Poem Examples

Dylan Thomas’s ‘Do Not Go Gently into That Good Night’ is a son’s plea to his ill father as he lay on his deathbed, fighting the inevitable. The son, nevertheless, motivates his father to hold on to a reason to live instead of giving ‘into that good night’. Do not go gentle into that good night BY DYLAN THOMAS Do...

A Pulitzer-winning American poet James Wright had an unhappy childhood and "Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, Ohio" gives us an insight into the lives of the blue-collar workers there. As the speaker in his own poem, he gives us the visuals of the creeping alienation and the destruction of dreams that became a ritual there for generations. Autumn Begins in...

More famously known for his plays and philosophical novels, Oscar Wilde created a masterpiece in the form of “To My Wife” where he illustrated his profound belief of art and the fact that it should exist for its own sake, in a beautifully illustrated piece where he spoke about his beloved. To My Wife - With a Copy of My...

Through the words of "Happiness", Raymond Carver urges his readers to appreciate the simple things in life that possess the power of making us the happiest. The poem revolves around the lives of two delivery boys who have achieved what people who look down on them could not: happiness. Happiness BY RAYMOND CARVER So early it's still almost dark out....

"Bear in There" is a humorous poem by the Oscar-nominated, Grammy-winning poet Shel Silverstein. Here, a child is rather distraught to find a bear in their Frigidaire. The bear has taken over all the food and if anyone tries to intervene the situation, the bear threatens them with a fearful roar. Bear in There BY SHEL SILVERSTEIN There's a Polar...

A question we have all, at one point or another of our life, tried to answer, “Who Am I?” is also the title of a poem of Carl Sandburg, who attempts to decipher this famous rhetoric dilemma with the assistance of a poetic structure, albeit simple and not over the top. Who Am I? BY CARL SANDBURG My head knocks...

"Fast Rode the Knight" appeared in War is Kind & Other Lines in 1905. The author, Stephen Crane teaches us a lesson in this poem. He shows us that our important decisions and greed can affect our lives if we opt for the wrong decision because of our obsession with something. Fast Rode the Knight BY STEPHEN CRANE Fast rode...

Matthew Arnold’s “Dover Beach” was published in 1867. This was during the Victorian era, when the world was shifting from one with a basic belief in Christian traditions to one based on the impersonal world of Darwin and other 19th century scientists. The poem is about how there is a conflict between religion and science and how the world is...

Nobel laureate W. B. Yeats in this coming-of-age poem ‘Brown Penny’ introduces us with a character who wants to fall in love but is unsure if he should. Although he finds himself tangled in the hair of his love-interest, however, he still questions his maturity and decides to toss a coin. Brown Penny BY WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS I whispered, 'I...

The poem “Birches” by Robert Frost dates back to 1916, where the poet uses birches as a symbol of peace and serenity, giving him a chance to go back to his childhood days. But the poet is also forced to acknowledge the harsh realities of life that stops to the poet from going to a world without the “Truth” of...