Poetry is the art of expressing human thought, feeling, and imagination through rhythmically arranged language, often heightened by meter, rhyme, and figurative imagery. It is one of the oldest and most enduring forms of literature, bridging the gap between music and language, emotion, and intellect.
At its core, poetry is language distilled to its most concentrated and evocative form. Unlike ordinary speech, it relies on sound, rhythm, and metaphor to create meaning beyond the literal. Poetry is not bound to rhyme or strict form, as demonstrated by modern free verse, but it always seeks to elevate language into art.
Poetry predates written language, originating in oral traditions. Early epics like The Epic of Gilgamesh (Mesopotamia) and The Iliad (Greece) were sung or recited to preserve cultural memory.
In classical antiquity, Greek and Roman poets such as Homer, Sappho, Virgil, and Ovid shaped the foundations of Western poetic tradition.
In the medieval period, courtly love poetry, religious hymns, and epics like Dante's Divine Comedy flourished.
English poetry blossomed during the Renaissance with Shakespeare's sonnets, Spenser's Faerie Queene, and metaphysical poets like John Donne.
Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley, and Keats emphasized emotion, nature, and imagination during the period of romanticism.
Later poets like T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound broke traditional forms, experimenting with fragmentation and symbolism in what became known as modernism. Today, poetry embraces diverse voices, free verse, spoken word, and digital expression.
Specific poetic forms have been developed by many cultures. These have included such forms as the sonnet, limerick, haiku, ode, elegy, ballad, epic, and free verse.
In addition to specific forms of poems, poetry is also viewed in terms of genres and sub-genres. A poetic genre is generally a tradition or classification of poetry based on subject matter, style, or other literary characteristics, some of which overlap with poetic forms. Lyrics, narratives, drama, and satire are examples of poetic genres.
While prose is expansive, straightforward, and primarily narrative or expository, prioritizing clarity and logical flow over rhythm, poetry is condensed, rhythmic, symbolic, and often structured, appealing to the senses and emotions as much as to reason.
Drawing from respected anthologies and literary consensus, one list of the top ten English-language poems of all time includes The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost, I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud by William Wordsworth, The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe, How Do I Love Thee (Sonnet 43) by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley, Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day (Sonnet 18) by William Shakespeare, Because I Could Not Stop for Death by Emily Dickinson, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot, The Tyger by William Blake, and Ode to a Nightingale by John Keats.
Recommended Resources
A large online community for sharing, reading, and commenting on poems, All Poetry presents user-submitted poems with comment threads, lists, and community features. The site, founded around 1999-2000, highlights early posts and archival poems from that era. Viewers can read user-submitted poems, browse featured or spotlight pieces, and view long comment threads on individual poems. Members can publish their own poems and organize them into lists or bookmarks for others to find.
https://allpoetry.com/
Bywords is an online magazine that comes out on the 15th of each month and publishes emerging and established poets who are either past or current residents, students, and workers of Ottawa, Canada. Poems published between August and September of the following year are considered for the John Newlove Poetry Award. Bywords publishes a chapbook by the recipient of the award each year, which is launched at the John Newlove Poetry Award Ceremony at the Ottawa International Writers Festival.
http://www.bywords.ca/
An online destination for finding, reading, and sharing contemporary poetry, curated lists, thematic collections, and other resources for poets and readers, the site features poems and poets across styles and eras, thematic collections (moods, seasons, occasions), reading recommendations and editor picks, resources for poets (submission calls, writing prompts, publication tips), and information on teaching poetry, as well as the ability to share links, comment, and subscribe.
https://discoverpoetry.com/
The free poetry site hosts a large collection of poems and quotes from hundreds of poets, organized for easy browsing and reading. Its index page presents featured poets, poem-of-the-month, and poet-of-the-month highlights. Alphabetical lists of poets and curated groupings, such as popular poets, poets by nationality, women poets, and African-American poets, are included, along with thematic poem lists, famous quotes, thematic quotes, and links to poet biographies and book recommendations.
http://www.famouspoetsandpoems.com/
Founded in 1966, LCP is a national non-profit arts service organization based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The organization acts as the national association of professional and aspiring poets in Canada, and provides funding for poetry readings and competitions, hosts an annual AGM, runs a series of awards, and publishes an electronic newsletter. There are two primary levels of membership, along with student and supporting memberships, open to Canadian citizens and permanent residents.
https://poets.ca/
This poetry resource provides guides, PDFs, glossaries, and study tools to help readers understand and analyze poems. The site hosts thousands of poems, poets, and downloadable PDFs. Featured are detailed analyses and explanations of individual poems, downloadable resources and guides for offline study, searchable alphabetical listings of poets and large poem collections, definitions and descriptions of many poetic terms and devices, quizzes, a poem generator, podcasts, and courses.
https://poemanalysis.com/
Poem Hunter is an online poetry site that hosts a large collection of poems, poets, daily features poems, quotations, and member-submitted work, with navigation by themes, such as "Poem of the Day," lists of best poets and poems, and search functionality for poems and poets. Key features include classic and contemporary poems and poet pages, member-submitted poems, the ability to vote or rate poems, and member profiles. Visitors can browse by theme or use the built-in search engine.
https://www.poemhunter.com/
Poems for Free by Nicholas Gordon
This is a personal website featuring more than 2,000 poems, all copyrighted by Nicholas Gordon, many written for holidays and special occasions, made available free for personal or non-commercial use—several categories sort poems by holiday, occasion, or topic, including poems about death, drunk driving, the environment, and foster children. Other resources include an author biography, an introduction to the website, and a bookstore link. Contact details are provided.
https://www.poemsforfree.com/
Featuring more than a thousand greeting card poems and rhymes for all occasions, traditional, sentimental, and "good old-fashioned poetry to touch the heart," written by Joanna Fuchs. Poems are sorted into several categories, including anniversary, baby, birthday, Christian, Christmas, father, favorites, friendship, funny, get well, graduation, inspirational, life, love, mother, New Year's, patriotic, sympathy, teacher, Thanksgiving, thank you, Valentine, wedding, and more..
https://www.poemsource.com/
Poet Seers is a collection of spiritual poetry by poets from around the world, featuring a diverse range of uplifting and inspirational works, including well-known poets such as Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, and John Keats. The site was developed by members of the Sri Chinmoy Centre, whose works are also featured here. Categories include Poetic Themes, Poets, Spiritual Poets, Poet-Seers. Poets may also be found through alphabetical listings or through a search engine.
https://www.poetseers.org/
The community-driven platform is a place for poets to read, share, rate, translate, and discuss poems, hosting works from both famous and emerging writers. The website features a large poem collective, which may be browsed by subject, alphabetically, or through keyword searches, and users may submit poems, comments, and rate works. Other features include the ability to translate poems into many languages and listen to voice pronunciations, as well as monthly contests that offer cash prizes.
https://www.poetry.com/
Founded in 2003, the U.S. literary society seeks to promote poetry and lyricism in the broader culture. It was formed from Poetry Magazine, which it continues to publish, and is incorporated as a non-profit, charitable organization. It is the successor to the Modern Poetry Association, the previous publisher of Poetry Magazine, which was itself established in 1912. Categories include Poems & Poets, Topics & Themes, Features, and Events & Programs. Subscriptions are available.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/
The literary organization was founded in 1910 by poets, editors, and artists, making it the oldest poetry organization in the United States. In 1992, the Society launched "Poetry in Motion" along with the NYC MTA in the New York City subway system. This program has since placed poetry in the transit systems of over 20 cities throughout the country. The Society was also instrumental in the establishment of a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Poems, essays, programs, events, and awards are featured.
https://poetrysociety.org/
Stylized PoetrySoup, the online poetry community and publishing platform, is a place for poets to share poems, enter contests, read others' works, and participate in forums and comment threads. Key features include a public library of user-submitted poems, paid and free contests with prizes and featured placements, forum discussions and other community interaction opportunities, author pages, articles, writing prompts, and tools for poets to improve their work.
https://www.poetrysoup.com/
The official home of the Academy of American Poets serves as a central resource for contemporary American poetry, offering poems, poet biographies, educational materials, events, and membership information. Its key features include a daily poem series with audio and archival access to recent and past poems, searchable access to poems across eras and styles, poet profiles and bibliographies, and "American Poets Magazine," a members-only publication issued twice a year.
https://poets.org/
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era. On these pages, provided by Oxquarry Books, Ltd., several of his poems are translated to English from the original Russian, with the Russian text displayed alongside the translation, along with the translator's notes, when applicable. A few other Russian literary artists, such as Eugene Onegin and Anton Chekhov are also included, along with some artwork and other resources.
http://www.pushkins-poems.com/
RPO is a web anthology hosted by the University of Toronto Libraries that presents nearly 5,000 poems in English and French by more than 700 poets spanning roughly 1,400 years. The full texts of poems are available, grouped by poet, collection, and period, or through simple and advanced searches. Individual poet pages include collected poems and brief biographical and contextual material. Explanatory notes and editorial links accompany many texts to clarify references and terms.
https://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/
The Wordsworth Trust site at Dove Cottage and the Wordsworth Museum in Grasmere, Cumbria, celebrates the life, work, and legacy of William Wordsworth and his family through the historic house, museum displays, gardens, exhibitions, and learning programs. The Cottage was the poet's home, and where many of his famous poems were written, while the Museum tells the story of the poets, William and Dorothy Wordsworth. Information about learning, research, and community programs is provided.
https://wordsworth.org.uk/
