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, John Donne, Robert Herrick, Anne Bradstreet, Andrew Marvell, Robert Burns, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Christina Rossetti and William Butler Yeats.

Ballads
A collection of ballads, both traditional folk ballads, the often anonymous song-poems sung and resung for centuries before they were written down, and literary ballads, narrative poems written in ballad form.

Put Together a Manuscript
A simple step-by-step outline to help you gather your poems in manuscript form for submission to publishers or publication contests, transforming your sheaf of assorted poems into a book manuscript.

Acrostic Poem
Acrostic poem defined, in our glossary of poetic forms, with links to examples of classic acrostic poems.

Locate the Text of a Poem
A simple step-by-step outline of how to find the text of a poem on the Net when you can only remember one line.

Storm Poems
A collection of classic poems inspired by stormy weather—tempests, tornadoes, hurricanes and all manner of storms, by William Shakespeare, William Cullen Bryant, Walt Whitman, Algernon Charles Swinburne, Amy Lowell, Robert Frost, Siegfried Sassoon and Jean Toomer.

Haiku
Haiku defined, in our glossary of poetic forms.

Carpe Diem Poems
A collection of classic poems on the passage of time and the human impulse to “Seize the Day,” from the original “carpe diem” poem among the odes of Horace, to expressions of the theme in English poems by William Shakespeare, Thomas Jordan, Robert Herrick, Andrew Marvell, John Gay, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Charles Baudelaire, Ella Wheeler Wilcox, William Ernest Henley, Sara Teasdale and Robert Frost.

Villanelle
The villanelle defined, in our glossary of poetic forms.

Concrete Poems: 'The Bird' and 'The Quill' by Ernesto Santiago
'The Bird' and 'The Quill' by Ernesto Santiago: limitless sky concrete poems airborne ranger helvetica font body background

Bird Poems
An anthology of classic poems about, addressed to or inspired by birds, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Edgar Allan Poe, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, William Blake, Christina Rossetti, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Wallace Stevens, Thomas Hardy, Robert Frost, William Carlos Williams, D.H. Lawrence and William Butler Yeats.

A light exists in spring by Emily Dickinson
Poems for Spring: “A light exists in spring” (#812) by Emily Dickinson

The Secret of the Sea by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Poems of Sailors and Seafarers: “The Secret of the Sea” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1850)

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Ballads and Poems of Sailors and Seafarers: “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1798)

A Prayer in Spring by Robert Frost
Poems for Spring: Text of the poem “A Prayer in Spring” by Robert Frost (1915).

Poems for Peace
An anthology of poems for peace, gathered at About Poetry during the war in Iraq, as the necessary successor to our Poems After the Attack collection of 9.11.01 poems.

Get Started Submitting
A simple step-by-step outline to help you manage the process of submitting your poems for publication in print.

Notes, “Nothing Gold Can Stay”
Notes on reading Robert Frost’s poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay,” an extremely compressed lyric on the evanescence of value and the inevitability of a fall, from his 1923 collection, New Hampshire.

Imagism
A brief history of the Imagist movement in modernist poetry, summarizing its principles as outlined by Ezra Pound and Amy Lowell.

Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare
Love Poems: Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare (1609)

Sestina
The sestina defined, in our glossary of poetic forms, with links to examples of classic sestinas.

Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare
Poems for Weddings, Love Poems: Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare (1609)

Guide to “Kubla Khan”
Notes on the content of Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem “Kubla Khan” (1798).

A something in a summer's Day by Emily Dickinson
Summer Poems: “A something in a summer’s day” (#122) by Emily Dickinson

Poems After the Attack
An collection of poems written during the “War on Terrorism” after the September 11, 2001 attack on America, from poets around the Net and in the About Poetry Forum.

Father by Edgar A. Guest
Poems for Fathers: “Father” by Edgar A. Guest (1909)

Robert Frost
A reference page on Robert Frost, celebrated American poet whose work is rooted in New England farm life, combining a modernist sensibility and sense of language in traditional verse forms.

Summer Sun by Robert Louis Stevenson
Summer Poems: “Summer Sun” from A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson (1885)

Waka Waka Bang Splat! The World's First Internet Special-Characters Poem
A poem created entirely of special characters -- it can only be properly appreciated by reading it out loud.

Song of Myself by Walt Whitman (page 3)
“Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman (from Leaves of Grass, first published in the 1855 edition), page 3

O Captain! My Captain! by Walt Whitman
Poems of Sailors and Seafarers and Poems for President Lincoln: “O Captain! My Captain!” from Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman (from Leaves of Grass, first published in 1867 edition)

Guide to “Tintern Abbey”
Notes on context, form and content, commentary and quotations on William Wordsworth’s poem “Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey” (1798).

William Wordsworth
A reference page on British Romantic poet William Wordsworth (1770 - 1850), whose theory of poetry began the Romantic movement in English poetry at the end of the 18th century, and whose poems immortalize the sublime landscapes of his beloved Lake District.

Baa Baa Black Sheep
Classic Nursery Rhymes: “Baa Baa Black Sheep” (1744)

A Spring View by Tu Fu
Poems for Spring: “A Spring View” (c. 750), translated by Witter Bynner

The Sailor Boy by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Poems of Sailors and Seafarers: “The Sailor Boy” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1861)

Song for All Seas, All Ships by Walt Whitman
Poems of Sailors and Seafarers: “Song for All Seas, All Ships” from Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman (first published in 1882 edition)

To Spring by William Blake
Poems for Spring: “To Spring” by William Blake (from Poetical Sketches, 1783)

Pat-a-cake, Pat-a-cake, Baker's Man
Classic Nursery Rhymes: “Pat-a-cake, Pat-a-cake, Baker’s Man” (1698)

Reading Notes on “The Pasture”
Notes on reading Robert Frost’s poem “The Pasture,” originally published as the preface to his first American book, North of Boston, and often chosen by Frost as the introductory poem when he gave a reading.

Hickory, Dickory Dock
Classic Nursery Rhymes: “Hickory, Dickory Dock” (1744)

Song of Myself by Walt Whitman (page 2)
“Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman (from Leaves of Grass, first published in the 1855 edition), page 2

To Summer by William Blake
Summer Poems: “To Summer” by William Blake (from Poetical Sketches, 1783)

Ladybug, Ladybug
Classic Nursery Rhymes: “Ladybug, Ladybug” (c. 1744)

Spring Rain, Spring Air and Four Haiku by Matsuo Basho
Poems for Spring: “Spring Rain,” “Spring Air” and Four Haiku by Matsuo Basho (c. 1680)

This Old Man
Classic Nursery Rhymes: “This Old Man” (1906)

Holman Poems Everyone
A list of 11 essential poems everyone should know, selected by Poetry Guide Bob Holman—these are talisman poems, crucial revelations in his journey of exploration in the world of poetry.

Jack and Jill
Classic Nursery Rhymes: “Jack and Jill” (1760s)

A Sailor's Song by Paul Laurence Dunbar
Poems of Sailors and Seafarers: “A Sailor’s Song” by Paul Laurence Dunbar (from <i>Lyrics of the Hearthside</i>, 1899)

Only a Dad by Edgar A. Guest
Poems for Fathers: “Only a Dad” by Edgar A. Guest (1916)

Spring, the Sweet Spring from Summer's Last Will and Testament by Thomas Nashe
Poems for Spring: “Spring, the Sweet Spring,” from Summer’s Last Will and Testament by Thomas Nashe (1600)

Guide to Blake’s “The Tyger”
Notes on the content of William Blake’s poem “The Tyger” from Songs of Experience (1794).

July 4th Poems
A selection of classic poems about America for Independence Day, by William Blake, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Emma Lazarus, Walt Whitman, Carl Sandburg, Stephen Vincent Benét and Claude McKay.

Hush, Little Baby, or The Mockingbird Song
Classic Nursery Rhymes: “Hush, Little Baby,” also called “The Mockingbird Song,” traditional, probably 18th century

Two Tramps in Mud Time by Robert Frost
Poems for Spring: “Two Tramps in Mud Time” by Robert Frost (1934)

Lord Randall, anonymous folk ballad
Ballads: “Lord Randall,” an anonymous folk ballad of the 18th century, published by Sir Walter Scott in 1803

Drawing the Line: Ed Sanders' 1968 is Poetry Book of the Year (1997)
This is 1997, not the most amazing year of the century. . . . But we have he who has refused to be burnt out, torch-bearer Ed Sanders, providing us with a way forward through the past.

Poems for Election Day
A selection of classic American poems for Election Day, by Walt Whitman, John Greenleaf Whittier, Vachel Lindsay & William Carlos Williams, and a contemporary post-election blues by Jim Finnegan.

This Little Piggy
Classic Nursery Rhymes: “This Little Piggy” (1760)

Summer by John Clare
Summer Poems: “Summer” by John Clare (1865)

Snyder Poems Everyone
A list of essential poems everyone should know, selected by Poetry Guide Margery Snyder—these are classics of the English language, old poems that linger in the memory of English speakers and shape our thoughts.

Varieties of Nursery Rhymes
Nursery rhymes come in many different shapes, sizes and types. Here’s an annotated list of some of the varieties of nursery rhymes, with linked examples.

Summer from The Second Pastoral by Alexander Pope
Summer Poems: “Summer” from The Second Pastoral, by Alexander Pope (1709)

One, Two, Buckle My Shoe
Classic Nursery Rhymes: “One, Two, Buckle My Shoe” (1805)

HipHop, PerfPo, SpokenWd, Slam
Definitions of 'open mic,' 'poetry slam,' 'spoken word,' 'performance poetry,' 'poetry,' 'hiphop' & 'rap' from Eman, 16-year-old poet & host of two weekly open mics. 'If you’re looking for the definitions of the New Poetry from the younger generation, she’s the one to ask.'

Spring Song from Love's Labors Lost by William Shakespeare
Poems for Spring: “Spring” (song from Love’s Labors Lost) by William Shakespeare (1598)

'An Acrostic' by Edgar Allan Poe
'An Acrostic' by Edgar Allan Poe (1829): edgar allan poe poems by edgar allan poe pride and passion acrostic poetic forms

Pantoum
The pantoum defined, in our glossary of poetic forms, with links to read examples of pantoums written in English.

Lines Written in Early Spring by William Wordsworth
Poems for Spring: “Lines Written in Early Spring” by William Wordsworth (1798)

Anecdote for Fathers by William Wordsworth
Poems for Fathers: “Anecdote for Fathers” by William Wordsworth (1798)

The Summer Rain by Henry David Thoreau
Summer Poems: “The Summer Rain” by Henry David Thoreau (1842)

The Spring by Thomas Carew
Poems for Spring: “The Spring” by Thomas Carew (1640)

Nefarious War by Li Po
Poems of War: “Nefarious War,” by Li Po (c. 750)

Iamb
Iamb defined, in our glossary of poetic terms.

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star by Jane Taylor
Classic Nursery Rhymes: “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” by Jane Taylor (1806)

Hey Diddle Diddle
Classic Nursery Rhymes: “Hey Diddle Diddle” (1765)

To Everything There Is a Season - Read the Poem To Everything There Is a Season from Ecclesiastes
Text of the poem “To Everything There Is a Season,” Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 verses attributed to King Solomon, from the King James Version of the Bible (1611).

Ghazal
The ghazal defined, in our glossary of poetic forms, with links to read examples of ghazals written in English.

Halloween Poems
A collection of classic Halloween poems, including a selection from Shakespeare's Macbeth, the traditional ballad 'Tam Lin' and poems by John Donne, Lord Brooke Fulke Greville, Robert Herrick, Robert Burns, George Gordon Lord Byron, Edgar Allan Poe & Christina Rossetti.

Library: Frost Poems
Our library of poem texts – selected poems by Robert Frost, in chronological order.

Requiem by Robert Louis Stevenson
Poems of Sailors and Seafarers: “Requiem” by Robert Louis Stevenson (1887)

Sonnet 14 by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Love Poems: Sonnet 14 from Sonnets from the Portuguese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1850)

Carpe Diem from Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
Carpe Diem Poems: “Carpe Diem” from Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare (1623)

William Blake
A reference page on William Blake, visionary poet and artist who created his own mythology, wrote epics and children's rhymes, and made illustrated books that are admired icons centuries after his death.

The Itsy, Bitsy Spider
Classic Nursery Rhymes: “The Itsy, Bitsy Spider” (1910)

Terza Rima
Terza rima defined, in our glossary of poetic forms.

A Prayer for My Son by William Butler Yeats
Poems for Fathers: “A Prayer for My Son” by William Butler Yeats (from <i>The Tower</i>, 1928)

The Seafarer by Ezra Pound
Poems of Sailors and Seafarers: “The Seafarer” by Ezra Pound (1912)

Carpe Diem by Robert Frost
Carpe Diem Poems: “Carpe Diem” by Robert Frost (1923)

To Autumn by William Blake
Autumn Poems: “To Autumn” by William Blake (from Poetical Sketches, 1783)

Love by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Love Poems: “Love” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1799)

Aftermath by Siegfried Sassoon
Poems of War: “Aftermath” by Siegfried Sassoon (1919)

Casey at the Bat by Ernest L. Thayer
Baseball Poems: “Casey at the Bat” by Ernest L. Thayer (1888)

Sweet Summer by Wayne Jarus - Read the summer poem Sweet Summer by Wayne Jarus
Summer Poems: “Sweet Summer” by Wayne Jarus

America, A Prophecy (A Prophecy) by William Blake
Independence Day Poems: “America, A Prophecy” (A Prophecy) by William Blake (1793)

Star Light, Star Bright
Classic Nursery Rhymes: “Star Light, Star Bright” (1890s)

Limerick
The limerick defined, in our glossary of poetic forms.

High from the earth I heard a bird by Emily Dickinson
Bird Poems and Poems for Fathers: “High from the earth I heard a bird;” (#1723) by Emily Dickinson

Spring Quiet by Christina Rossetti
Poems for Spring: “Spring Quiet” by Christina Rossetti (from <i>Verses</i>, 1847)

The Hurricane by William Cullen Bryant
Storm Poems: “The Hurricane” by William Cullen Bryant (1854)

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary
Classic Nursery Rhymes: “Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary” (c. 1744)

Blow, blow thou winter wind from As You Like It by William Shakespeare
Winter Poems: “Blow, blow thou winter wind” from As You Like It by William Shakespeare (1600)

The Barefoot Boy by John Greenleaf Whittier
Summer Poems: “The Barefoot Boy” by John Greenleaf Whittier (1855)

The Soldier by Rupert Brooke
Poems of War: Sonnet V., “The Soldier” from the sonnet sequence <i>1914</i> by Rupert Brooke (1915)

A Nation's Strength by Ralph Waldo Emerson
Independence Day Poems: “A Nation’s Strength” by Ralph Waldo Emerson (1904)

The Schoolboy by William Blake
Summer Poems: “The Schoolboy” by William Blake (from Songs of Experience, 1794)

The Nightingale by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Bird Poems: “The Nightingale” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1798)

Not to Keep by Robert Frost
Poems of War: “Not to Keep” by Robert Frost (1917)

Ghost House by Robert Frost
Halloween Poems: “Ghost House” by Robert Frost (1915)

Simple Simon
Classic Nursery Rhymes: “Simple Simon” (1764)

Triolet
The triolet defined, in our glossary of poetic forms, with links to samples of poems written in the triolet form.

If by Rudyard Kipling
Poems for Fathers: “If” by Rudyard Kipling (1910)

Little Miss Muffet
Classic Nursery Rhymes: “Little Miss Muffet” (1805)

Sonnet 21 by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Love Poems: Sonnet 21 from Sonnets from the Portuguese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1850)

Rondeau
Rondeau defined, in our glossary of poetic forms, with links to examples of poems written in rondeau form.