Short Poems

Our Short Poems Collection highlights the power of poetry through titles that make an impact in few words. These bite-sized selections offer a convenient starting place for readers new to analyzing poetry or anyone who appreciates short-form verse and its ability to move and inspire.

The Raven

by Edgar Allan Poe

Publication year 1845

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Memory

Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Narrative / Epic Poem, Classic Fiction, Animals, Grief / Death

Influenced by the English Romantic poets Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “Lord” George Gordon Byron, and Percy Shelley, Edgar Allan Poe represents one of the essential American Romantic poets of the nineteenth century. Romanticism here refers to a literary movement of the late 1700s and 1800s which focused on the emotional life of the individual and curiosity about the self. This movement complemented a larger geopolitical and ideological shift in the United States. As a young nation... Read The Raven Summary

The Red Shoes

by Sheila Black

Publication year 2014

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Society: Class, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Society: Community, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger

Tags Narrative / Epic Poem, Confessional, Grief / Death, Addiction / Substance Abuse, Relationships, Mental Illness, Disability

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The Red Sweater

by Joseph O. Legaspi

Publication year 2014

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Relationships: Mothers, Society: Immigration

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The Red Wheelbarrow

by William Carlos Williams

Publication year 1923

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: The Past, Emotions/Behavior: Memory

Tags Lyric Poem, Science / Nature, American Literature

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There's A Certain Slant Of Light

by Emily Dickinson

Publication year 1890

Genre Poem, Fiction

Tags Lyric Poem, Religion / Spirituality, Grief / Death

... Read There's A Certain Slant Of Light Summary

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

by Gil Scott-Heron

Publication year 1971

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Society: War, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Equality, Values/Ideas: Music, Society: Community

Tags Lyric Poem, Race / Racism, Social Justice, Music, African American Literature

... Read The Revolution Will Not Be Televised Summary

There Will Come Soft Rains

by Sara Teasdale

Publication year 1918

Genre Poem, Fiction

Tags Education, Education, Classic Fiction, Lyric Poem, Military / War, Grief / Death, Science / Nature

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The Rider

by Naomi Shihab Nye

Publication year 1998

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Identity: Mental Health, Emotions/Behavior: Fear

Tags Lyric Poem, Relationships, Gender / Feminism, Depression / Suicide

... Read The Rider Summary

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

by Samuel Coleridge

Publication year 1798

Genre Poem, Fiction

Tags Classic Fiction, Narrative / Epic Poem

“The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” first published in 1798, is a poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and is the first poem in Lyrical Ballads, a collaborative effort of Coleridge and fellow poet William Wordsworth. Lyrical Ballads is widely considered to be the first collection of Romantic English poetry, and “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” is a classic example of English Romanticism, with its vivid imagery and inclusion of the supernatural. The poem is... Read The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Summary

the rites for Cousin Vit

by Gwendolyn Brooks

Publication year 1949

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Identity: Femininity, Identity: Race

Tags Lyric Poem, Grief / Death

... Read the rites for Cousin Vit Summary

The Road Not Taken

by Robert Frost

Publication year 1916

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Life/Time: Aging, Natural World: Place

Tags Narrative / Epic Poem, Allegory / Fable / Parable, Science / Nature, Philosophy, American Literature, Modernism, Classic Fiction

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The Rose that Grew from Concrete

by Tupac Shakur

Publication year 1999

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Society: Class, Identity: Race, Society: Politics & Government, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance

Tags Allegory / Fable / Parable, Auto/Biographical Fiction, Race / Racism, Relationships, African American Literature, Music, Biography, Social Justice

... Read The Rose that Grew from Concrete Summary

"The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam"

by Omar Khayyam

Publication year 1100

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Fear

Tags Lyric Poem, Philosophy, Middle Eastern Literature

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The Schooner Flight

by Derek Walcott

Publication year 1979

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Identity: Race, Society: Colonialism, Natural World: Place

Tags Narrative / Epic Poem, Historical Fiction, Race / Racism

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The Second Coming

by William Butler Yeats

Publication year 1919

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil

Tags Lyric Poem, History: World, History: European, WWI / World War I

“The Second Coming” is an allegorical poem that W. B. Yeats penned in 1919 and published in The Dial in 1920. The poem describes a declining, violent present and an impending apocalyptic future, marked by the approach of a sphinxlike monster. The poem is often considered an allegory for the fraught times Yeats was living in—namely, the end of World War I, the midst of the Spanish flu pandemic, and the beginning of the Irish... Read The Second Coming Summary