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 White House

by Claude McKay

Publication year 1919

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Equality, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Hope

Tags Lyric Poem, Race / Racism, Social Justice

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The White Man's Burden

by Rudyard Kipling

Publication year 1899

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Identity: Race, Society: Colonialism

Tags Lyric Poem, Race / Racism, History: Asian, History: U.S., Colonialism / Postcolonialism, Victorian Period, Education, Education, British Literature, History: World, Victorian Literature / Period, Classic Fiction

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The Windhover

by Gerard Manley Hopkins

Publication year 1918

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Natural World: Nurture v. Nature, Natural World: Animals

Tags Lyric Poem, Religion / Spirituality, Animals, Victorian Period, Classic Fiction

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The World Is Too Much with Us

by William Wordsworth

Publication year 1807

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Society: Community

Tags Lyric Poem, Religion / Spirituality, Industrial Revolution, Romanticism / Romantic Period

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The Writer

by Richard Wilbur

Publication year 1969

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Literature, Relationships: Fathers, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Natural World: Animals

Tags Free verse

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They Don't Love You Like I Love You

by Natalie Diaz

Publication year 2019

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Mothers

Tags Love / Sexuality, Race / Racism

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The Young Housewife

by William Carlos Williams

Publication year 1916

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Marriage, Identity: Gender

Tags Free verse, Imagist poetry, WWI / World War I, Modernism, Classic Fiction

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Things We Carry on the Sea

by Wang Ping

Publication year 2018

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance

Tags Immigration / Refugee, History: Asian

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Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird

by Wallace Stevens

Publication year 1917

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Natural World: Animals, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Natural World: Environment

Tags Animals, Science / Nature, Lyric Poem, American Literature, Education, Education, Classic Fiction

Wallace Stevens is the author of “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird,” and he first published the poem in 1917 as a part of the literary anthology Others: An Anthology of New Verse. In 1923, he included the poem in his first collection of poetry, Harmonium, which features many of Stevens’s most well-known poems—poems that continue to appear in anthologies—like “The Snow Man“ and “The Emperor of Ice-Cream.” Stevens was born in Pennsylvania and... Read Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird Summary

This Is Just to Say

by William Carlos Williams

Publication year 1934

Genre Poem, Fiction

Tags Lyric Poem, Modernism, Food, American Literature, Classic Fiction

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This Morning I Pray for My Enemies

by Joy Harjo

Publication year 2015

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness

Tags Lyric Poem, Race / Racism, History: U.S., American Literature

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This World is not Conclusion

by Emily Dickinson

Publication year 1862

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt, Natural World: Appearance & Reality

Tags Lyric Poem, American Literature, Romanticism / Romantic Period, Religion / Spirituality

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Those Winter Sundays

by Robert Hayden

Publication year 1962

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Fathers

Tags Lyric Poem, Parenting, American Literature, Education, Education

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Thyrsis

by Matthew Arnold

Publication year 1865

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Grief

Tags Lyric Poem, Pastoralism

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Tired

by Langston Hughes

Publication year 1931

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice

Tags Race / Racism, Harlem Renaissance

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To a Daughter Leaving Home

by Linda Pastan

Publication year 1998

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: Coming of Age, Relationships: Mothers, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia, Relationships: Family

Tags Lyric Poem, Parenting, American Literature

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To a Mouse

by Robert Burns

Publication year 1786

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Natural World: Animals

Tags Science / Nature

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To an Athlete Dying Young

by A. E. Housman

Publication year 1896

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Gratitude, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Values/Ideas: Fame

Tags Grief / Death

... Read To an Athlete Dying Young Summary