Poetry & First Lines

Shelley's Ozymandias reflects on a decayed ruler's monument, ironically boasting of works long since crumbled.

Shelley's Ozymandias reflects on a decayed ruler's monument, ironically boasting of works long since crumbled.

Poe's The Raven follows a grieving narrator visited by a bird whose refrain of Nevermore became instantly famous.

Poe's The Raven follows a grieving narrator visited by a bird whose refrain of Nevermore became instantly famous.

Wordsworth's poem celebrates a field of daffodils, inspired by a real walk he took with his sister.

Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 opens by comparing a loved one to a summer's day, one of his most quoted lines.

Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 opens by comparing a loved one to a summer's day, one of his most quoted lines.

Poe's Annabel Lee mourns a young beloved and is believed inspired by the death of his own wife.

Poe's Annabel Lee mourns a young beloved and is believed inspired by the death of his own wife.

Blake's The Tyger questions its subject's fearsome creator, opening with the famous line Tyger Tyger, burning bright.

Blake's The Tyger questions its subject's fearsome creator, opening with the famous line Tyger Tyger, burning bright.

Tennyson's Charge of the Light Brigade memorializes a disastrous real cavalry charge from the Crimean War.

Dickinson's poem personifies death as a courteous carriage driver arriving calmly rather than violently.

Whitman's Song of Myself centers his collection Leaves of Grass with its sweeping celebration of self and nation.

Whitman's Song of Myself centers his collection Leaves of Grass with its sweeping celebration of self and nation.

Coleridge's Kubla Khan describes a dreamlike palace the poet claimed came to him in an opium-influenced vision.

Coleridge's Kubla Khan describes a dreamlike palace the poet claimed came to him in an opium-influenced vision.

Frost's The Road Not Taken reflects on a fork in the road and is often misread as a simple ode to nonconformity.

Frost's The Road Not Taken reflects on a fork in the road and is often misread as a simple ode to nonconformity.

Dylan Thomas wrote this villanelle urging resistance to death, addressed to his own dying father.

Dylan Thomas wrote this villanelle urging resistance to death, addressed to his own dying father.

Maya Angelou's Still I Rise became an anthem of resilience and defiance against oppression.

Maya Angelou's Still I Rise became an anthem of resilience and defiance against oppression.

Kipling's If— offers guidance on living with integrity, framed as advice from a father to his son.

Kipling's If— offers guidance on living with integrity, framed as advice from a father to his son.

Eliot's fragmented Waste Land captured postwar disillusionment and stands among the century's most influential poems.

Eliot's Prufrock voices a man paralyzed by hesitation and opens with an epigraph borrowed from Dante's Inferno.

Owen's Dulce et Decorum Est portrays the horror of a World War I gas attack in unflinching detail.

Owen's Dulce et Decorum Est portrays the horror of a World War I gas attack in unflinching detail.

Henley's Invictus declares an unconquerable spirit, closing with the famous line about mastering one's fate.

Henley's Invictus declares an unconquerable spirit, closing with the famous line about mastering one's fate.

Wordsworth's poem celebrates a field of daffodils, inspired by a real walk he took with his sister.

Eliot's fragmented Waste Land captured postwar disillusionment and stands among the century's most influential poems.

Ginsberg's Howl became a landmark of the Beat Generation with its raw lament over modern society.

Ginsberg's Howl became a landmark of the Beat Generation with its raw lament over modern society.

Milton's Paradise Lost retells the biblical fall of man across twelve books of blank verse.

Milton's Paradise Lost retells the biblical fall of man across twelve books of blank verse.

Tennyson's Charge of the Light Brigade memorializes a disastrous real cavalry charge from the Crimean War.

Dickinson's poem personifies death as a courteous carriage driver arriving calmly rather than violently.

Eliot's Prufrock voices a man paralyzed by hesitation and opens with an epigraph borrowed from Dante's Inferno.

Carroll's Jabberwocky tells of a fantastical creature's slaying using invented nonsense words like galumphing.

Carroll's Jabberwocky tells of a fantastical creature's slaying using invented nonsense words like galumphing.

Williams's short poem is framed as an apology note, famously confessing to eating someone's plums.

Williams's short poem is framed as an apology note, famously confessing to eating someone's plums.

Noyes's Highwayman tells a tragic romance on a moonlit road, ending in the deaths of both lovers.

Noyes's Highwayman tells a tragic romance on a moonlit road, ending in the deaths of both lovers.

Byron's She Walks in Beauty was inspired by his cousin, whom he saw at a party dressed in mourning black.

Byron's She Walks in Beauty was inspired by his cousin, whom he saw at a party dressed in mourning black.