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.

Ebb

by Edna St. Vincent Millay

Publication year 1921

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Love

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Ego Tripping

by Nikki Giovanni

Publication year 1968

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Identity: Race, Identity: Femininity, Values/Ideas: Equality

Tags Lyric Poem, African American Literature, Black Arts Movement, Black Lives Matter, Gender / Feminism, Allegory / Fable / Parable, Race / Racism, Mythology

“Ego Tripping,” also known as “Ego Tripping (there may be a reason why),” is one of American poet Nikki Giovanni’s most well-known poems. Giovanni first published this poem in 1972, which is the year that also marks Giovanni’s first trip to Africa, three years after the birth of her son. As the title of the poem suggests, this poem is a fulsome celebration of the many facets of Giovanni’s identity as a Black woman. Written... Read Ego Tripping Summary

Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard

by Thomas Gray

Publication year 1751

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Life/Time: Mortality & Death

Tags Lyric Poem, Grief / Death, Classical Period, Education, Education, Romanticism / Romantic Period, British Literature, Gothic Literature, History: World, Classic Fiction

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Elena

by Pat Mora

Publication year 1984

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Society: Immigration, Identity: Language

Tags Immigration / Refugee

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Ellis Island

by Joseph Bruchac

Publication year 1979

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Society: Immigration, Identity: Race

Tags Immigration / Refugee, Colonialism / Postcolonialism

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Eloisa to Abelard

by Alexander Pope

Publication year 1717

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Relationships: Family, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Apathy

Tags Narrative / Epic Poem, Love / Sexuality, Relationships, Religion / Spirituality, Age of Enlightenment, British Literature, Medieval Literature / Middle Ages, Gothic Literature, History: World, Drama / Tragedy, Romance, Classic Fiction

“Eloisa to Abelard” is a poem published in 1717 by Alexander Pope. The poem discusses the ill-fated love affair of a real-life couple from 12th-century France: Heloïse d’Argenteuil, a gifted 18-year-old student, and Peter Abelard, a renowned French scholar, philosopher, and poet of the Medieval era who was 20 years older than Heloïse. The poem is a heroic verse epistle, which is a genre first made famous in Ovid’s Heroides. Pope adopts Eloisa’s persona and... Read Eloisa to Abelard Summary

Emplumada

by Lorna Dee Cervantes

Publication year 1981

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Identity: Race

Tags Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Women's Studies (Nonfiction), Education, Education, Arts / Culture

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Entrance

by Dana Gioia

Publication year 2001

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Society: Education

Tags Lyric Poem, Education

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Epilogue

by Robert Lowell

Publication year 1977

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Literature

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Eurydice

by Ocean Vuong

Publication year 2014

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Identity: Sexuality

Tags Mythology, Lyric Poem, Grief / Death, Love / Sexuality

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Evening Hawk

by Robert Penn Warren

Publication year 1985

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Life/Time: Aging, Natural World: Animals, Natural World: Appearance & Reality

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& even the black guy’s profile reads 'sorry, no black guys'

by Danez Smith

Publication year 2017

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Identity: Race, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Identity: Sexuality

Tags Race / Racism

... Read & even the black guy’s profile reads 'sorry, no black guys' Summary

Exchanging Hats

by Elizabeth Bishop

Publication year 1979

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Identity: Gender, Identity: Sexuality

Tags Lyric Poem, Modernism, Arts / Culture

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Facing It

by Yusef Komunyakaa

Publication year 1988

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Emotions/Behavior: Grief

Tags Lyric Poem, History: U.S., Vietnam War

The poem “Facing It” by Yusef Komunyakaa is a meditation on the first time Komunyakaa visited the US Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC. Komunyakaa served in the Vietnam War as an Army journalist for the military newspaper, Southern Cross, until he was discharged in 1966. He began writing about the war approximately 14 years after coming home from Vietnam.Prior to this, he had only written one poem about his experience in the war, and... Read Facing It Summary