October Poems
A Calendar of Sonnets: October by Helen Hunt Jackson The month of carnival of all the year, When Nature lets the wild earth go its way, And spend whole seasons on a single day....
Category: Poetry
Great poems for study, copywork, memorization, dictation, and enjoyment.
September Poems
One of my favorite September poems is a story by Quaker poet, John Greenleaf Whittier. Barbara Frietchie by John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892) Up from the meadows rich with corn, Clear in the cool September...
July Poems
We in the northern hemisphere may be melting in the July heat, but there are compensations. July poems from poets such as Emily Dickinson, Robert Louis Stevenson, Amy Lowell, and Lewis Carroll remind us...
Marianne Moore Poetry
Marianne Moore (1887 – 1972) was an American modernist poet, critic, translator, and editor. She won several awards for her poetry in her lifetime, and her poems are frequently anthologized. Poetry (1919) by Marianne...
Rainer Maria Rilke Poetry
Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 – 1926) was a Bohemian-Austrian poet and novelist. He is seen as one of the most lyrically intense German-language poets. His works include several collections of poetry, one novel, and...
Roman Poetry
The earliest Roman poetry (actually Latin poetry) dates back to the second century B. C. It is often understood as an adaptation of models originally designed by the Greeks. One of the most spectacular and...
The Ballad of Reading Gaol
The Ballad of Reading Gaol (gaol is the British spelling of jail) narrates the story of an execution that occurred while Oscar Wilde was imprisoned in the late 1890s. It does not attempt to...
Robert Burns Poetry
Robert Burns (1759 – 1796), a Scottish poet and lyricist is not only the best known of the poets who have written in the Scots language, but he has long been considered the national...
Sir Walter Scott Poetry
Much of Sir Walter Scott’s poetry reflects the stories and themes of courage, justice, and romance found in his novels. Here are three of his shorter poems, “Lochinvar,” “Breathes There the Man,” and “Old...
Ellen Sturgis Hooper Poetry
Ellen Sturgis Hooper (1812 – 1848) was an American poet and member of the Transcendental Club, and widely regarded as one of the most gifted among the New England Transcendentalist poets. She and her...
A Poison Tree by William Blake
“A Poison Tree,” which explores the dangers of anger and revenge, was first published in Blake’s Songs of Experience in 1794. It has been set to music by Ralph Vaughan Williams in his Ten Blake...
Thoreau’s Flute by Louisa May Alcott
Louisa May Alcott, best known for her novel Little Women, admired her Transcendentalist neighbors, Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson. During Louisa’s elementary school years, Thoreau was her teacher, and in Moods, one...
Jonathan Swift Poetry
Jonathan Swift (1667 – 1745) was an Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer, poet and Anglican cleric best remembered in the literary world for his satirical novel, Gulliver’s Travels. As a writer, he developed close,...
The Storm by John Donne
Following his participation in the Islands Voyage, an unsuccessful 1597 naval campaign also known as the Essex-Raleigh Expedition, poet John Donne wrote “The Storm,” memorializing a storm at sea. The Storme To Mr. Christopher...
New Year Poems
How better to mark the close of an old year and the coming of a new than with poetry or song? Here are a few favorite classic New Year’s Eve poems to help you...
August Poems
Poets can be inspired by many things, but honestly — bugs? I guess if you’re writing about the month of August, it’s almost inevitable that some variety of insect will appear. You’ll find bugs...
The Present Crisis by James Russell Lowell
Poets write about so much more than landscapes, lovers, and flowers — they write about war, conflict, justice, and striving for virtue. One quote that I have heard many times is “Once to every...
June Poems
What is so rare as a day in June? Definitely not poems about the month of June — there are many! Here are five June poems that offer varying glimpses of this lovely month. Choose...
May Poems for Copywork, Memorization, or Recitation
The beauties of springtime have inspired poets for centuries. As I thought about what poems to include in this post, I realized how many May poems there are! Here are seven poems by some...
February — A Poem by John Clare
February A poem from The Shepherd’s Calendar by John Clare (mini-bio at end) The snow is gone from cottage tops The thatch moss glows in brighter green And eves in quick succession drops Where...
Barbara Frietchie
Barbara Frietchie John Greenleaf Whittier Up from the meadows rich with corn, Clear in the cool September morn, The clustered spires of Frederick stand Green-walled by the hills of Maryland. Round about them orchards...
To S. M. — A Young African Painter, a poem by Phillis Wheatley
To S. M. A Young African Painter, On Seeing His Works by Phillis Wheatley TO show the lab’ring bosom’s deep intent, And thought in living characters to paint, When first thy pencil did those...
Morality by Matthew Arnold
Morality By Matthew Arnold We cannot kindle when we will The fire which in the heart resides; The spirit bloweth and is still, In mystery our soul abides. But tasks in hours of insight...
Robert Louis Stevenson Poetry
Robert Louis Stevenson, in addition to his famous prose works, also wrote poetry ranging from children’s nursery rhymes to poems of travel and adventure. Here are a few samples for your enjoyment. From A...
As Kingfishers Catch Fire
As Kingfishers Catch Fire by Gerard Manley Hopkins As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies dráw fláme; As tumbled over rim in roundy wells Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell’s Bow swung...
The Vulture by Hillaire Belloc
In Hilaire Belloc’s humorous book of More Beasts (for Worse Children), a companion volume to The Bad Child’s Book of Beasts, you will find poetic descriptions of real and imaginary beasts. Many like “The...
April Poems
April poems, spring poems — there are so many that it’s not easy to choose just a few to feature here. For now, I’ve chosen to offer just a few; we will add or...
March Poems
Poems about the month of March Each month has its share of poetic musings, and March is no exception. As children, we learn that “March comes in like a lion and goes out like...
The Hind and the Panther, Part 3
The Hind and the Panther, Part Three by John Dryden “The Hind and the Panther” by John Dryden was published in 1687. It is an allegory told in heroic couplets, and it has also been described as...
The Hind and the Panther, Part 2
The Hind and the Panther, Part Two by John Dryden “The Hind and the Panther” by John Dryden was published in 1687. It is an allegory told in heroic couplets, and it has also been described as...
