This selection of Nostalgic Poems examines themes of sentimentality and longing for days gone by. Representing perspectives from a diverse selection of poets, these titles interrogate the idea of yearning for the past, as well as themes of growth, change, and loss.
Publication year 2020
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia, Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance
Tags Lyric Poem, Grief / Death, American Literature
Publication year 1919
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Fathers, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia
Tags Lyric Poem, Parenting, Mythology
“A Prayer for my Daughter” by William Butler (W.B.) Yeats was originally published in his collection Michael Robartes and the Dancer in 1921. This book also includes one of Yeats’s most famous poems—“The Second Coming”—and was Yeats’s eighth collection of lyrical poems. “A Prayer for my daughter” was written in 1919, a year that marked the beginning of the Irish War of Independence. The war lasted until 1921 and heavily influenced Yeats. The poem’s location... Read A Prayer for My Daughter Summary
Publication year 1956
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Society: Nation, Identity: Sexuality, Society: Globalization, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Literature, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia
Tags Lyric Poem, Love / Sexuality, Arts / Culture, The Beat Generation, LGBTQ, Classic Fiction
“A Supermarket in California” is a prose poem by the American poet Allen Ginsberg. Written in 1955, it appears alongside Ginsberg’s most well-known work, “Howl,” in his book Howl and Other Poems. Published November 1, 1956 by Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s City Lights Books as part of their Pocket Poets Series, Howl and Other Poems was subject to an obscenity trial in 1957 due to its use of sexually explicit language. The trial eventually ruled in the... Read A Supermarket in California Summary
Publication year 2009
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Society: Economics, Relationships: Family, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Society: Community, Society: Nation
Tags Narrative / Epic Poem, Finance / Money / Wealth
Publication year 1996
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Natural World: Food, Identity: Race
Tags Lyric Poem
Publication year 1920
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia
Tags Lyric Poem
Publication year 1971
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Life/Time: The Past, Values/Ideas: Fame, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia, Society: Nation
Tags Narrative / Epic Poem
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Family, Relationships: Fathers, Society: Education, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Life/Time: The Past, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia
Tags Relationships, Agriculture, Lyric Poem, Education, Education
Publication year 1979
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Life/Time: Aging, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia, Natural World: Animals, Natural World: Place, Natural World: Appearance & Reality
Tags Lyric Poem, Grief / Death
Publication year 1986
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia, Relationships: Marriage, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Emotions/Behavior: Love
Tags Free verse, Relationships
Publication year 1986
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Natural World: Environment, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia, Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance
Tags Lyric Poem, American Literature, Food
Publication year 2000
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia, Identity: Race, Life/Time: The Past
Tags Lyric Poem, Race / Racism, Civil Rights / Jim Crow, History: U.S.
Publication year 1986
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Identity: Race, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia, Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance
Tags Lyric Poem, Immigration / Refugee, Mythology
Publication year 1891
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Natural World: Nurture v. Nature, Society: Economics, Natural World: Environment, Values/Ideas: Fate, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia, Life/Time: Mortality & Death
Tags Lyric Poem, Grief / Death, Business / Economics
Publication year 1850
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance
Tags Lyric Poem, Grief / Death, Victorian Period
Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s In Memoriam AHH explores the cosmic implications of the death of a college friend (his sister’s fiancé), poet Arthur Henry Hallam, who died quite unexpectedly in 1833 at the age of 22 most likely from a cerebral hemorrhage. The poem is among the most ambitiously conceived philosophical poems in the English language and a monument to the dynamics of how Christians themselves grapple with the thorny question of mortality. The work stands... Read In Memoriam Summary
Publication year 1939
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Life/Time: Aging, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia, Relationships: Family
Tags Lyric Poem
Publication year 1916
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Identity: Language, Life/Time: The Future, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos
Tags Science / Nature, Modernism
Publication year 1807
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Society: Nation, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia
Tags Lyric Poem
Publication year 2001
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality
Publication year 1987
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Relationships: Marriage, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Life/Time: The Past, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia
Tags Lyric Poem, Free verse, Confessional, WWII / World War II, Relationships