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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.

Publication year 1940Genre Poem, FictionThemes Society: Community, Emotions/Behavior: ApathyTags Modernism, The Lost Generation, Relationships

Publication year 1919Genre Poem, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Fathers, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Emotions/Behavior: NostalgiaTags 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 1930Genre Poem, FictionThemes Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Self Discovery, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Natural World: Appearance & RealityTags Narrative / Epic Poem, Religion / Spirituality

Publication year 1923Genre Poem, FictionThemes Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Natural World: AnimalsTags Lyric Poem, Philosophy, Animals

Publication year 1920Genre Poem, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: NostalgiaTags Lyric Poem

Publication year 1932Genre Poem, FictionThemes Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Society: ColonialismTags Lyric Poem, Modernism, Philosophy, Grief / Death, Love / Sexuality, History: European, Religion / Spirituality

Publication year 1951Genre Poem, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / PerseveranceTags Classic Fiction

“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


Publication year 2007Genre Poem, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: MemoryTags Lyric Poem, Grief / Death, Military / War

Publication year 2001Genre Poem, FictionThemes Society: EducationTags Lyric Poem, Education

Publication year 1941Genre Poem, FictionThemes Values/Ideas: Fate, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Life/Time: Aging, Emotions/Behavior: ConflictTags 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


Publication year 1918Genre Poem, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Society: War, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Identity: Masculinity, Values/Ideas: Truth & LiesTags Lyric Poem, Military / War, Grief / Death, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, History: European, WWI / World War I, British Literature, The Lost Generation

Publication year 1891Genre Poem, FictionThemes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Emotions/Behavior: GriefTags Mental Illness, American Literature

Publication year 1924Genre Poem, FictionThemes Values/Ideas: Art, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Emotions/Behavior: GratitudeTags Free verse, Modernism, Arts / Culture

Publication year 1860Genre Poem, FictionThemes Society: Nation, Society: Community, Relationships: Teams, Values/Ideas: Win & Lose, Emotions/Behavior: LoveTags Lyric Poem, Modernism, American Literature

Publication year 1913Genre Poem, FictionThemes Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Natural World: ObjectsTags Classic Fiction

Publication year 1939Genre Poem, FictionThemes Life/Time: Aging, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia, Relationships: FamilyTags Lyric Poem

Publication year 1960Genre Poem, FictionThemes Values/Ideas: Art, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & PrideTags Mythology, Ekphrastic, Free verse, Modernism, Grief / Death, Science / Nature

Publication year 2001Genre Poem, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality

Publication year 1939Genre Poem, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Values/Ideas: Win & LoseTags Lyric Poem, Love / Sexuality, Relationships

Publication year 1914Genre Poem, FictionThemes Natural World: EnvironmentTags American Literature

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


Publication year 2013Genre Poem, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Relationships: MarriageTags Lyric Poem, Relationships

Publication year 1913Genre Poem, FictionThemes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Life/Time: AgingTags Lyric Poem, Science / Nature, Grief / Death, American Literature

Publication year 1994Genre Poem, FictionThemes Values/Ideas: Fate, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Natural World: AnimalsTags Existentialism

Publication year 1980Genre Poem, FictionThemes Relationships: Family, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: NostalgiaTags Lyric Poem, Relationships

Publication year 2005Genre Poem, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: ConflictTags Free verse, Race / Racism, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Social Justice, Gender / Feminism

Publication year 1915Genre Poem, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Values/Ideas: Music, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Life/Time: MidlifeTags Poetry: Dramatic Poem, Narrative / Epic Poem, Modernism, British Literature, American Literature, Relationships, Love / Sexuality, Class

Publication year 1916Genre Poem, FictionThemes Natural World: EnvironmentTags Lyric Poem, Relationships, American Literature

Publication year 1963Genre Poem, FictionThemes Identity: Gender, Relationships: FamilyTags Lyric Poem, Gender / Feminism

Publication year 1865Genre Poem, FictionThemes Natural World: Environment, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia, Relationships: FamilyTags Lyric Poem, Science / Nature, Transcendentalism

Publication year 1923Genre Poem, FictionThemes Natural World: Nurture v. Nature, Life/Time: Coming of AgeTags Free verse

Publication year 1864Genre Poem, FictionTags Lyric Poem, Transcendentalism, Grief / Death

Publication year 1994Genre Poem, FictionThemes Relationships: Marriage, Emotions/Behavior: LoveTags Lyric Poem

Publication year 1890Genre Poem, FictionThemes Values/Ideas: ArtTags Lyric Poem, Arts / Culture

Publication year 1906Genre Poem, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: LoveTags Lyric Poem, Love / Sexuality

English poet Alfred Noyes wrote and published “The Highwayman” in 1906 during the early period of his literary career. The poem was written during the Edwardian Period of English literature but reflects influences from the romantic period a century earlier. Told as a narrative, “The Highwayman” recounts the doomed romance between a highwayman and a landlord’s daughter, Bess, who he visits in the night. Their love is sabotaged by jealousy; the poem romanticizes Bess’s sacrifice... Read The Highwayman Summary


Publication year 1963Genre Poem, FictionThemes Values/Ideas: Power & GreedTags Poverty, Finance / Money / Wealth

Publication year 1915Genre Poem, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Shame & PrideTags Lyric Poem, Philosophy

Publication year 1919Genre Poem, FictionThemes Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos, Values/Ideas: Good & EvilTags 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


Publication year 1939Genre Poem, FictionThemes Natural World: AnimalsTags Lyric Poem, Animals

Publication year 1923Genre Poem, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Natural World: Nurture v. NatureTags Lyric Poem, Relationships

Publication year 1940Genre Poem, FictionThemes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Society: Politics & GovernmentTags Satire, Lyric Poem, Politics / Government, WWII / World War II

Publication year 1922Genre Poem, FictionThemes Society: Community, Emotions/Behavior: ConflictTags Lyric Poem

By any measure—influence, scope, durability, reputation—T. S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land,” published in 1922, stands as the defining English-language poem of the 20th century. No other single poem is more widely read, more widely quoted, more widely imitated, or more widely interpreted. The poem itself—notoriously difficult to read given Eliot’s vast erudition and determination to upend all inherited assumptions about the function and form of a poem—is largely a war poem, or more precisely, a... Read The Waste Land Summary


Publication year 1952Genre Poem, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Values/Ideas: ArtTags Modernism

Publication year 1972Genre Poem, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Identity: Race, Emotions/Behavior: ConflictTags Free verse, Race / Racism, Class

Publication year 1980Genre Poem, FictionThemes Identity: Mental HealthTags Lyric Poem

Publication year 1932Genre Poem, FictionThemes Identity: Sexuality, Natural World: Nurture v. NatureTags Lyric Poem, Animals, Love / Sexuality, British Literature

Publication year 1865Genre Poem, FictionThemes Natural World: Place, Values/Ideas: Science & TechnologyTags Lyric Poem, Modernism, Science / Nature