Poetry by Mark Twain
Mark Twain Poetry Although Mark Twain was best known for being a satirist and a humorously creative author, he also wrote a few poems. We have referenced these six in our curriculum, including in...
Tagged: poem
Poetry by Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman Poetry Walt Whitman (1819 – 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works....
Hope by Emily Dickinson
Hope Emily Dickinson Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune–without the words, And never stops at all, And sweetest in the gale is heard; And...
Poetry by Emily Dickinson
Poems by Emily Dickinson Here is an index to the pages for the Emily Dickinson poems referenced in American Literature (EIL3), plus a few additional favorites. “The Soul selects her own Society” “There is...
The soul selects her own society by Emily Dickinson
The soul selects her own society Emily Dickinson The soul selects her own society, Then shuts the door; On her divine majority Obtrude no more. Unmoved, she notes the chariot’s pausing At her low...
Pygmalion and Galatea by Thomas Bulfinch
Legend of Pygmalion and Galatea as told by Thomas Bulfinch [This version of the text comes from Bulfinch’s Mythology: The Age of Fable, by Thomas Bulfinch, revised by Rev. E. E. Hale.] Pygmalion saw...
Caliban upon Setebos by Robert Browning
CALIBAN UPON SETEBOS OR, NATURAL THEOLOGY IN THE ISLAND by Robert Browning from Browning’s Shorter Poems: Selected and Edited by Franklin Baker, Professor of English in Teachers College, Columbia University. Fourth edition, The Macmillan...
Lepanto by G K Chesterton
LEPANTO by G. K. Chesterton White founts falling in the Courts of the sun, And the Soldan of Byzantium is smiling as they run; There is laughter like the fountains in that face of...
If – poem by Rudyard Kipling
Written in the form of advice from a father to a son, the poem “If—”, by British author Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) reflects Victorian-era ideals of courage, honor, strength, and manliness. IF- Rudyard Kipling (1910)...
On the Massacre of the Christians in Bulgaria by Oscar Wilde
In the poem, “On The Massacre Of The Christians In Bulgaria,” the poet calls out to God to “come down . . . and show Thy might” in response to the 1876 massacre of...
What is Iambic Pentameter?
I heard about iambic pentameter for years before I understood what it meant. I was able to figure out that it had something to do with five (penta), but the standard definition, “in poetry,...
How to Read Poetry Aloud
Reading poetry aloud is a wonderful way to internalize the rhythm and cadence of beautifully crafted language, as well as poetic imagery. Learning to read poetry aloud can lead to creative recitations, and the...
“Opportunity” by Edward R. Sill (1841-1887)
This I beheld, or dreamed it in a dream:– There spread a cloud of dust along a plain; And underneath the cloud, or in it, raged A furious battle, and men yelled, and swords...
Paul Revere’s Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
PAUL REVERE’S RIDE by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Composed as a narration by the landlord of the Wayside Inn, Longfellow’s 1860 poem, “Paul Revere’s Ride,” is the fictionalized retelling of a patriotic story. It was...
T S Eliot Poetry
Thomas Stearns Eliot (1888-1965) was a great Modernist poet who converted to Christianity mid-way through his career. He was a contemporary of Joseph Conrad, George Bernard Shaw, and Virginia Woolf, to name just a...
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T. S. Eliot
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T. S. Eliot S’io credesse che mia risposta fosse A persona che mai tornasse al mondo, Questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse. Ma perciocche giammai di...
Psalm 19: Coeli Enarrant by Sir Philip Sidney
Psalm 19: Coeli Enarrant by Sir Philip Sidney 1554-1586 The heavenly frame sets forth the fame Of him that only thunders; The firmament, so strangely bent, Shows his handworking wonders. Day unto day doth...
Laus Deo by John Greenleaf Whittier
LAUS DEO! by John Greenleaf Whittier On hearing the bells ring on the passage of the constitutional amendment abolishing slavery. The resolution was adopted by Congress, January 31, 1865. The ratification by the requisite...
Massachusetts to Virginia by John Greenleaf Whittier
MASSACHUSETTS TO VIRGINIA by John Greenleaf Whittier Written on reading an account of the proceedings of the citizens of Norfolk, Va., in reference to George Latimer, the alleged fugitive slave, who was seized in...
Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey by William Wordsworth
Lines written a few miles above Tintern Abbey, on revisiting the banks of the Wye during a tour, July 13, 1798 by William Wordsworth Five years have passed; five summers with the length Of...
Frost at Midnight by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
FROST AT MIDNIGHT by Samuel Taylor Coleridge The Frost performs its secret ministry, Unhelped by any wind. The owlet’s cry Came loud—and hark, again! loud as before. The inmates of my cottage, all at...
Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure-dome decree: Where Alph, the sacred river, ran Through caverns measureless to man Down to a sunless sea. 5 So twice...
To a Skylark by Percy Bysshe Shelley
TO A SKYLARK by Percy Bysshe Shelley Composed at Leghorn, 1820, and published with “Prometheus Unbound” in the same year. There is a transcript in the Harvard manuscript. Hail to thee, blithe Spirit! Bird...
Ode to the West Wind by Percy Bysshe Shelley
ODE TO THE WEST WIND by Percy Bysshe Shelley (This poem was conceived and chiefly written in a wood that skirts the Arno, near Florence, and on a day when that tempestuous wind, whose...
Mont Blanc by Percy Bysshe Shelley
MONT BLANC by Percy Bysshe Shelley LINES WRITTEN IN THE VALE OF CHAMOUNI [Composed in Switzerland, July, 1816 (see date below). Printed at the end of the “History of a Six Weeks’ Tour” published...
Fra Lippo Lippi by Robert Browning
The text below comes from the poetry collection, Men and Women, by Robert Browning. The helpful introductory and line notes (make sure you don’t miss those — they’re located at the end of the poem)...
The Bishop Orders His Tomb at Saint Praxed’s Church Rome, 15 – by Robert Browning
“The Bishop Orders His Tomb” by Robert Browning is considered to be the first blank verse dramatic monologue poem in English. In it, a (fictional) dying bishop speaks to his sons and contemplates his...
The Pied Piper of Hamelin by Robert Browning
The Pied Piper of Hamelin is a legend in which a piper, hired as a rat-catcher, wreaks a clever revenge when the townspeople refuse to pay for his services. Here is Robert Browning’s poetic...
The Second Coming by William Butler Yeats
THE SECOND COMING by William Butler Yeats [This is the 1920 edition, as printed in Michael Robartes and the Dancer.] Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things...
America by Herman Melville
Although Herman Melville is best known as the author of Moby Dick, from which sprang one of the best first sentences in literature — “Call me Ishmael.”— he also wrote poetry, essays, and travel...
