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.

Annabel Lee

by Edgar Allan Poe

Publication year 1849

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Love, Death, Community

Tags Lyric Poem, Grief & Death, Love & Sexuality, Education, Education, Horror & Suspense, American Literature, Gothic Literature, Romance, Classic Fiction

The last poem Edgar Allan Poe—infamous poet and fiction author of the macabre—completed during his tumultuous life, “Annabel Lee,” was first published in the New York Tribune in 1849, two days after Poe’s death. Displaying the melodic lyricism, gothic overtones, and memorable imagery which informed so much of Poe’s work, “Annabel Lee” is considered one of the defining entries in his canon, and a classic of 19th century American poetry.The poem concerns the death of... Read Annabel Lee Summary

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

Ariel

by Sylvia Plath

Publication year 1965

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Gender Identity, Death, Femininity, Perseverance, Love, Order & Chaos

Tags Free Verse, Animals, Race & Racism, Gender & Feminism, Confessional, Women`s Studies, American Literature, World History, Mental Illness, Classic Fiction

... Read Ariel Summary