Modernist Poetry

This poetry Collection features poetic works by the Modernists, who sparked a new literary movement during the early 20th century. Characterized by its free verse structure and departure from the ideals of Romanticism, Modernist poetry represents a shift toward experimentation with structure, voice, and form. Poets represented in this Collection include T.S. Eliot, William Carlos Williams, and W.B. Yeats.

A Prayer for My Daughter

by William Butler Yeats

Publication year 1919

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Love, Family, Fathers, Beauty, Childhood & Youth, 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

Ash Wednesday

by T. S. Eliot

Publication year 1930

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Religion & Spirituality, Self Discovery, Hope, Death, Appearance & Reality

Tags Narrative Poem, Religion & Spirituality, British Literature, American Literature, World History, Classic Fiction

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Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

by Dylan Thomas

Publication year 1951

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Grief, Perseverance

Tags Classic Fiction, Education, Education, British Literature, World History

“Do not go gentle into that good night” is an iconic poem by 20th-century Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, who occupied a special place in the public imagination for his magnetic readings and the revival of Romantic themes in his poetry. This poem, which appeared in his 1952 collection In Country Sleep, remains a favorite in anthologies and popular culture for its universal content and unforgettable dual refrain. “Do not go gentle into that good night” is... Read Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night Summary

Four Quartets

by T. S. Eliot

Publication year 1941

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Fate, Death, Aging, Conflict

Tags Lyric Poem, The Lost Generation

Four Quartets is a collection of four poems by T.S. Eliot. The four pieces were originally published between 1934 and 1942, during a period of time in which Eliot’s life was disrupted by the events of World War II. They were then collected into a single volume in 1943. The poems are linked loosely by theme; all of them are about the relationship between people and the divine. At the time of its publication, several of... Read Four Quartets Summary

Greater Love

by Wilfred Owen

Publication year 1918

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Love, War, Death, Masculinity, Truth & Lies

Tags Lyric Poem, Military & War, Grief & Death, Trauma & Abuse, European History, World War I, British Literature, The Lost Generation

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Mending Wall

by Robert Frost

Publication year 1914

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Environment

Tags American Literature, Education, Education, Classic Fiction

A meditative lyric poem on the boundaries between people, “Mending Wall” was first published in 1914 in North of Boston, a collection of poetry by the American poet Robert Frost. “Mending Wall” is one of Frost’s most popular and anthologized works. It exemplifies the themes which came to define his poetry. Set in a rural American wood, its honest, colloquial tone belies a psychologically deep and ambiguous reality. The poem’s most quotable lines exhort two... Read Mending Wall Summary