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.

Ego Tripping

by Nikki Giovanni

Publication year 1968

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Race, Femininity, Equality

Tags Lyric Poem, African American Literature, Black Arts Movement, Black Lives Matter, Gender & Feminism, Symbolic Narrative, 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

Eloisa to Abelard

by Alexander Pope

Publication year 1717

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Love, Family, Religion & Spirituality, Conflict, Memory, Guilt, Grief, Apathy

Tags Narrative Poem, Love & Sexuality, Relationships, Religion & Spirituality, Age of Enlightenment, British Literature, Medieval, Gothic Literature, World History, Dramatic Literature, 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

Facing It

by Yusef Komunyakaa

Publication year 1988

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Death, Grief

Tags Lyric Poem, US History, 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

Fire and Ice

by Robert Frost

Publication year 1920

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Hate & Anger, Conflict, Order & Chaos, Teamwork, Safety & Danger

Tags Lyric Poem, Natural Disaster, Relationships, Climate Change, American Literature, Classic Fiction

... Read Fire and Ice Summary