Poetry fascinates readers for many reasons, from its unique language use to the varied subjects that poets have dramatized down through the centuries.
The Ancients, including Homer and Vergil, captivated audiences with their ability to spin a memorable yarn. Ancient Indian epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, were so easily memorized that it was centuries before anyone wrote them down.
From the Ancients to Middle Eastern and Western Eurpoean bards to early Americans like Phillis Wheatley, Emily Dickinson, and Walt Whitman to the most contemporary poets such as recent poets laureate, Louise Glück, Ted Kooser, and currently Charles Simic the journey through poetry remains a colorful and enticing one.
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In: American Poetry
Walt Whitman's sprawling eight-line poem showcases the poet's freewheeling style while dramatizing the wildly romantic world view portrayed in almost all of his poems. more...
In: British Poetry
In Shakespeare Sonnet 53, the speaker explores the nature of the Divine, as he has examined the nature of his own soul and its relationship to his poetic ability. more...
In: British Poetry
The speaker in Graves' "Not Dead" is remembering a friend who has died, but the purpose in this remembering is to resurrect the friend. more...
Laurence Binyon's 'For the Fallen'
In: British Poetry
Laurence Binyon's speaker celebrates the transcendence of the soldiers who have fought so bravely and died for freedom. more...
Dickinson's 'Each Life Converges'
In: American Poetry
The speaker of Emily Dickinson's mystic poem offers a refreshing look at the soul's journey from the astral plane to the physical plane. It also alludes to reincarnation. more...
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By: Caitlin Ward
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Ono no Komachi, Legendary Poet
In: World Poetry
By: Helen McCarthy
Emily Dickinson: Religious Exile?
In: American Poetry
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