A Look at Audre Lorde

Audre Lorde was an American figure who was active in the Civil Rights Movement while also being a notable feminist academic and poet. Much of her work was focused on the intersectionality of a variety of points, such as class, race, gender, sexuality, and so on all being intertwined with one another rather than being wholly separate points. However, we will be looking at all of that in far more depth as we continue with this article. For now, we’ll first stop off for a bit so that we can have a look at a summary of her work.

Audre Lorde in Austin, Texas (1980); K. Kendall, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Summary of Audre Lorde

There is a lot that one could learn about Audre Lorde, but we will not be able to look at absolutely everything, but we will give it a try to show at least some of her major contributions. However, before we attempt that, we’ll first attempt a much shorter summary of what you can come to expect as you continue to read:

• Audre Lorde was a 20th-century writer, academic, and activist. She produced work in a variety of different fields and was well known for her powerful and provocative poetry. In addition, she was an active member of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States.
• Audre Lorde was active in spoken word poetry. While Audre Lorde did produce non-spoken word poetry, she is also known for her spoken word work. Her provocative poetry was especially potent when recited aloud, and she became well known for some of the best spoken word poetry during her lifetime.
• Audre Lorde was a major figure in black feminism. While this article will mostly focus on her poetry, she was also an important figure in black feminism and did a lot of work toward intersectionality in the field. Her feminist theory contributions may eclipse her poetic work.

While a more robust understanding of any topic is far more desirable in more general terms, it can be nice to just have a short and sweet summary. However, that being said, we are now going to dive into something a little more robust than we have done in this summarized section.

We’ll start with the life of our subject today, and so, let’s get down to it!

The Life of Audre Lorde

Audre Lorde was born in 1934 to two Caribbean immigrants and, when she was born, her name was a little different from what it would eventually become. Originally, she was called Audrey rather than Audre but chose to ditch the “y” in her name because she believed that there was more artistic symmetry to the dual “e” endings of Audre Lorde rather than having that pesky “y” thrown into the mix there.

As she grew up, she had a tumultuous relationship with her parents and the difficulty that she faced in communication with them was one of the things that led her to poetry. She even claimed at one point that she thought in poetry and would even recite poems when asked to express what she was feeling at a particular point in time. Her writing of poetry began then, as you might expect, at a relatively young age. She and a few others at her school, who saw themselves as outcasts from the rest of the school body, started to produce poetry.

Audre Lorde, Meridel Lesueur, Adrienne Rich (1980); K. Kendall, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

During her studies, she spent a year of her life at the National University of Mexico, which had a profound impact on her. However, she did soon return to her hometown of New York City where she became an active member in the gay community of Greenwich Village.  She would eventually complete her education in library science in 1961 and became a librarian shortly thereafter.

However, she would soon go on to be a writer and she became a participant in civil rights discussions and protests, and would also play a large role in various women’s groups during this time. She would also teach during much of this period and even worked as a professor at the City University of New York, and while she was there, she argued for the development of a black studies curriculum and department.

One of the biggest parts of her life was a move to Berlin in 1984, which began as a visiting professorship. She soon started to become involved in the Afro-German movement in the city and would have a large role to play in the formation of the Black movement in the country. She would teach and become an integral part of this movement throughout the last few years of her life.

There was even a documentary film made that explored her time in Berlin.

She would ultimately pass away a few years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, which was an important event in her life. While Audre Lorde may have passed away, her presence could still be felt in the feminist movement that she participated in as well as the many times in which she advocated and fought for intersectional improvements in various parts of the world.

The Characteristics of Audre Lorde Poems

When it comes to Audre Lorde’s poems, they have come to be noted for their technicality as well as the powerful use of emotionality that can be found within them. Her poems often made potent use of anger as a means of discussing intersectional injustices that she noted in the world, and she was unafraid of showing her rage to the world in the work that she produced. This is also why many of her poems tend to have themes related to various intersectional issues, such as civil rights, feminism, identity, and so on.

Illustration of Now (nd) by Audre Lorde; andres musta, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, via Flickr

Another major aspect of many of her poems can be found in the fact that she often wrote from a deeply personal perspective. She wanted to share the way that she thought and perceived the world, and this allowed her to communicate the ways that she felt. Many have taken to the poetry that she wrote because it is so often raw and powerful to read. One of the other biggest aspects of the poetry that she wrote could be found in her feminist theory of difference. This posits that there are differences between various groups in society, especially between different groups of women. This is further discussed in one of the later sections of this article, but her feminist work took pains to explore the fact that there are many different ways to look at womanhood rather than seeing women as a monolith.

The Spoken Word Poetry of Audre Lorde

While Audre Lorde did write a lot of poems, she was also a participant in the spoken word community. Many of her poems contain powerful words, the use of personal experiences, and deeply emotional expression, and so they are often seen as perfect poems for spoken word. Some of the Audre Lorde poems that we will discuss today were those that she performed.

By simply reading some of the work that she produced, you should be able to tell why her work has resonated so strongly and why they can serve as fantastic spoken pieces.

A Few Audre Lorde Poems

While we can easily speak about Audre Lorde’s poems in a more theoretical sense, such as examining them according to their general characteristics, looking at a few definitive examples is usually a much better way to go about things. That is why I will be having a look at five Audre Lorde poems in this section so that we see what is so special about some of them and why they have come to be seen as some of her best work.

Syracuse Airport (1997) by Audre Lorde; Pearl Pirie, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, via Flickr

Coal (1968)

Coal is a great place to start when looking at Audre Lorde poems. The poem makes use of the imagery of coal and connects it to blackness. The coal is emphasized as something that comes from the earth. It is potent and powerful, and coal also has associations with fire and serves as a means of burning brightly. On the flip side of things, it is diamond that comes from coal, and so the poem wants to draw this comparison between blackness and the ability to become something marvelous and precious. One of the major elements of the poem is a very strong fixation on the naturalness of coal as a substance, and how blackness, like the coal, is one with the earth and has always been here.

There is no separating the earth from the coal as there is no separating the black individual from the earth either.

Audre Lorde (nd) by Elsa Dorfman; Elsa Dorfman, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Who Said It Was Simple (1973)

Who Said It Was Simple is a poem that explores anger and frustration, and it does so by looking toward the very movements that are supposedly there to fight on her behalf. The poem, in the second stanza, discusses a mostly white women’s rally, and it questions how a black woman is meant to survive amidst this when what they fight for is white women rather than women as a whole. This has long been an issue with feminism, although it was attacked by many early feminists as a non-issue, and so Audre Lorde focusing on this and pointing it out for all its hypocrisies is a very important stance to take. She ponders at the end which parts of herself will be liberated at all because she is not just black or just a woman.

She is all of these things. None of us are just one thing, but rather an intersectional connection of many all in one.

Woman’s March (2020); Edward Kimmel from Takoma Park, MD, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Movement Song (1973)

Movement Song is a poem about the end of a relationship. Many of us have experienced this kind of heartbreak, and the poem goes to pains to explore just how this can feel to those who have to go through it. There are various elements of the poem that focus on the memories that the speaker still holds of their lost lover, and there is a desire from the speaker for their ex-lover to remember them in a positive light rather than in the ways that we often think of people in the midst of a breakup.

This poem may not be concerned with some of the usual things that Audre Lorde poems are concerned with, but relationships are a rather universal aspect of being a human, and so this is one of the things that does connect us all with one another.

Quote by Audre Lorde (2023); Ian O’Byrne, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Flickr

Never to Dream of Spiders (1997)

Never to Dream of Spiders is a poem that, at first glance, is about spiders. That is what the title would also have you believe, of course. However, as the poem progresses, we become aware that they are afraid of a lot more. The poem itself is a meditation on fear. The fear of many different things, and things that we are not informed about at all. The ultimate image of the spider is only given to us near the end, but these spiders represent all of the things that we fear and how we attempt, often in a futile effort, to keep them at bay.

We work tirelessly against the barrage of terrifying things in our lives that can bring us to our knees, but through the powerful words of Audre Lorde, we may be empowered to understand that we can stand strong against forces such as this.

A Woman Speaks (1997)

A Woman Speaks is a poem that focuses on the realities of being a black woman within white female spaces. It explores how black women, like herself, have been underrepresented in these kinds of spaces. When it comes to Audre Lorde’s poems, this is not a particularly unique one, as many share similar ideas and thoughts, but it is a powerful means of conveying this particular message to an audience that may not otherwise be used to hearing it. These kinds of issues are important ones to explore, and the work of Audre Lorde often explored these intersectional issues in supposedly progressive spaces.

However, her poetry alone is not enough to show what all she did in her life, and the next section will show some more of what she did.

Women’s March – Washington DC (2017); S Pakhrin from DC, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Other Work of Audre Lorde: Prose, Film, and Academic Theory

We have looked at a few Audre Lorde poems and some of her work in more general terms, but we also do need to have a look at some of the other works that Audre Lorde produced. When it came to her prose work, she is best known for The Cancer Journals (1980) and A Burst of Light (1988), which both examine and explore her life while she was experiencing cancer treatments. Another important prose text is Zami: A New Spelling of My Name (1982), which was a mythologized telling of her life, which she termed a “biomythography”.

Audre Lorde and May Ayim (c. 1992); Schultz, Dagmar, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

In film, she was featured in a documentary called The Berlin Years: 1984-1992, and which chronicles her work in an Afro-German movement in the city. She would fight for changes to the systemic discrimination that was experienced by minorities in the country and the documentary is considered to be an important film. Lastly, she was also a notable figure in black feminism. Her primary contributions were toward an understanding of the world through an intersectional lens, and these contributions have remained some of her primary ones to date. Some of her major contributions include the idea of the “theory of difference”. Which goes against the binary viewpoint that had been held by many feminists with regard to the differences between men and women, which she saw as too simplistic an interpretation of gender relations.

This entire article has been in service to one overarching question, and that is: who was Audre Lorde? By examining some of her life, the characteristics of a number of Audre Lorde poems, the spoken word work that she produced, some of her non-poetic work, and just a few actual examples of her poems, I hope that I have given you a good overview of the kind of stuff for which she is known. However, this has not been an immensely comprehensive account of Audre Lorde’s life and career, but there are many resources out there if you want to learn significantly more about this phenomenal writer and thinker.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who Was Audre Lorde?

Audre Lorde was an American poet, philosopher, and activist. Her work was intersectional by its very nature, and many of her writings would focus on the intersections of class, race, gender, sexuality, and so on. She was a figure in the American Civil Rights Movement, and she was a fierce activist for many different causes during her life. She died relatively young in the early 1990s, but her work has been remembered to this day, especially her immense contributions to feminist theory.

What Were the Characteristics of Audre Lorde’s Poetry?

When it came to Audre Lorde’s poems, they were often lauded for their technical components as well as their highly emotional nature. She would make stunning use of anger, personal stories, and intersectional issues, such as class, race, and gender. Her poetry was also generally aimed at political actions, such as calls for civil rights and feminist causes. While her work may have been technically stunning, it was also loaded with powerful and provocative calls to action.

What Did Audre Lorde Write Other Than Poetry?

While this article has seen a predominant focus on the poetry for which Audre Lorde was known, she also wrote many other things. For instance, she produced autobiographical accounts, such as those about her battle with cancer, essays on political issues, a mythologized account of her own life, and a significant amount of philosophical work in the intersectional and black feminist traditions.

How Did Audre Lorde Influence Black Feminism?

When it came to the academic work of Audre Lorde, she was perhaps even more influential than she was in terms of poetry. She worked in areas to do with the importance of self-care and self-identity, the use of activism, how community building was integral to feminism, and her advocation of intersectional understandings of society in which we see society as having a series of interlocking oppressions rather than seeing any of them solely on their own. This work has largely impacted black feminism to this day.

What Are the Most Famous Audre Lorde Poems?

While there are many famous Audre Lorde poems, some of her most famous are those such as Coal (1968), Who Said It Was Simple (1973), and A Woman Speaks (1997). There are numerous other poems and non-poetic texts for which she is also famous, and so this short list is, by its very nature, stunted. If you want to read more of her work, you’ll have to go out and find some more!

The post Audre Lorde – Introducing the Intersectional Feminist Poet% first appeared on Art in Context.

A Few Poems by William Wordsworth

Few poets have been as influential to English literature as William Wordsworth. This figure was one of the central figures within the English Romantic movement and would even go on to be the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom for the last seven years of his life. He produced many phenomenal poems over the course of his life, and, for this reason, choosing a small selection of William Wordsworth poems is a rather difficult thing to do. However, this is what we’ve committed to with the poems below.

William Wordsworth (1842) by Benjamin Haydon; Benjamin Haydon, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

This famous Romantic poet has many fantastic verses on display in his work, and he received many accolades during his career as a poet. So, let’s get over and done with this introductory bit because we have some poems to peruse. And the first of them will include a bit of a personal statement from myself because sometimes we need a bit of personality to help us navigate the world of poetry. Or at least, this is something that really helped me connect with my old literature students, because who wants cold and detached when you can be enthusiastic and maybe a little manic?

She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways (1800)

She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways is a beautiful poem that bears some similarity to My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun (1609) by William Shakespeare. The reason for this similarity is not in structure or form, but rather in tone. It discusses someone that the speaker loves and adores, and perceives as beautiful, yet it goes to some lengths to state that this person is not particularly beautiful. Instead, this person is either rather average-looking or not attractive at all. This can make the poem come across as somewhat mean-spirited, but the focus becomes inner beauty rather than external beauty.

This poem discusses the character of Lucy, who is a character that can be found in a number of poems by William Wordsworth.

This character is described as being someone who was like a beautiful flower or star, but only when there were no others to be seen. She did not stand out until one truly paid attention to her. The poem fixates on this idea of actually trying to understand someone rather than simply seeing the outer aspects of their appearance. Let’s go into a small personal tangent here. In terms of this particular poem, it was one of my favorites to teach when I used to teach the international Cambridge curriculum. This poem allowed me to speak to my students about how a poem could simultaneously make use of rather darker and unpleasant imagery while retaining a central meaning that is far more powerful than the usual kinds of themes one might find in an ordinary love poem. This does not emphasize the things we are taught to emphasize but rather sees someone more clearly. In my experience, this is a far better thing to teach a student than your average love poem.

She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways (1800) by William Wordsworth; Houghton Library, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Lucy Gray [or Solitude] (1800)

Lucy Gray [or Solitude] is a lengthy Narrative poem that serves as one of the earlier William Wordsworth poems that became immensely acclaimed. In this poem, the narrative about Lucy Gray that focuses on her journey. The story examines the way in which she became lost in the middle of a snowstorm on her journey home. The poem explores some of the themes for which William Wordsworth would become so well known, such as ideas concerning life itself and solitude.

While many of his most famous poems were far shorter in nature, this lengthy early poem would serve as a powerful text for the burgeoning poet.

Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey, On Revisiting the Banks of the Wye during a Tour. July 13, 1798 (1800)

Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey, On Revisiting the Banks of the Wye during a Tour. July 13, 1798, is a poem with a title that is, quite simply, too long! However, regardless of the incredible length of the title itself, the poem is not necessarily all that long in comparison to some of the other poems for which William Wordsworth would become known. This poem describes his experience upon visiting the Wye River. This is located beside an ancient abbey that had long since been abandoned.

In terms of William Wordsworth’s poems, this one is a phenomenal meditation on the imagery of nature as it consumes what may have once been taken as human.

Tintern Abbey (1963) by William Matthews; William Matthews, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The World Is Too Much With Us (1807)

The World Is Too Much With Us is a phenomenal example of a major theme that recurred in many William Wordsworth poems. The poem laid the blame for the way that humanity had become squarely at the feet of the Industrial Revolution and the changes that had come about as a result of it. The Romantics were known for their immense appreciation of the natural world, and this poem distilled that feeling into a sense of blame that modern civilization had severed humanity from nature and treated the two of them as immensely distinct entities utterly separated from one another.

The poem decries this change in human society and wishes for things to return to an earlier and better point.

Character of the Happy Warrior (1807)

Character of the Happy Warrior is a poem that is somewhat unlike many other William Wordsworth poems. In this case, the poem is set as a more inspirational tone. It explores this notion of a “happy warrior” archetype and attempts to present a more inspiring image to those who may wish to live in such a way. The poem itself took its own inspiration from the experiences of figures such as Lord Nelson, and it would go on to have its own influence on others.

It is not quite as famous as some of the other great poems by William Wordsworth, but it has remained a popular text long after the Romantic era has come to an end.

London, 1802 (1807)

London, 1802 is another of the William Wordsworth poems with a certain fascination with the past. When it comes to this poem, the text fixates on the figure of John Milton. For those unfamiliar, and this can often be with older texts because references can age, this figure was a 17th-century poet who most famously wrote the long Christian epic poem, Paradise Lost.

When it comes to this William Wordsworth poem, he uses the idea of John Milton to explore a critique of the way the world had become during Wordsworth’s life and to instead celebrate a former glory of the country that should have been modeled after Milton rather than the reality that transpired instead.

The Childhood Home of William Wordsworth (1910) by George McLean; Harper, George McLean, 1863-1947, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons

The Solitary Reaper (1807)

The Solitary Reaper is one of the many poems by William Wordsworth that makes use of autobiographical elements, although not quite to the same degree as the very last item on this particular list of poems. In this case, the poem is geared around the speaker’s recollection of an experience he had when he was younger. There was a woman singing in a field, and he heard it while remaining unmoving in his appreciation of the song. He could only listen. And while he did obviously leave that place, he never forgot the song that she sang.

This poem explores the kinds of themes on human individuality and emotion that would become such staples in Romantic poetry in general and Wordsworth’s poetry in particular.

My Heart Leaps Up (1807)

My Heart Leaps Up is yet another William Wordsworth poem that focuses on the natural world. In this poem, the poet describes the speaker’s love and adoration for nature itself. While the poem does open with an image of a rainbow, it eventually extends to a further sense of natural wonder that eclipses the rainbow alone. Texts such as this would greatly contribute to the notion that the Romantic movement had a fascination and fixation on the natural world.

There was a certain spirituality attached to the natural world too, and this comes through in poems like this.

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud (1815)

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud is a rather fascinating poem because of its changing reception. When the poem was first published, it was seen as a rather weak text that was heavily criticized by Wordsworth’s contemporaries. However, it has now become seen as perhaps his most famous poem. It is, like many of the most famous poems by William Wordsworth, an examination of the natural world. In more particular terms, it focuses on how the natural world has a major influence and impact on our memory and development. The poem’s principal image has become its best-known feature, and that is the sight of the field of daffodils. They have become one of the things most associated with Wordsworth, and they are shown to remain in his memory for years upon years after he first saw them.

This poem may be his most famous, but the next and final poem is perhaps his greatest.

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud (1815) by William Wordsworth;© The British Library Board, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Prelude (1850)

The Prelude is often considered to be one of the greatest of all the works that ever came from this poet’s illustrious life. It is the last item on this list because it did come about later in his life. In terms of William Wordsworth’s poems, this text is one that examines and explores his life in an autobiographical means. While there certainly have been autobiographical elements in earlier poems, this text takes full stock of the early years of his life in a more holistic sense.

The poem traces his development as a young poet and moves through several of the major experiences of his life. The Romantic period was often one that was focused on individuality and emotionality, and this poem is a perfect example of that ethos.

A portrait of William Wordsworth. This is a reproduction of an 1839 watercolor (1873) by Margaret Gillies; Margaret Gillies, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Today, we have had a nice little look at a number of famous William Wordsworth poems, and while these have been some of the best-known poems he produced, there are many more out there! This list should have provided a good taster of what all is out there. So, if you want more poetry with a focus on the individual, emotionality, and the natural world, there are many other William Wordsworth poems out there to explore. In addition, you could always peruse the works that were ultimately inspired by the poems of William Wordsworth!

Frequently Asked Questions

Who Was William Wordsworth?

William Wordsworth was a famous Romantic poet who was born in Cockermouth, Cumberland in England. He would go on to become an immensely acclaimed figure in English poetry during his life, and he would ultimately pass away in 1850 as the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom. He would come to be known for his dedication to an appreciation of nature and a desire to place the divine securely within poetic works. He, along with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, is seen as the founder of what would become the Romantic movement.

What Era Was William Wordsworth a Part Of?

William Wordsworth was a prominent member of the English Romantic movement. This was a movement that spanned from the 18th to 19th centuries and would focus on elements such as the natural world, individualism, and emotion. It was often opposed to ideas such as human civilization and the effects that it had on the world. William Wordsworth’s poems would have a major influence on this era, and the era itself would go on to be immensely inspiring for many other writers.

How Influential Was William Wordsworth?

William Wordsworth was one of the most influential poets of the 19th century. His work would have a profound influence within the immediate aftermath of his first poems’ publication on the literary culture of the time. Practically every other poet who would enter into the Romantic movement would draw at least some level of inspiration from the poems of William Wordsworth. This contribution alone would have made him a major figure in English literature going forward because his influence touched so many others who would go on to be immensely dominate in their own fields. So, his influence can be seen as exponential. Those who he influenced went on to do the same with others who influenced others, and so on.

Why Did William Wordsworth Become the Poet Laureate?

William Wordsworth is often considered to be one of the greatest poets who has ever made contributions to English literature. He was also very much not one of those poets who was only recognized after his death. He was considered to be a foundational member of the Romantic movement in general, and he also outlived many of the other most famous members of the movement. He was ultimately made into the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom because he was definitively recognized as a central figure in English poetry during his life.

What Are Some Famous William Wordsworth Poems?

When it comes to William Wordsworth’s poems, there are so many famous examples to choose from, but some of the best-known include poems such as She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways (1800), The Solitary Reaper (1807), and I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud (1815). However, there are many more poems that he wrote. William Wordsworth survived far longer than many of the other most famous Romantic poets, and so he was still writing poems into his old age.

The post William Wordsworth Poems – Explore the Best of the Famous Poet% first appeared on Art in Context.

The Most Famous Robert Frost Poems

Robert Frost was an American poet who is often considered to be one of the most widely known of the 20^th century. Much of his work is concerned with the rural American landscape, and he has become synonymous with this part of the American experience. Much of his work is also, specifically, set in New England. While Robert Frost was actually born in the city, he did later move to the countryside, and his experiences would go on to shape his work throughout his career.

Some of the most important elements of Robert Frost poetry is that it is generally noted for its command of American colloquial English and realistic portrayals. He has become a quintessential rural American poet because he understood the lives of those who lived in the countryside, and he wrote about their lives in rich detail.

Robert Frost (1913); See page for author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Many of his poems examine themes such as the connection between humans and the natural world, the plight of real people in real situations, an examination of everyday life, love, isolation, and the struggles of life. His work is also often highly metaphorical in nature in its attempt to explore some of those deeper questions.

Robert Frost’s poetry would go on to achieve national and international fame. His work is taught around the world in English classes, and in the United States, he received many awards for his work. For instance, he won four separate Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry, and he even won the Congressional Gold Medal for his work a handful of years before he passed away.

So, without holding off for much longer, let’s have a look at some famous Robert Frost poems.

Home Burial (1914)

Home Burial is one of the earlier Robert Frost poems to become an immensely popular text, and it is also one of the longest poems that he ever produced. This particular text was written in blank verse, meaning that it does use a specific metrical structure, but it does not have a particular rhyme scheme. Furthermore, it is written as a long dramatic dialogue piece, and, for this reason, there is a certain theatricality on display.

The Robert Frost Cabin in Ripton, Vermont (2009); Aiken1986, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The poem is concerned with the different ways that people grieve. It is a pair of parents who have both lost their child and need to deal with the pain and loss that they both feel. They both should respect each other’s specific way of mourning, but an argument ensues from this event, and this can serve as a means of resonating with many potential readers as we all have different ways of coming to terms with loss and understanding our place in a world in which loss has become a part of it. We do not all face the same kind of loss that these two parents have been forced to face, but it does present them with challenges. The poem is not particularly positive in its depiction of the way that these two mourn their child and there is a certain implication that the death of their child may also very well lead to the death of their marriage.

Contending with something as major as the death of a child can leave some utterly devastated in its wake, and incapable of recovering from such an event, and this instance of Robert Frost poetry is a perfect depiction of that very difficulty.

Mending Wall (1914) 

Mending Wall is often considered to be one of the most famous Robert Frost poems, and while it is likely not the most famous, it has managed to retain a special place in the many poems that Robert Frost wrote in his life. This particular poem makes use of a wall as a representation of boundaries and borders that surround us, and how we perceive things of this nature. Especially when they also serve to go against nature in many ways.

The Mending Wall at the Frost Farm (2008) by Craig Michaud; User:Craig Michaud, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The poem revolves around the story of a wall. This wall separates two neighbors from one another, and every single year, the pair of them meet up to walk around the wall and fix any breaks and gaps that have appeared. These gaps appear for many reasons, such as the hunters who make their way across the wall with their dogs while on the prowl. These two neighbors stay on their own side of the wall as they work to mend the wall for the next year.

The poem ultimately spends the duration contemplating the nature of walls and what they come to mean for humans. There are those who want there to be walls and those who do not want there to be walls, and the speaker’s neighbor is a person who wants a wall in place. Through this, the poem manages to ask us why we want to have these walls.

Are we trying to keep others in or to keep others out?

Birches (1915)

Birches is one of the many Robert Frost poems that focuses on the natural world. In this particular case, the poem is focused on what the title suggests: birch trees. However, these birch trees are used as a metaphorical construction to contemplate deeper questions about the nature of life, humans, heaven, and the earth. The poem specifically calls certain images to mind as it examines these birch trees.

Birches (1908) by Carl Thiemann; Carl Thiemann, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The speaker sees the trees in the aftermath of winter, when they are covered in ice, and contemplates on the reason for their branches to stoop so low. The speaker sees those stooped branches as the result of children who jump and swing on the branches as they play in the natural landscape, and this leads the poem down a path of nostalgia. The trees serve as a means of aiding the child in their play as well as serving as a metaphor for life itself.

The branches of the birch trees are sturdy and do not snap from the force, yet they are also pliable and can bend with this childhood play. For this reason, the birch trees and their branches come to represent the way in which we too are able to serve as pliable, flexible things as we change and develop as our lives continue. The poem moves from examining childhood to the realities of our adulthoods and the more mundane realities of said adulthoods.

However, both of these elements can be understood by most people as we have, or will, all experience this change.

The Road Not Taken (1915)

What is Robert Frost’s most famous poem? The answer is generally easy for most as it is The Road Not Taken. One could argue about whether or not this is his most famous poem, but when you ask most, this is the poem that comes up. It is a poem about choices, and it has likely become so famous because you often can’t make your way through a high school English curriculum without having analyzed this particular poem. It has remained one of the most commonly taught more than a century after its publication.

The Road Not Taken (1915) by Robert Frost; Robert Frost, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The poem opens with one of the most famous metaphors in the English language. It is the view of a road that has split. There are two ways the speaker could go, and they try to decide whether they should choose the road more often taken or the road that is taken far less often. The speaker ultimately decides which and continues on with their life, but they later acknowledge that the two paths were actually very similar, and they do not know if they chose the road less traveled but resolve that this is what they will tell people when asked.

The road is a metaphor for life and the choices that we face along the way. Did we make the right choices? We may hope that this is what we have done, but it is also very likely that we have simply continued with our lives without really making any decisions that are necessarily unique.

This is something we must contend with as we continue on with our lives, and the poem has likely become so resonant for these very reasons.

‘Out, Out—’ (1916)

‘Out, Out—’ is a poem about a tragedy. There are many tragedies that occur every day around the world and, in the case of this particular poem, it is a tragedy that was based on a true story that happened to a friend of Robert Frost. This friend lost a son, and that son died in a particularly gruesome and devastating way. The poem recounts the way that this child died and the aftermath of the terrible accident.

Robert Frost (1959) by Walter Albertin; Walter Albertin, World Telegram staff photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The accident that occurs is when a small child runs afoul of a buzzsaw and loses his hand. The extreme shock and blood loss that follow as a direct result of this ultimately lead to the young child dying. The incident is one that is sudden and deadly, and it is also one that can easily resonate with many because tragic accidents happen all the time, and we are generally forced to contend with the harsh realities of a world that could kill us at any time.

The poem presents all of this in a matter-of-fact sense and portrays it as rather mundane. The death of a child may be an immense tragedy, but it is also something that happens. It happened to this child, and the child ultimately died a very unceremonious death as shock eventually took him. Everyone must also return to their lives after his death, and this is a further means of adding to the mundanity of death.

It happens, but we must continue with our lives whenever it appears.

Fire and Ice (1920)

Fire and Ice is a relatively short poem by Robert Frost and one that focuses on the nature of destruction in the world. It was also published shortly after the First World War and, as a result, it likely resonated with many who were still trying to come to grips with the utter destruction that had settled over the land and led to so much death, dismay, and devastation in every direction. Although the United States, as a country, did not sustain any real damage, it did harm those who became involved in the war itself.

Fire and Ice (2017) by Jason Jacobs; Jason Jacobs from Honolulu, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The poem examines the idea of apocalypse. It looks at the world ending in two major ways. It could end in ice or fire. These two types of ends to the world are explored and discussed in very little detail and are instead alluded to in simple language that is meant to evoke the reader to think more deeply on their own about what these kinds of ends may mean.

We can interpret an end to the world in fire or ice in different ways, but one is hot and dangerous, such as war, and the other is cold and may be compared to a long and drawn-out kind of destruction of the world, such as climate change. The terms “fire” and “ice” should not be taken as literal but rather as metaphorical constructions of the kind of devastation that may occur in the world.

The poem is not a positive one, but destruction and death are as much a part of life as anything else.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening (1923)

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening is one of the most famous Robert Frost poems, and it explores a number of themes throughout the text. The basic idea behind the poem is the contemplation of the natural world and how we may feel a certain pull from the world that is around us, a pull that we may need to resist because of our own human nature that compels us to do other things.

First Snowfall in the Forest (2021) by Thomas Metaxas; Thomas Metaxas, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The narrative of the poem is concerned with a speaker who stops in the woods one snowy evening to look at the natural world around him. This speaker takes in the world. They take it in while remaining as silent as possible. This speaker contemplates staying far longer but must ultimately leave those woods and continue on their way to fulfill whatever obligations they feel they may need to fulfill. The poem allows us to examine ideas surrounding our desire for one thing and our obligations towards others, human nature versus the natural world that surrounds us, and the concept of journeys and how they must all eventually come to an end.

We may stop along the way to see what else there is to see, but we must ultimately continue on our way because all journeys must come to an end.

The Runaway (1923)

The Runaway is one of the Robert Frost poems that makes use of animal imagery to explore ideas related to human feelings of innocence and vulnerability. The poem specifically uses the image of a colt, or a young horse, and how it moves around in the snowy landscape where the speaker encounters him, but the colt soon runs away and disappears. The speaker is left to contemplate what this means to him as he watches the creature vanish from sight forever.

Robert Frost sitting at a desk (1917); Photographer unidentified, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The poem uses this image of the young horse to explore the idea of vulnerability and innocence that comes with youth. The colt is portrayed as one who is afraid of the snow and has likely not encountered it before. Encountering snow is something that may require some adjustment if one has never seen or perceived it before, and the speaker wonders who will teach the colt what snow is in the first place. This is a kind of anthropomorphizing poem that attributes human feelings to a non-human animal. This may have been what the horse was thinking, but it is the human who has ascribed those feelings to the creature without actually knowing for certain that this is what the horse was thinking when he decided to run away.

The poem wants the horse to learn the snow, but the entire narrative of the creature ultimately serves to consider human innocence and vulnerability and what they mean to those of us who may have lost our innocence or experienced instances of vulnerability.

Acquainted with the Night (1928)

Acquainted with the Night is a darker and more melancholic poem by Robert Frost that is focused on feelings of sadness, isolation, and despair. It examines the way that these kinds of feelings are universal and therefore apply to all people. The idea of universal concepts is one that many poems attempt to explore, and while many do fail, truly universal ideas are somewhat few and far between in comparison to those that are more particular and individualized. However, we often approach universal concepts in different ways.

The way that Robert Frost explores these universal ideas in this poem is by examining the night. The poem explores how dark and terrible feelings that blossom inside us can be like the metaphorical night. It is utterly inescapable. The night consumes us from every direction and does not let up regardless of how much we may struggle against it. It is a force of nature over which we have no control. The poem is told from the perspective of the speaker as he walks alone at night. He may pass others by but he does not stop to speak to any of them because he does not wish to be forced to explain why he is walking alone at night.

The darkness of the night and the contemplative nature of the speaker both contribute to the feelings of isolation that the speaker experiences as he moves through the world in an attempt to come to terms with his own dark and unyielding thoughts.

The Gift Outright (1941)

The Gift Outright is the last of the Robert Frost poems on this list, although Frost did continue to publish poetry later into his life. However, this poem is a good one to also examine as it relates to a certain kind of mentality that would eventually become less popular, although no less believed. The reason for this is that the poem is concerned with American colonialism, and how it ultimately led to the American country as it now exists.

The poem opens by discussing the ways in which the land belonged to them before they had even managed to become an independent country, and that the poem as a whole focuses on the ways in which America came to be the land that it is today. However, its focus is on the history of the European settler colonies and not on those who already lived in the country, and so there are certain blind spots found in this kind of depiction.

Regardless of the more problematic elements at play when it comes to a poem like this, it serves as a valuable reminder of the kind of mentality that has been shared and maintained by many colonially-minded people around the world. Those who colonize a place as settlers see that land as their own, and they become citizens of that land, they do often attempt to wash away the history of those who have lived there far longer than they have ever lived there. These kinds of poems are valuable to understanding the colonizing mindset.

Hopefully, you took the road that led to reading this whole article about Robert Frost poetry. We have looked at ten of the most famous Robert Frost poems, including the one that no list of poems by Robert Frost can go without! However, Robert Frost wrote a lot over the course of his life, and there are many fantastic poems by the acclaimed poet that were not discussed in this article. If you enjoy his work, then seek them out!

Frequently Asked Questions

Who Was Robert Frost?

Robert Frost was an American poet who is best known for his often romantic portrayals of the American rural life. He has become known as a culturally American poet who focused on the lives of everyday people. Many of his poems are noted for their realistic portrayals and use of American colloquial English. Over the course of his career, he would receive multiple Pulitzer Prizes and would even be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 1960, a few years before his death.

What Is Robert Frost’s Most Famous Poem?

The answer to this question is generally not arguable. The most famous poem that this notable American poet wrote was The Road Not Taken. This is a poem concerned with choices and how we come to perceive the choices that we have made in our lives. It’s a great poem that has become one of the classics of the 20^th century and the most notable of all the poems by Robert Frost.

What Were the Most Common Themes Explored by Robert Frost?

While Robert Frost was actually born in the city, he would later move to the countryside and many of his most famous poems are concerned with rural American life. This led to many of the most famous Robert Frost poems being themed around the natural world, the life of ordinary rural people, isolation, the struggles of human life, and so on. While he did write about more than rural life, this is what he has come to be known for in the decades after his death.

What Style of Poetry Did Robert Frost Write?

Poems by Robert Frost do not often conform to ordinary types of poetry, such as sonnets. However, he did often write narrative poems. He would generally make use of rhyme and meter, but many of his poems possessed unique structures. His poems would also often make extensive use of metaphors and simple language.

Why Has Robert Frost Become a Quintessential Rural American Poet?

Robert Frost became known as something of a quintessential rural American poet for a number of reasons. He had a familiarity with rural life and so he could portray it in a realistic manner, he made use of rural settings in many of his poems, he used colloquial American language, and he received many awards throughout his life which led to an increase in his status. All of these factors together have likely contributed to the immense fame that Robert Frost’s poetry has enjoyed throughout the 20th century.

The post Robert Frost Poems – A List of the 10 Best Poetry Examples% first appeared on Art in Context.

Famous Walt Whitman Poems

Walt Whitman was a poet, essayist, and writer who is best remembered for his poetry. One of the reasons that he is so remembered for his poetry is because he has become known under the moniker of the Father of Free Verse Poetry. His work was noted for its incorporation of realism and transcendentalism, its novel approach and presentation, and for its more cavalier attitude towards topics that were considered controversial at the time, but have since become far less controversial, such as overt sexual themes.

His work may have become immensely influential after his death, but during his life, he also engaged in a number of professions. For instance, he was active during the American Civil War as a carer in Union hospitals. This is also reflected in much of his poetry. In addition, when Abraham Lincoln, of whom Walt Whitman was an admirer, was assassinated, Whitman produced some of the most famous poems about the deceased president.

Walt Whitman (1887) by George C. Cox; See file page for creator info, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Whitman would eventually pass away in 1892, and by the time he died, he was more acclaimed than when he had started his career, but his real fame would come after his death. His work in free verse poetry, his experimental style that could not easily be pinned down, and his celebration of themes like love, democracy, nature, and friendship have made him an important figure in the development of 19th-century literature. Furthermore, his influence on 20^th century Modernism, and everything that it influenced is immeasurable.

Now that we are done with our brief discussion of the man behind the poetry, we should have a look at some of that poetry! We are going to examine ten of the best-known Walt Whitman poems today, and these poems include poems about traveling, a few Walt Whitman love poems, and a number that are associated with the death of Abraham Lincoln.

Let’s have a look at some of these famous Walt Whitman poems.

There was a child went forth every day (1855)

There was a child went forth every day is one of the poems by Walt Whitman that was concerned with the idea of children and the way in which they perceive themselves and their surroundings. We all start to form our identities early in our lives, and when we start with our identity formation, we do so to figure out who we are in the world. What are our interests? What are our dislikes? Who are we as people? In this case, the poem examines this through a relationship between this child and the natural world around him.

A marker, just outside the Student Union Building marks the original location of the one-room schoolhouse that Walt Whitman taught in (2011); Nkabouris, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The poem makes use of various natural images, such as lilacs, grass, morning glories, birds, lambs, calves, and a variety of other natural images. This comparison to both plants and non-human animals allows the child to learn who they are over the course of each day as they venture out into the world to have experiences and interactions with the world at large. It is only through our everyday experiences that we can start to determine who we are in life.

The poem is centrally concerned with the concept of becoming.

This is the way in which we originate as one thing but then eternally become something else. There is never truly an endpoint until our deaths as we are constantly growing, changing, and adapting to our environment as we take one day after another to learn all that we can about both ourselves and the world at large.

Song of the Open Road (1856)

Song of the Open Road is a poem of celebration. We are often accustomed to seeing poems that are either concerned with love or something very morbid, but poems can also allow us to convey our feelings of pleasure about something that may ordinarily seem to be somewhat mundane. In terms of Walt Whitman poems, this one is all about traveling. The title of the poem does somewhat give this away though. It is a song dedicated to the open road.

Highway in Arizona desert with blue sky and clouds (2007); Gayle Nicholson, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The open road is something that can stand before all of us, and it allows us the freedom to go where we wish to go. There is also a long history of American art and literature that focuses on the vast expanses available to American citizens in their country as large swaths of the country are simply open roads that one can explore at one’s leisure. However, this open road is not simply a literal one, but a metaphorical one too. The open road may be a very real thing that can be traveled, but it is also a symbol of freedom. To travel is to let go of ordinary attachments, such as the prospect of a stable home or the domestic constraints of ordinary life.

The poem invites us to let much of that go as we instead embrace the outside world, the world that opens up before us if we simply allow ourselves to travel along it.

Crossing Brooklyn Ferry (1856)

Crossing Brooklyn Ferry is a poem that is concerned with the country of the United States in a way that many of Walt Whitman poems were concerned, and, in this case, it uses the idea of a simple ferry to explore something much deeper. The basic reading of the poem is also self-evident in the name of the poem. It is about crossing the East River in New York via the Brooklyn Ferry.

Ferry boat crossing East River (c. 1910) from the Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views; New York Public Library, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

This, like many of the poems by Walt Whitman, makes use of a rather simple and understandable element, such as crossing a ferry, to instead focus on something more universalizable. While we have not all crossed this ferry, the feelings that Whitman describes as he crosses said ferry are those that can be far more easily understandable to many others in our world. The poem examines the idea of our shared human experiences. Whitman made use of this ferry to cross over a river, and there were many others around him and there will be many more after he has left. What did they think as they crossed that ferry? What did they think as they saw the same things that he saw? Did they think as he did or did they think something entirely different?

We may all experience the same things, but we experience them in different ways, and poems like this are a phenomenal example of the kind of power that Walt Whitman poems are able to attain.

When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer (1865)

When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer is likely one of the most famous poems by Walt Whitman. In the case of this famous Whitman poem, the concern is with an understanding of science versus the human imagination. The poem is skeptical of the way that science has examined the world and instead wishes to see it in a very different way, in a more mysterious way.

Ptolemy from “Clavdio Tolomeo Principe de Gli Astrologi, et de Geografi” (1564) published by Giordano Ziletti; See page for author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

This is not an idea that is exclusive to Walt Whitman, and many have written on how science effectively seeks to dismantle all the mysteries of the universe. Science is not there to stand in reverence before the strange things in our world. Instead, science is there to understand those things and to explain them to others. Science does not want to leave any stone unturned, and those with more spiritual beliefs can often see this as a negative thing because it means that the world as it is in our minds is not necessarily the real world. The poem itself explores this through the speaker’s attendance at a lecture. This lecture is given by the “learn’d astronomer” from the title of the poem. This person gives out all sorts of facts, figures, statistics, diagrams, and charts to those who are in attendance, and the speaker eventually gets up and instead walks outside to gaze up at the heavens.

The spiritual feeling is evident in the way that the universe is perceived by the speaker as opposed to the highly educated explanations of the astronomer.

O Captain! My Captain! (1865)

O Captain! My Captain! is one of the most famous Walt Whitman poems and definitely the most famous of the various poems that he wrote in dedication to Abraham Lincoln. The assassination of Abraham Lincoln came as a severe blow to Walt Whitman, who was a great admirer of the president. For instance, Walt Whitman served on the Union side of the American Civil War and worked in hospitals during that period. When the man who was seen as the end of slavery came to his own end, there was significant national mourning because of that, and Walt Whitman expressed his mourning through a poem.

O Captain! My Captain! (1865) by Walt Whitman; Walt Whitman (1819-1892)(Life time: 1892), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

This poem aimed at Abraham Lincoln makes use of the metaphor of a ship’s captain. The ship is the United States, and the captain is Abraham Lincoln. The ship has been barreling its way through harsh and difficult seas, and it is easy to see that as a parallel with the American Civil War. The captain perishes in the end after managing to get them back to shore. The poem is a rather easy extended metaphor to understand as Abraham Lincoln is still highly respected to this day because of his involvement in the American Civil War and its ultimate end (alongside the end of slavery in the country), and, only shortly after the conclusion of that war, he was shot and killed.

The poem explores the feelings that Walt Whitman had about the president.

Hush’d Be the Camps To-Day (1865)

Hush’d Be the Camps To-Day is another of the poems that serves as a tribute to Abraham Lincoln. However, this poem is not quite as famous as O Captain! My Captain! Regardless of that, this poem has come to be considered an immensely important tribute to the life and death of the President of the United States. The poem serves as a way of expressing the grief that he experiences thanks to the loss of the president while also admiring said president and the impact that said president had on the country.

Hush’d Be the Camps To-Day (1865) by Walt Whitman; Walt Whitman, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The general idea behind this poem is that it calls upon the various camps in the country to become quiet in respect to the man who has died. This is a common means of honoring the dead as the idea of a moment of silence has become deeply ingrained in our collective culture. We see silent contemplation on the thoughts of those who have perished as a means of respecting and commemorating those we remain silent for. The idea of “camps” is one directly concerned with the American Civil War which had only just come to an end, and the death of Lincoln is seen as the final point of that end.

Walt Whitman’s poem is concerned with the soldiers who fought in that war, the soldiers who can now retire their weapons and commemorate the death of their commander in the war that is, at last, over.

Pioneers! O Pioneers! (1865)

Pioneers! O Pioneers! is a poem by Walt Whitman that may not hold up as much as it once did with its celebratory nature. The reason for this is that the poem is concerned with the American nation’s westward expansion that led to the exploration of states like California and the Gold Rush that would become prominent in the region. This period of time was integral to the development of the United States as it stands today, but a highly celebratory mood like this may not suit many modern sensibilities.

First edition cover of O Pioneers! (nd); AnonymousUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

While westward expansion in the United States may have been important for the development of the country, it also often involved conflict with Native American peoples and led to a variety of treaties that were generally quickly broken to make way for further expansion. The highly celebratory nature of this particular poem is indicative of the time period though, and many white Americans highly celebrated the “pioneers” who journeyed across the region. The poem does also touch on ideas concerning Manifest Destiny, which was the idea that white Americans of European descent had been ordained by a higher, divine power, to settle the entirety of North America.

This idea has received significant pushback in recent years but was a common belief at the time.

A Noiseless Patient Spider (1868)

A Noiseless Patient Spider is a poem by Walt Whitman focused on exactly what the title says that it is focused on: a spider. The spider is used as a metaphor for something larger and more human, but the poem opens with an examination of the spider on its own. The spider spins its web and continues to toil away in its environment, but this changes as it shifts into the second portion of the poem.

A Noiseless Patient Spider (1868); Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, and Kenneth M. Price, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The second stanza transitions to an examination of the speaker and the spider, and their connection to one another. The speaker, who is a human, considers themselves to be similar to the spider that spins its webs as the speaker is also constantly looking for connection in much the same way. The speaker is throwing out their own webs to catch something. This poem’s metaphor is a poignant one that serves as a strong means of understanding the ways in which humans may seek out connections while also making a direct comparison to the non-human animals that we share our world with.

The metaphors that Walt Whitman poems often explore can be powerful to many.

This Dust Was Once the Man (1871)

This Dust Was Once the Man is the last of the many poems that Walt Whitman wrote about Abraham Lincoln, although this one was written significantly later than the others in this series of poems about Abraham Lincoln. The poem is concerned with what Lincoln seemingly did in his life for the United States of America, and the poem makes specific reference to Lincoln as being the one who saved the country from the worst crime in its history.

This Dust Was Once the Man (1871); Walt Whitman, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

There are a few contenders for that terrible crime, and it could have been the secession of the Confederate States from the rest of the Union, or it could have been the very obvious crime of slavery that was rampant in the country before the American Civil War. However, this elegy is a short one and it does not go into all that much detail. One of the fascinating aspects of this poem is its shortness. Many Walt Whitman poems tend to be rather lengthy things that explore topics in some depth, but the brevity of this particular poem is what makes it such a poignant one. It also no longer refers to Lincoln with the kind of elevated tone he used in his other poems about the man, and instead referred to him as dust.

It had been years since the assassination of the president, and so he had likely become closer to dust than he had been earlier in his death.

Song of Myself (1892)

Song of Myself is one of the later poems by Walt Whitman and is concerned with the self. This is the concept of who we are as people. We are all selves and together we serve as others to other selves, and this poem explores that idea by discussing the ways in which we can move towards a more spiritual form of the self as we move our way through our lives.

Portrait of Walt Whitman (1887–88) by Thomas Eakins; Thomas Eakins, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The concept of the self is a long-running one in many different forms of philosophy around the world. The self leads to our identities and the way that we perceive ourselves in this world. Is the self something truly universal that forms part of the life cycle of the planet or is it more individualized? What is definite is that it is something that is constantly changing, as has been explored in some of the poems above. In Walt Whitman’s poem, the answer lies in a more spiritual direction.

The poem is a rather interesting blend of biographical elements of the poet in question and a sermon of sorts. It makes use of a number of different scenes to show the different elements of the self that Walt Whitman wishes to explore and reveal to us. The poem is also considered to have very strong Transcendentalist influences in it.

There are not all that many poets who can achieve the kind of influence that Walt Whitman was able to achieve, and he is also noted as one of the poets who attained much of that fame after his death. This is why we have examined and discussed ten of his most famous poems in this article today. We have looked at a number of different poems by Walt Whitman, but there are a great many other poems by the Father of Free Verse Poetry that are also worth reading and analyzing if you get the chance. He left behind quite an array of work, and much of it is worth a perusal.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who Was Walt Whitman?

Walt Whitman was an American writer who is best known for his poetry. His work has become immensely influential and has often come to be seen as some of the most important of the 19^th century. One of the reasons for his immense fame is thanks to the notion that he has been given the moniker of the Father of Free Verse Poetry. While he did also write in styles other than free verse, and some of his most famous poems are not in free verse at all, Walt Whitman poems have generally been placed under this label. His work was also, at the time of its publication, considered to be controversial because of some of the sensual elements that were perceived to be obscene.

What Kind of Poetry Did Walt Whitman Write?

Seeing as Walt Whitman has come to be called the Father of Free Verse Poetry, it’s safe to say that he wrote a lot of free verse poetry. However, Walt Whitman poems come in many different shapes and sizes, and he did write a number of more traditional poems. Regardless of this, his work is typically noted for the fresh style that he implemented, and his more cavalier attitude towards a number of different topics that were considered to be more controversial at the time of their publication. Some of these elements lead to him receiving less critical acclaim during his life.

What Are the Most Famous Poems by Walt Whitman?

When it comes to the many poems by Walt Whitman, there are numerous famous examples. He wrote a large collection of poetry during his life, and for that reason, among others, he has many famous poems, but some of the most notable include When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer (1865), O Captain! My Captain! (1865), and Song of Myself (1892). There are many other famous poems by Walt Whitman out there that are worth reading and analyzing. 

What Are the Most Famous Walt Whitman Love Poems?

Walt Whitman is not necessarily known for his love poems, but there have been a number of fantastic Walt Whitman love poems. Some of them include poems like I Dream’d in a Dream (1860), Sometimes with One I Love (1867), and To You (1897). However, it does also depend on how one defines a term like love because Whitman’s multiple poems about Abraham Lincoln could be termed a kind of love poem, such as O Captain! My Captain! (1865). However, it would be debatable whether this could be classified as an example of one of the few Walt Whitman love poems in the traditional sense of the word.

Which Poets Did Walt Whitman Inspire?

Walt Whitman poems have been immensely influential. Seeing as free verse poetry, for which Whitman was well known, would go on to become one of the most used styles of the 20^th and 21^st centuries, his influence can be seen in many poets. There are even poets who were inspired by the many poets who were, in turn, inspired by Whitman, and so his indirect influence is likely even greater than his direct influence. Some of those include Ezra Pound, William Carlos Williams, Allen Ginsberg, Pablo Neruda, and Langston Hughes. There are, as has been stated, many more that were inspired by the many Walt Whitman poems in the world.

The post Walt Whitman Poems – Explore the Best This Poet Has to Offer% first appeared on Art in Context.

Famous Mary Oliver Poems

Mary Oliver is considered to be one of the greatest poets of the 20th century, and her work has become acclaimed, such as by winning the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the National Book Award. Her work would go on to inspire many others who would follow in her footsteps. She passed away in 2019 and left behind a rich and prolific array of poetry and essay collections, although she is best known for the poetry she produced rather than any of the essays.

Many of her poems focused on the natural world. This will be a common occurrence as we look at this list of some of the most famous Mary Oliver poems. Her love of and dedication to the natural world can be seen in her work, and a poem by Mary Oliver is often incomplete without some kind of a relation to the natural world. However, she did also explore topics like human nature, interconnectivity, and transformation. So, let’s have a look at some of the most famous Mary Oliver poems and see what makes them tick.

The Journey (1963)

The Journey is a poem by Mary Oliver that was originally published in her collection No Voyage and Other Poems. This particular collection was her first ever poetry collection and, as such, it has a special place in the history of Mary Oliver’s poetry collections. This makes The Journey one of the oldest poems written and published by Mary Oliver. This may have also contributed to it being one of the most famous Mary Oliver poems.

This particular poem is concerned with life. Many instances of poetry are concerned with a variety of aspects of life, but The Journey is specifically focused on the idea of taking charge of your own life.

It is about ignoring the kinds of voices and influences that might lead you astray or cause you to question yourself. Instead, the poem emphasizes listening to yourself and not heeding the voices of those around you. This can be seen in various parts of the poem, such as the third to fifth lines, which state that: “though the voices around you/kept shouting/their bad advice”. This shows how Mary Oliver examines the way in which those around us may continuously push their own ideas into our minds and attempt to force us to see things their way, but that “you knew what you had to do” and so you start to see through the noise of others to instead gaze inwards to understand what it is that you truly want over what they want from you.

Wild Geese (1986)

Wild Geese is perhaps the most famous poem by Mary Oliver, and it was published in her Dream Work collection. This particular poem shows some of her greatest contributions to the field of nature poetry. Many of the most famous Mary Oliver poems are concerned with the natural world, and this particular poem is a phenomenal example of the kind of poetry for which Mary Oliver became so well-known.

The poem concerns itself with wild geese, as the title suggests. However, this is not simply to focus on wild geese alone.

Instead, this poem by Mary Oliver suggests a certain connection that may exist between wild geese and humans. This interconnectedness between humans and non-human animals is a staple of the work of Mary Oliver, and the poet makes use of this comparison to discuss the ways in which humans are quite like the geese that she observes in that they may be solitary creatures, yet they belong to a family.

The final few lines of the poem have become some of the most notable because of this. They examine the way in which humans, no matter how lonely they may be, are not quite as alone as they may appear. They, like the wild geese, are all part of the “family of things” that surrounds us all. We are all part of this world even when we may feel that we are disconnected from it. This kind of positivity can be found in many of the most famous Mary Oliver poems.

The Summer Day (1990)

The Summer Day is a poem that asks many questions. The poem was first published in the House of Light collection, and it has gone on to be one of the best poems by Mary Oliver. This particular poem makes use of a number of rhetorical questions, and it uses this to propose a certain way of living one’s life and attempting to understand what is around us. It does this, like many of the most famous Mary Oliver poems, by examining the natural world that can be found right outside our homes.

The poem asks questions such as who created the world, who made the various creatures around us, and what all is there to do in this world.

It pays particular attention to a grasshopper, and this grasshopper becomes the point of focus for these kinds of questions. It specifically questions the way that the grasshopper lives her life in comparison to the way that the speaker lives her life. The grasshopper appears capable of doing things that her human observer could never do.

The poem, for instance, examines the specific anatomy and behavior of the grasshopper, but it also does so by examining the lack of similar abilities in the human animal. It states that the human, through the eyes of the speaker, cannot hop into the grass like a grasshopper, cannot be content to remain idle all day and to simply hop throughout the place without the cares of a human. It ends by asking us about death. Will what we have done be seen as good enough after we are gone? Has she done enough? We only have “one wild and precious life”, so what are we going to do with it?

Dogfish (1992)

Dogfish is a darker poem than some of the most famous Mary Oliver poems, but it is also a stunning example of her dedication to an understanding and appreciation of the natural world. For those unfamiliar with dogfish, they are a type of shark, although they are not as large as the kinds of sharks that we tend to associate with the term. And a poem that concerns itself with a shark is also one that likely concerns itself with the kind of danger that they pose to the creatures around them.

Dogfish are generally not large enough to present much of a threat to humans, and in the poem, the speaker feels no threat from them.

Instead, the poem examines the threat that these creatures pose to others. However, the poem examines this danger while also drawing particular attention to the mentality of the human who is observing these creatures. At first, the poem focuses on the beauty of the dogfish, but that soon changes when three other fish enter the scene.

These three other fish are swimming around, and the dogfish is coming towards them. The dogfish would easily be able to eat and kill every single one of them, and it is described in the poem as something effortless. The speaker does not want this to happen and thinks that “those little fish/better wake up and dash themselves away” before they meet a “hopeless future”. This kind of hopeless future is also one that the speaker fears, but if the fish can escape their fate, then perhaps the speaker can also escape her own.

When Death Comes (1992)

When Death Comes is a poem by Mary Oliver that was published in her highly acclaimed collection New and Selected Poems, and this particular poem is concerned with life and death. It does so through the use of a variety of similes that directly compare the life of the speaker to various aspects of the natural world. These aspects are not considered to be those that are particularly positive in any sense of the word. However, the ultimate musing of the poem is a hopeful one.

The poem uses many different similes throughout its first half, such as death coming because of a hungry bear or measles.

This death image is directly connected to aspects of nature such as this. They are often dark and grisly ways to die, and the phrase “when death comes” is repeated throughout the poem. This phrase is also the title of this poem by Mary Oliver, and the constant repetition of this phrase reinforces that the focus is on death and the inevitability of it. It does not say if death comes, but when death comes.

However, for all the negative imagery of death and dismay, the poem is also concerned with the positives that may arise out of this immense sadness. The poem fixates on “when it’s all over” in the last few stanzas, and it does this to ultimately conclude with the idea that “I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world”. Death may come, but she does not want to leave this world having done nothing. She wants to have done something with her life, something good, something meaningful. This is likely a feeling that many can understand.

August (1993)

August is one of the most famous Mary Oliver poems and a stunning example of a purely animalistic poem that does not concern itself with humans in any sense. Instead, it is solely focused on the life of a bear. This particular bear is also enjoying itself as it eats blackberries. That is what the poem is about, and that is all that it truly needs to be about, but one of the more interesting formal aspects of this poem is that it makes use of enjambment between stanzas. This means that each stanza runs into every other stanza as if there was no pause between them.

Each stanza, thanks to this flow, does not much stand on its own and instead focuses on a continuous narrative about this poem.

It describes the way in which the bear eats berries that do not belong to anyone, and the bear spends the whole day taking more and more berries as they are pushed into his mouth, and that this is a lovely thing. The poem also ends with the delightful image of the bear’s now black tongue as it states that it is a “happy tongue” because of all the tasty blackberries that were eaten.

However, other than this simple story, the poem also says something very interesting in the second-last stanza by stating that the bear “accepts what it is”. This kind of self-acceptance is one that humans often struggle to grasp. The bear does not need to concern himself with the kinds of fears and worries that humans perpetually allow themselves to be concerned with. The bear simply lives his life, and he lives its life while doing what he loves: eating. What could be better than that?

Starlings in Winter (2006)

Starlings in Winter is a poem by Mary Oliver that examines life and the natural world around us, and it is one of the poems from the stunningly named collection, Owls and Other Fantasies: Poems and Essays. This particular poem makes use of the imagery of starlings in winter, as the title suggests, and uses this to examine ideas such as grief, resilience, and freedom. The poem is one of the most famous Mary Oliver poems from the 21^st century.

While many Mary Oliver poems are concerned directly with the natural world, this poem makes immediate use of human imagery alongside animal imagery.

The very first stanza looks at the way that the starlings, a natural creature, stands on and springs off a telephone wire, a human-made thing. The beauty of natural creatures can transcend the constraints of the human and animal worlds. The beauty of nature can be found where nature may no longer exist in an untainted capacity.

The poem focuses on the way that they are “acrobats/in the freezing wind”, the way that they fly over and around buildings despite the freezing cold. They are free as they soar through the air and make their way through the world in a way that they see fit. After this image, the poem returns to the human who is reflecting on these animals that flap their way through the cityscape, and they remind her that even in the city, there are lessons from the natural world and that there is much for us to learn.

The Uses of Sorrow (2007)

The Uses of Sorrow is one of the best short Mary Oliver poems ever produced, and it is a simple thing that was published in the Thirst collection. This particular poem is short, but poignant regardless of that. It starts with an epigraph about where the poem’s inspiration came from, and it came from dreams. This already gives it an ethereal kind of inspiration, and the fact that the inspiration is stated at all is a rather strange and unusual thing.

After this first line, the poem only makes use of two couplet stanzas.

The first of which states that there was someone who loved her and gave her a box of darkness, and that is likely a metaphor for a particular way of being. It could represent something disturbed or unhealthy. The use of the expression “someone I loved once” also indicates that this is not someone who continues to be an object of her affection.

The final stanza says that it took “years to understand” that this darkness she received was also “a gift”. This immensely short poem by Mary Oliver shows the ways in which the “darkness, which could be a representation of trauma of some kind, is part of what makes us into what we become later in life. Even the darkest moments of our lives have something to give us, even if what they give us is something that we may wish, at the moment, was never given to us. In retrospect, we may see it as a gift of sorts, but at the time, we cannot see it that way at all.

The Swan (2010)

The Swan is one of the latest poems in this list by Mary Oliver, and it is concerned with ideas surrounding change and beauty. In more specific terms, it makes use of the image of a swan. It is a highly descriptive poem that spends much of the time examining a particular poem through a series of questions that are presented to the reader through a series of lines that feature enjambment. This means that each of the lines flows into the next line without requiring a pause of any kind between them.

The poem opens by asking us if we also saw “it” as it drifted on the river at night.

We do not yet know what it is, aside from our fundamental understanding that comes from the title of the poem itself. After the night-time image of the creature, it asks if we saw it in the morning. The swan is soon described, but never actually named. The title of the poem and the descriptions that are presented should be enough for us to be able to identify the creature that has become the object of examination in this poem.

However, the image of the swan is only there to evoke an idea within us. The reader, or the one to whom the speaker addresses, switches to asking if we can feel it in our hearts. The speaker asks if we have “finally figured out what beauty is for” and if it has “changed your life”. These kinds of questions are meant to be provocative things that force us to question our own ideas of beauty, its purpose, and whether our lives have been affected and changed by seeing something that is so supremely and naturally stunning.

Don’t Hesitate (2017)

Don’t Hesitate is the last poem on this list of famous Mary Oliver poems. In the case of this particular poem, it is a celebration of life and joy. It is a poem that tells the reader that they need to seize the day, that they need to take life by the horns and do what needs to be done to make them happy. It does not matter what others consider to be important or anything else. All that matters is that you do what you want to do in your life.

The poem starts by saying that if you feel joy, you shouldn’t hesitate against it.

You should “give in to it”, because many people, when they are happy, will question why that is the case. However, this fantastic poem by Mary Oliver denies that. It instead says that we should not care about something like that. We should embrace what we want in this life with everything that we have.

The poem looks at how life can be redeemed even when it has sunk to terrible depth, and nothing is proceeding as one may wish it to proceed. It states that even when “much can never be redeemed” that “life has some possibility left”, and that is worth pursuing. For a final poem in this list of famous Mary Oliver poems, it’s great that this one should be about something so positive against some of the darker poems that have since been explored.

We have examined a number of different long and short Mary Oliver poems over the course of this article, and we discussed each of these poems in some depth to give a good overview of the kind of work that Mary Oliver produced. Mary Oliver was one of the greatest poets of the second half of the 20th century and the early years of the 21st century, and her influence cannot easily be measured. Hopefully, this list of the most famous Mary Oliver poems has provided a good selection of the kind of work that she produced, but there are many other Mary Oliver poems out there that are also worth reading.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who Was Mary Oliver?

Mary Oliver was an American poet who was born in 1935 and passed away in 2019. Her work was often inspired by the natural world. She was considered to be one of the bestselling poets of her generation, and thanks to the wide circulation of her work, she came to be considered one of the greatest poets of the second half of the 20th century and the early years of the 21st century. She also won a variety of awards for her work over her long and illustrious career.

What Themes Did Mary Oliver Usually Explore?

Many long and short Mary Oliver poems explored a number of topics. The most common topic that she explored was the natural world. Much of her work was concerned with nature, but themes such as life, the human experience, death, and the interconnectedness of the world became other common themes. These themes often intermingled with her broader interest in the natural world.

Which Are the Most Famous Mary Oliver Poems?

There are many famous Mary Oliver poems that are worth our time and attention, but some of the most famous of them all include Wild Geese (1986), The Summer Day (1990), and August (1993). However, she produced many poetry collections over the course of her life and career, and many of those collections are also worth reading and analyzing. Many of these poems were concerned with the broader theme of the natural world, which was prevalent in her work.

What Type of Poetry Did Mary Oliver Write?

While Mary Oliver did write poetry in a number of different forms, she is perhaps best known for her use of free verse poetry. This particular type of poetry is noted for its lack of conformity to many of the standard rules of poetry that are often considered to be immensely important. This lack of rigid structures allowed Mary Oliver to produce some fantastic poems throughout her career that could be highly variable in their general structure and presentation.

Did Mary Oliver Only Write Poetry?

While Mary Oliver is most known for her poetry, she did not only produce poetry during her life. Other than poetry, she was known for producing a number of non-fiction texts, such as essay collections. Her essays explored a number of different topics, but they are not generally considered the reason that many know her work. However, her mastery of many different formats has led to her being seen as a phenomenal writer of poetry and prose.

Which Poets Inspired Mary Oliver?

One of the biggest influences on Mary Oliver was Edna St. Vincent Millay. A variety of other poets would also have a major influence on the development of the many long and short Mary Oliver poems that she produced throughout her life. Some of those other poets include Walt Whitman, Elizabeth Bishop, and John Muir. Her work has gone on to be an inspiration to many others.

Which Awards Did Mary Oliver Win?

Mary Oliver was considered to be a critically acclaimed poet, and she won a number of awards during her career. For instance, she won general awards like the Lannan Literary Award in 1998, but she also won several specific awards for texts that she had written, such as the 1984 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for her American Primitive collection, and the 1992 National Book Award for Poetry for her New and Selected Poems collection.

The post Famous Mary Oliver Poems – Discover Her Greatest Works% first appeared on Art in Context.

Some of the Most Famous Poets

Trying to narrow down a list of the greatest poets of all time can be a very difficult thing for a number of reasons. Some of the most obvious issues with this include the fact that fame is a subjective thing, and so while some may agree with these being some of the most famous poets in history, others may disagree. Fame is often associated with influence, but some of the most influential poets, as in those who invented forms or innovated in a variety of ways, are not always the most famous.

For that reason, there are some choices in this list that you may not agree with. Perhaps you feel that some of the greatest poets of all time have been excluded from this list, and it is, sadly, impossible to discuss every single great, famous, influential, and popular poet in one list in one article. This is doubly true for poets who are very particular to a certain culture or language.

Songs of Shakespeare (1865) by Harriette Charlotte; William Shakespeare, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Most of the poets that we have discussed in this article wrote in the English language. Those who didn’t write in English are generally considered to be such major writers that their work has been extensively translated into a variety of other languages. This is especially true of a figure such as the very first one on this list, who is considered to be one of the greatest poets of all time and an immensely important figure in the development of Western literature in general.

Lastly, this list is in chronological order, and it does not attempt to classify according to some measure of who is the most famous. However, chronological arrangements of influence can also often correlate with influence as the older the poet, the more likely they are to have influenced more poets over the years. A fantastic poet who published their first poem a year ago is not as likely to have influenced as many people as someone who wrote over two millennia ago. 

So, now that those points are out of the way, let’s look at twenty of the most famous poets in history.

Homer (8^th Century BCE) from Chios

Homer is the best-known and most influential poet from the ancient Greek period. His works would go on to inspire the majority of Greek poetry that followed on from him, and his work was even exalted by philosophical figures like Aristotle.

Bust of Homer (c. 2nd Century AD); British Museum, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

He is best known for the epics The Iliad and The Odyssey, and his work would even go on to be foundational in later understandings and interpretations of ancient Greek myth.

The influence that this figure exerted on poetry over the centuries cannot be understated.

Dante Alighieri (1265 – 1321) from Florence

Dante Alighieri was an Italian poet who is best known for one major text known as The Divine Comedy. This text would go on to have a major influence on Catholicism, especially the first part of this text.

Dante Alighieri (1920) by Adolfo de Carolis; Adolfo de Carolis, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

His famous poem concerns a character’s descent through the Inferno (hell), in the first part, followed by his ascent through Purgatory and then Paradise (heaven), in the second and third parts. The Inferno part of the long and complex poem is famous for its popularization of the concept of the Seven Deadly Sins. 

They form the basis of the punishments that are shown in this iteration of hell.

William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616) from Stratford-upon-Avon

William Shakespeare is, by far, the most influential figure in the history of English literature. His influence comes from far more than only his poetry though as he is best known for his many plays, such as Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, and Macbeth).

William Shakespeare (1876) by Charles William Sherborn; William Shakespeare, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

His primary poetic contribution came in the form of his collection of 154 sonnets that have solidified the use of the Shakespearean sonnet as a major aspect of English-language sonnet history. His immense influence also had an influence on the English language, as many expressions and terms that first appeared in his work have become commonly used in subsequent years. 

He has also gained the title “The Bard” because of his staggering influence on practically all subsequent English writers.

John Milton (1608 – 1674) from London

John Milton was a figure who was noted as a major poet shortly after the life of William Shakespeare, and he is best known for his long religious poem Paradise Lost.

John Milton (1760) Giovanni Battista Cipriani; John Milton, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

This text is concerned with the fall of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden and the fall of the angels from heaven, and one of the most famous lines from his text has become an immensely famous quote because Satan states at one point that “it is better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.” 

Later in his life, he would become blind, but he continued to produce work through dictation to others.

William Blake (1757 – 1827) from London

William Blake was a figure during the Romantic period who, unlike many of the others who would go on to immense fame, was not well-known during his life.

Portrait of William Blake (1807) Thomas Phillips; Thomas Phillips, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

His poetry and his paintings would eventually go on to become considered some of the most important examples of poetry from the Romantic era that have ever been produced. Much of his work is focused on religious topics, and some of his most famous paintings are highly apocalyptic. 

An example of this is his Great Red Dragon paintings.

Robert Burns (1759 – 1796) from Alloway

Robert Burns is generally considered to be the national poet of Scotland. His work was often written in a Scottish dialect but written in such a way that it could be read outside of the country.

Robert Burns (1787) by Alexander Nasmyth; Alexander Nasmyth, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

A lot of his work was political and deeply satirical in nature, and he would later go on to become an important cultural figure in Scotland to this day. 

He is frequently considered to be the greatest Scottish writer in history.

Lord Byron (1788 – 1824) from London

Lord Byron was one of the most famous of all the Romantic poets. His work was considered integral to the movement, and some of his best-known works are his long narrative texts, like Don Juan.

George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (1813) by Richard Westall; Richard Westall, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

However, he is also well-known for his off-the-page behavior. He could be seen as an early model for a kind of rockstar lifestyle as he had multiple affairs and found his way into controversial events over the course of his life before dying in his mid-thirties. 

His only legitimate child was the noted mathematician Ada Lovelace, who would become one of the most important figures in early computing.

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 – 1822) from Warnham

Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the most important figures in the Romantic period, and he is likely best known in the modern day for his texts like Ozymandias.

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1819) by Amelia Curran; After Amelia Curran, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons 

He was an idealistic figure and spent much of his personal life fighting for various social justice causes, such as standing against oppression and authority while also advocating for things like animal welfare and vegetarianism. In addition, he was married to Mary Shelley. 

Mary Shelley is perhaps more famous than he is in terms of literature as she wrote the seminal and immensely influential text, Frankenstein.

John Keats (1795 – 1821) from London

John Keats is considered to be one of the greatest of the later generation of Romantic poets, but he only actually published his work for a handful of years before contracting tuberculosis and passing away at the age of 25.

Portrait of John Keats (c. 1822) by William Hilton; William Hilton, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

His work was not as well-received until after his death, but after he had passed away, his work would become considered some of the most seminal instances of Romantic poetry ever written with poems like Ode to a Nightingale and Ode to a Grecian Urn. 

These are some of the most famous and widely cited examples of Romantic poetry ever written.

Edgar Allan Poe (1809 – 1849) from Boston

Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most famous poets from the United States, and an interesting figure because of his influence outside of the country. He is often noted for his wide range of literature and other writings, such as his short stories and criticism, but his poetry is seen as some of the best in the Romantic and Gothic traditions.

Edgar Allan Poe (1849); See Page for Author Information, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

His best-known poem is, by far, The Raven, which shows the darker sensibilities under which he wrote. He never achieved much success in his life and, after passing away, was the subject of a ruthless campaign to undermine who he had been in life, but he has since become one of the most important American writers of all time. 

In addition, he created the detective genre that would go on to inspire the works of figures like Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes character.

Walt Whitman (1819 – 1892) from Huntington

Walt Whitman is considered to be one of the most important and influential American poets of all time. His work was often a lot more realistic in its presentation, and he has come to be known as the “Father of Free Verse”.

Walt Whitman (1889) by John White Alexander; John White Alexander, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

As free verse poetry has become a major aspect of poetry in the modern era, his influence cannot be understated. However, at the time, he was also considered controversial. 

This was because of his cavalier attitude towards topics such as sexuality in some of his works. 

Emily Dickinson (1830 – 1886) from Amherst

Emily Dickinson was an American poet who went entirely unrecognized throughout the course of her life. Several of her friends were aware of her poetry, but it was only after she died, that a massive collection of poems was discovered.

Daguerreotype of Emily Dickinson (c. 1847); See page for author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

She has since become one of the most famous poets to have ever lived and an important figure for her free verse style, lack of conventional poetic rules, and slant rhyme work. 

The combination of her eccentricity in life and her staggeringly prolific body of work has made her a figure of fascination for many.

Oscar Wilde (1854 – 1900) from Dublin

Oscar Wilde is known for far more than poetry, and he is likely best-known for being one of the most popular playwrights of his time.

Oscar Wilde (1882); Napoleon Sarony, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

His personal life is what became some of the most well-known aspects of his history because while he was a poet and novelist on top of his work as a playwright, he was also caught up in a political and legal affair after being arrested, put on trial, and eventually arrested for homosexual acts. He has become an important figure in queer history. 

His early death has contributed to his fame even though the last few years of his life were spent far from the kind of fame he had achieved prior to his conviction.

W. B. Yeats (1865 – 1939) from Sandymount

B. Yeats is one of the most famous and notable Irish poets who would have a major influence on Modernist poetry. His work was a major factor that led to the Irish Literary Revival era.

William Butler Yeats (1911); George Charles Beresford, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

He eventually served as a politician in the Irish Free State and became a large enough figure in world literature that he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923. 

Some of his most popular works include The Tower and The Winding Stair and Other Poems.

Ezra Pound (1885 – 1972) from Hailey

Ezra Pound is one of the most famous poets in the Modernist tradition and one of the most influential to have ever lived.

Ezra Pound standing on a pavement nearby a canal. Venice (1963) by Walter Mori; Walter Mori (Mondadori Publishers), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

However, his work has become controversial because of his association with Italian fascism. He would be a friend of figures like T.S. Eliot, and some of his best-remembered works are ones such as The Ripostes. 

Another great poem is his lengthy epic poem The Cantos.

T. S. Eliot (1888 – 1965) from St. Louis

T.S. Eliot was one of the most famous poets, but also an immensely important and significant figure in 20th-century literature in general. He wrote on a wide array of topics and in a number of mediums, such as poetry, essays, plays, and criticism.

Lord David Cecil (left) and T. S. Eliot (1923) by Lady Ottoline Morrell; Ottoline Morrell, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons 

He was also an important figure in book publishing and became noted for discovering some of the most important figures of the 20^th century. His works like The Waste Land and The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock have solidified his place as one of the most influential Modernist poets of all time. 

However, his work is also often considered to be a driving force behind the proliferation of highly complex and difficult-to-read poetry that has come to dominate the way many people view poetry in the modern day.

e.e cummings (1894 – 1962) from Cambridge

e.e cummings, who often wrote his name in this stylized manner, was an important and influential figure in Modernist poetry.

e.e. cummings (1953) by Walter Albertin; New York World-Telegram and the Sun staff photographer: Albertin, Walter, photographer., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

He is one of the most famous poets in the writing of free-form poetry that broke the conventions of ordinary poetry. He wrote thousands of poems over the course of his life, and they are often noted for their use of lower-case spelling, strange typographies, odd syntax, and a generally strange and unusual presentation. 

His style of poetry would be emulated by many after his death and into the present day.

Charles Bukowski (1920 – 1994) from Andernach

Charles Bukowski is often considered to be one of the most famous poets in the 20th-century American literary scene.

A Collection of Books by Charles Bukowski (2019); Tintin1994, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

His work is often noted for being concerned with working-class people, alcoholism, writing, work, and women. He is often noted for having a far more obscene and frank means of expression than many poets are known to have, and for this reason, there are many who perceive his work to be vulgar and crass. 

However, his realistic and frank portrayals of the real world have made him a notable and often-loved figure in American literary history.

Ted Hughes (1930 – 1998) from Mytholmroyd

Ted Hughes was an important poet in the 20^th century and has often been considered one of the best of his time. His work is often concerned with animals, and he is noted for having a realistic portrayal of aspects such as animal behavior in many of his most popular works.

Book cover Birthday Letter (2002) by Ted Hughes; Quynhngo29, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

One of the things for which he is perhaps best known is his marriage to Sylvia Plath, who committed suicide while they were still married to one another. 

After her death, he continued to write and eventually attained the title of Poet Laureate.

Sylvia Plath (1932 – 1963) from Boston

Sylvia Plath is one of the most famous poets to have ever lived, but she passed away at a young age after taking her own life. Her poetry, and her one novel, have made her one of the most notable writers of the 20^th century. Her work often dealt with mental illness and her life as a woman. She was an important figure in the establishment of confessional poetry, and she became a feminist and mental health icon after her passing.

And with this final entry in our list, we come to the conclusion of our look at the most famous poets in history. While this list can certainly be considered incomplete, as there could be others that would be beneficial to add to this list, this article should give a good overview of many of the most popular poets in history. There are many other famous poets in the world who have written in a variety of time periods, for a number of purposes, and in a multitude of languages, but alas we did not have space for everyone!

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is a Poet?

In an incredibly basic sense, a poet is a person who writes poetry. In the same way that a novelist is a person who writes novels, or a filmmaker makes films, a poet produces poetry. However, there are often many associations that come with the label. Poets are often noted for their imaginative or expressive abilities and a clear command of the language that they use in their poetry. They are generally seen as those who are capable of distilling thought into an evocative form that often requires some kind of deeper interpretation to understand, although this is not always the case.

Who Is the Most Influential Poet in the English Language?

It’s quite possible that the most influential writer in the English language, in general, is William Shakespeare. However, his work in poetry may not be as influential. While he did write a few poems that were not sonnets, the vast majority of his poetic output was in the Shakespearean sonnet form. This form is not as common as it used to be, but after Shakespeare, it is possible that the Romantics were the most influential. They were influential as a movement, and none of them as individuals were as influential as Shakespeare.

Who Is the Most Famous Living Poet?

Determining the most famous poets who are still alive can be a difficult thing, as many poets become immensely famous after their death. However, figures like Wendell Berry and Carol Ann Duffy are considered to be some of the most popular poets who are still alive. In addition, figures like Margaret Atwood, who is likely best known in the public consciousness for novels such as The Handmaid’s Tale (1985), are also renowned poets despite being better known for other mediums. Determining a definitive answer to a question such as this is a difficult thing to accomplish.

Are Poets As Popular As They Used to Be?

This is a difficult question, as contemporary poets are often not as elevated as some of the most famous poets in history used to be elevated, but there are more poems being produced than ever before (along with more of every artistic medium). There are more places to publish poetry and to read poetry, and if we also look to lyric-based music, which often follows poetic rules, then some of the most popular musicians are also some of the most popular poets. However, there can also be arguments made that many of these kinds of poems are not as revered as poems from the past, but this could also change as what is contemporary now becomes historical in the coming decades and years.

What Is the Most Famous Poetry Movement?

It is likely that the Romantic movement is the most famous of all the poetry movements. The reason for this is because many of the primary figures within the Romantic movement also became akin to celebrities, and some members of the movement, such as Lord Byron, became known for their off-the-page behavior. Their work was often focused on emotionality, a celebration of the natural world, a critique of the developed world, and individuality.

The post Most Famous Poets – The Top 20 Best Writers of Prose% first appeared on Art in Context.

Some Quick Facts About William Shakespeare

Before we dive into the details about this iconic writer in history, let us take a look at a few popular facts.

• When was William Shakespeare born? He was born on the 26th of April.
• Where was William Shakespeare born? The town of Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire was his birthplace.
• When did William Shakespeare die? He passed away in April 1616 in the same town where he was born.

The Cobbe Portrait of William Shakespeare (1610) by an unknown artist; Cobbe Collection, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

• How many works did William Shakespeare write? His works include 154 sonnets, two narrative poems (as well as other poems), and 38 plays.
• What was Shakespeare’s real name? Gulielmus Shakespeare was the name recorded at Shakespeare’s baptism in 1564. Gulielmus is Latin and means William in English, and he was referred to as William Shakespeare by most of his contemporaries. In addition, ‘Will’ was what he called himself in his poems.

Who Was William Shakespeare?

An English poet, actor, and playwright during the Jacobean and Elizabethan periods of British theater, Shakespeare’s writings are his lasting legacy and millions of people around the world still enjoy his poems and plays as many of the themes are still relevant today and resonate with people. He shows a deep understanding of human nature through each of his characters and because the stories that he produced are so timeless, they have formed the basis for many movies and novels. 

Unfortunately, there is no surviving written record of William Shakespeare’s physical appearance, and there does not seem to be any evidence suggesting that a portrait was ever commissioned by him.

However, there is the Droeshout engraving (1623), which is the frontispiece for the page of the First Folio collection of plays. This engraving is a portrait of him that was produced by Martin Droeshout, and is one of two works that definitively depicts Shakespeare.

Portrait of William Shakespeare (1610) attributed to John Taylor; Attributed to John Taylor, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Early Life of William Shakespeare

When was William Shakespeare born? He was baptized in England in 1564 on the 26th of April. And where was William Shakespeare born? The town of Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire was his birthplace, and he passed away there in April 1616. There are surviving records that can tell us about Shakespeare’s family background. His father, John Shakespeare married his mother, Mary Arden and they had eight children together, two of whom died as infants, leaving William as the eldest. John Shakespeare had a job as a glove-maker and fulfilled civic positions in the town of Stratford, becoming an important figure in the community. Because of his position, he would have been able to send his children to the local grammar school where William studied.

When William Shakespeare turned eighteen years old, he married the 26-year old Anne Hathaway and together they had three children, the first of which, Susanna was in Anne’s belly at the wedding ceremony. The two children that came after were Hamnet and Judith, with Hamnet passing away at the age of eleven.

London is where Shakespeare’s career lifted off, however, scholars are unsure of when he went there. In 1585, his two children were baptized, and his reputation had been established in London by 1592. The years in between are a mystery.  Two of Shakespeare’s first printed works were published in there, The Rape of Lucrece (1594) and Venus and Adonis (1593), which remain two of his most famous poems today. He was also a founding member of a company of actors called, The Lord Chamberlain’s Men, for which he became their regular playwright and for almost 20 years produced about two plays each year. For the rest of his career, Shakespeare remained with the company, and with the support of their patron, King James I (b. 1566-1625), it grew to become The King’s Men. Many of Shakespeare’s most well-known romances were written while working with the company, such as The Tempest (1611), and The Winter’s Tale (1611), as well as tragedies like Macbeth (1606) and King Lear (1606).

Shakespeare’s Career as a Playwright

Shakespeare’s works include 154 sonnets, two narrative poems (as well as other poems), and 38 plays, for which no original manuscripts are known to exist. The fact that we have any works of Shakespeare at all is owed to a group of actors at the company that he worked with who collected them for publication after his death. 36 of these plays were brought together in what is called the First Folio, which did not include his poetry.

The Plays of William Shakespeare, vol. 1, containing The Tempest, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Merry Wives of Windsor (1805); William Shakespeare, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Types of Plays

Comedies, tragedies, and histories were the types of plays that Shakespeare wrote. They were all written in the style that was conventional during his time and included rhetorical phrases and detailed metaphors, but he gave an innovative flavor and was freer with his flow of words. Shakespeare mainly used a metrical pattern to write his plays, consisting of lines with iambic pentameter that did not rhyme, or blank verse. 

However, in all the plays there are sections where he strayed from this and used simple prose or other forms of poetry.

Comedies

The Taming of the Shrew (c. 1589) was a comedy and also one of Shakespeare’s first plays. Other comedies that he wrote are A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1605), Merchant of Venice (1605), Much Ado About Nothing (c. 1599), as well as As You Like It (1600). Comedies are a genre of drama that depict amusing events and have a humorous tone, and the characters usually triumph over misfortune or bad luck.  Shakespearean comedies are full of irony and fun, puns and witty wordplay, with complicated plots that have multiple plot lines that always straighten out at the end.

Scene from Taming of the Shrew (1866) by C. R. Leslie R.A; William Luson Thomas, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Tragedies

Tragedies are a genre that is centered on human suffering and the sad and dreadful events that a main character finds themselves in. Some of the best-known tragedies by Shakespeare are Romeo and Juliet (1597), Othello (1604), King Lear (1606), and Macbeth (1606). 

These plays present dramatic and realistic impressions of human nature and disposition that are universal and timeless.

History

Many of the first plays that Shakespeare wrote were histories, such as Richard II (1595), Henry V (1599), as well as Henry VI (1589-1592) which all dramatize the devastating consequences of corrupt or weak rulers. Drama historians have interpreted these plays above as Shakespeare’s way of explaining the beginnings of the Tudor Dynasty. History plays are therefore written about historical events with characters set in the past, and may or may not be historically accurate as they are dramas meant to entertain.

Portrait Richard II of England (1890) by an unknown artist; Westminster Abbey, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Most Famous Plays and Their Themes

As we know by now, Shakespeare wrote many plays, however, there are some that have especially struck the human heart and have remained the most famous. Below, we will list some of Shakespeare’s most famous plays, as well as unpack their themes.

Much Ado About Nothing (c. 1589 – 1599)

This comedy follows the story of a woman who has been falsely accused of being unchaste, featuring themes of deception, love, the ways in which we could be conflicted in relationships, and the place of women in society and the necessity for them to marry. Count Claudio and Hero are the two characters around whom the plot is based, involving misunderstandings along the way. Hero is Claudio’s host’s daughter, and he falls in love with her. Beatrice, Hero’s cousin, is tricked into believing that the bachelor, Benedict, is in love with her, and vice versa. 

A malicious plot is set to deceive Claudio into thinking that Hero is unfaithful, and he, therefore, denounces her before they wed. 

As quoted by Balthasar in act two, scene three:

“Cry no more, ladies, cry no more,

Men have always been deceivers,

With one foot on a ship and one on the shore,

Never faithful to anything.

So don’t cry like that, but let them go,

And be carefree and happy,

Changing all your sad songs Into “Hey, nonny nonny.”

Sing no more laments, sing no more

Mournful tunes so sad and heavy.

Men have always been frauds

Since trees had leaves in summer.

So don’t cry like that, but let them go,

And be carefree and happy,

Changing all your sad songs

Into “Hey, nonny nonny.”

Much Ado About Nothing (1846) by Alfred Elmore; Alfred W. Elmore, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Romeo and Juliet (1597)

The ultimate love story, the play Romeo and Juliet set the stage for many subsequent tales of doomed romances. It was written early in Shakespeare’s career and is about the romance between two Italian youngsters whose families are in a feud with one another. Therefore, the themes of violence, death, and passion flow throughout the story. This situation between the two families, unfortunately, leads Romeo and Juliet to take drastic measures, which ultimately leads to sorrow and both of them taking their own lives. 

Not only is this tragedy a popular favorite today, but it was one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays while he was alive.

As quoted by Friar Lawrence in act two, scene six:

“These violent delights have violent ends

And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,

Which as they kiss consume. The sweetest honey

Is loathsome in his own deliciousness

And in the taste confounds the appetite.

Therefore love moderately; long love doth so;

Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow.”

Romeo and Juliet (1870) by Ford Madox Brown; Ford Madox Brown, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Julius Caesar (1599)

This historical play may have resonated with the audience at the time that it was produced when the Queen of England, Elizabeth I did not have a legitimate heir to the throne, which created the possibility for power struggles later down the line. The play depicts the upset in Roman politics at the time of Julies Caesar. In the play, conspirators persuade Brutus, Caesar’s friend to join in on their plot to assassinate him. 

They kill Caesar on the Ides of March and are then driven out of Rome by Mark Antony who then goes to battle against them. 

As quoted by Cassius in act one, scene two:

“Men at some time are masters of their fates.

The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars

But in ourselves, that we are underlings.”

Julius Caesar, Act III, Scene 2, the Murder Scene” (1822) by George Clint; George Clint, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Hamlet (1599 – 1601)

Most of us are familiar with this play which explores themes of incest, betrayal, retribution, and immorality. The twists and turns of the plot are pushed by these moral failures which tear down the hero of the story and the people he cares about. In summary, the story of Hamlet is propelled by a conversation between Hamlet and his late father, the King of Denmark’s ghost, who tells him to kill Hamlet’s uncle, the new king, to avenge his murder. 

Hamlet pretends to go mad and seeks revenge, while his scared uncle also curates plots to kill Hamlet. 

“Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t,” as quoted by Polonius in act two, scene two.

Hamlet und Horatio auf dem Friedhof (1839) by Eugène Delacroix; Eugène Delacroix, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Othello (1604)

Othello is a powerful play centered around racism in Venice during the 16th-century and how destructive jealousy can be. Othello, the character who the play is titled after, is a Moor and he is judged by many characters in the play because of the color of his skin. The tragedy is centered around Othello and Iago, the latter of the two being angry about not being promoted by Othello, who is his General. Iago then plots revenge against Othello and manipulates him into thinking that Desdemona, his wife, is unfaithful. 

The jealousy this causes leads Othello to kill his wife and then himself. 

As quoted by Iago in act three, scene three:

“O, beware, my lord, of jealousy:

It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock

The meat it feeds on.”

Othello and Desdemona (1859) by Frederick Richard Pickersgill; Frederick Richard Pickersgill, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Midsummer Night’s Dream (1605)

This exuberant comedy is a magical play about fairies that try to solve the romantic problems of four humans from Athens that run away to the forest. The fairy, Puck, makes one of the girls the focus of the two boys’ love and affection. The humans pursue each other as they run around the forest. In the meanwhile, the fairy queen is having a trick played on her by Puck to help his master. 

At the end of the play, Puck reverses the enchantment set on the two Athenian couples, and they reconcile and wed.  

As quoted by Hippolyta in act five, scene one:

“But all the story of the night told over,

And all their minds transfigured so together,

More witnesseth than fancy’s images

And grows to something of great constancy,

But, howsoever, strange and admirable.”

Titania sleeping in the moonlight protected by her fairies (n.d) by John Simmons; John Simmons, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Macbeth (1605)

This play with supernatural elements and brutal murder is a thrilling tragedy about the extremes of the lust for power and guilt. Macbeth is told by three witches that he is destined to be king of Scotland. His wife encourages this upon hearing the idea, and he kills the king and replaces him. Macbeth becomes paranoid and kills more people, causing an uprising and resulting in a civil war to overthrow him.

This only results in more death.

As quoted by Angus in act five, scene two:

“Now does he feel his title

Hang loose about him, like a giant’s robe

Upon a dwarfish thief.”

Macbeth and the Witches (1785) by George Romney; George Romney, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

King Lear (1605 – 1606)

This brutal play is filled with disasters, cruelty, nihilism, and reconciliation. The story begins with King Lear dividing his kingdom between his two daughters, Goneril and Regan, while he disinherits the third daughter, Cordelia who truly loves him but will not flatter him insincerely. The kingdom is taken over by the deceitful Goneril and Regan, who then turn on their father and cast him out. Lear slips into madness but eventually mends his relationship with Cordelia. She is hanged before Lear’s eyes before he himself dies. 

This play is one of Shakespeare’s most negative works but, despite all the injustice, hope is found in Cordelia’s moral strength. 

As quoted by France in act one, scene one:

“Love’s not love

When it is mingled with regards that stand

Aloof from th’ entire point.”

King Lear (n.d) George Frederick Bensell; George Frederick Bensell, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Shakespeare’s Influence on Literature and Language

The standardization of written English, such as spelling, grammar, and vocabulary was greatly impacted by Shakespeare’s works. Many new words were introduced into the English language by Shakespeare – 1,700 words to be exact. We continue to use many of these words today, like “frugal,” “lonely,” and “dwindle” to list a few. Not only did Shakespeare invent words, but many of the phrases we use today were originally written by him. These phrases include “good riddance,” “be all and end-all,” and “for goodness’ sake,” and many more.

For centuries, Shakespeare’s profound influence on poetry and literature has endured. The poetic blank verse was a specialty of his and it became standard. Many writers and poets have been influenced by Shakespeare, some of whom are Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Herman Melville, and William Faulkner.

Controversies and Criticisms

Shakespeare was praised for his work during his lifetime, but he was not revered. Classical ideas were in fashion from the 1660s to the end of the 17th century, which resulted in him being rated below Ben Johnson and John Fletcher by critics at the time. However, during the 18th-century, Shakespeare received a different response from critics who praised his natural genius. By 1800, Shakespeare was revered as the national poet, and in the 18th and 19th centuries, his reputation spread overseas. His works have thrived since, even being engaged in the service of avant-garde movements. Despite the positive impact that Shakespeare’s writings have had on the world, there are a number of controversies and criticisms surrounding Shakespeare and his work. Some revolved around his authorship, and others around issues relating to discrimination towards certain cultures, religions, and sexes. We will discuss these below.

A Scene from As You Like It (1853) by Walter Deverell; Walter Deverell, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Shakespeare’s Authorship Controversy

Doubts crept in regarding his authorship during the nineteenth century, with some speculating that perhaps Shakespeare was acting as a front for another author who could not take credit for his writings publicly. The “Anti-Stratfordians” as they are called (because of the town, Stratford-upon-Avon, where Shakespeare was born and bred), doubted that someone with a humble background education and a son of a tradesman, could have written such rich, complex works. The gaps in his biographical record and the lack of original papers and manuscripts fueled their skepticism. Despite the debate, there remains no evidence of who the “real” writer could have been. A few possibilities were put forward, such as Christopher Marlowe, Sir Francis Bacon, and Edward de Vere.

Most modern scholars reject the notions put forward by the Anti-Stratfordians, citing that documentary and historical evidence is proof enough that Shakespeare wrote the plays and poems and is the real author.

In addition, no evidence has been found that shows skepticism among other writers, playwrights, and poets that lived during his time. However, although scholars accept Shakespeare as the real author of his works, recognition is increasing regarding other writers that may have contributed to the plays. During the Elizabethan era in England, writers would often collaborate to hasten the production of new plays. For example, the writing style for part one of Henry VI suggests that a group of collaborators may have written the play together, including Shakespeare and Thomas Nashe, a political satirist. At the end of Shakespeare’s career, he also adopted an apprentice named John Fletcher who helped him co-write The Two Noble Kingsmen and Henry VIII. However, this is not enough to undermine Shakespeare’s credibility.

John Fletcher Portrait (n.d) by an unknown artist; user, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Criticisms Against Shakespeare

There has been some criticism over the years regarding the subjects of sexism and race, amongst others when it comes to Shakespeare. For example, there have been accusations of sexism against Romeo and Juliet, as well as Hamlet, where both lead female characters are pushed to desperate measures because of men. However, in general, Shakespeare’s female characters are depicted as strong, determined, intelligent, and compassionate women. The Merchant of Venice is another play that has received criticism, but for being antisemitic, and was even banned from the curriculum in an Orthodox Jewish school. What can make Shakespeare’s plays difficult to understand is that they were written 400 years ago into poetry, with language that has layered meanings. 

Othello, a play that highlights race, arouses sentiments in us that are based in the 20th and 21st centuries. Some words that were once used in Shakespeare’s day to refer to people of Black African origin have become inappropriate or prohibited.

We need to remember that Shakespeare lived in a very different time to our own, with different societal rules, and Elizabethan society was his audience. It is also interesting to note that it is Shakespeare’s characters that speak to the audience, a character built from his observation of human behavior, not him. We do not know what he thinks. Therefore, these characters have various attitudes towards different subjects, which makes them all the more relatable and timeless.

Legacy of William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare’s enduring popularity is due to how relevant his work is to the modern reader, the great contributions he has made to the English language, and the way in which his work influences the way people think and act even today. Seen as the most extraordinary dramatist in history, the powerful themes that run through each of his works – fate, death, love, jealousy, power, ambition, and so on – still connect with audiences and readers as they are very human themes that stretch across time and cultures. His characters are relatable and people can identify with the emotions they experience. In addition, Shakespeare’s writing is masterful as it is filled with poetry, painting each scene in a vivid, atmospheric way that brings the characters and stories to life. His significant contribution to theater and literature is lasting, as he broadened the dramatic potential of genre, plot, characterization, and language. Romance would not have been considered a worthy topic for a tragedy were it not for Romeo and Juliet, for example.

Shakespeare (1800) by William Blake; William Blake, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Shakespeare in Popular Culture

Shakespeare is so famous today that his works have been included in popular culture. His plays have been made into movies, such as the romantic Romeo and Juliet (1996) with actors, Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes, and Macbeth (2015) with Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard, to name a few. Some television series have also been based on Shakespeare’s works. Star-Crossed (2014) for example, was a science fiction adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, and Succession (2018) gave us a comedic approach to the tragedy, King Lear, while the famous Game of Thrones (2011 – 2019) is overflowing with Shakespearean themes. Another, and very surprising, television series and popular culture phenomenon that made use of Shakespeare’s works and even quoted from them is Star Trek (c. 1960s – present). 

For example, Dagger Of The Mind is an episode title that was borrowed from Shakespeare for the original series, and also The Conscience Of The King.

What is evident in popular culture is how Shakespeare impacted cultural stereotypes. Many stereotypes that we see featured in books, movies, television series, and even music, are based on the most famous characters from his plays. Lady Macbeth, Hamlet, Romeo, and Juliet have each given us character templates and represent certain kinds of people. Hamlet is indecisive and caught between morals, Lady Macbeth is unrelenting and ambitious, while Romeo’s romantic passionate love is true until death. Many romantic comedies feature an enamored and persistent lover who would do anything for the one they love. The movie Titanic (1997) is probably a very good example of Shakespeare’s legacy of the fated lovers doomed to be derailed by bad luck.

The Globe Theatre and Its Significance

The Globe Theatre was founded by Shakespeare and some other actors, and was built in 1599 on the Thames River, on the south bank. The first production to be shown at the Globe Theatre is thought to be Julius Caesar. The open-air theater made a good profit and was a beneficial investment. Unfortunately, during a performance of Henry VIII in the year of 1613, the theater caught a light and burned down. All theaters were banned by Puritans in 1642 and this included the Globe Theater. Two years later, it was demolished. Sam Wanamaker, an American actor, sought to bring the theater to life once more, and it was reopened in 1997. The Globe Theater has attracted more than 1.25 million visitors every year since.

The Globe Theatre from the Queen’s Path, Thames (2011); The Globe Theatre from the Queen’s Path, Thames by Anthony O’Neil, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

That concludes our article on the biography of William Shakespeare.  We hope that you enjoyed learning about his life and contributions to the world as much as we did. We hope that this encourages you to learn more facts about William Shakespeare, and piques your interest in his plays and poetry, if it has not been piqued already!

Frequently Asked Questions

Who Was William Shakespeare?

William Shakespeare was an English poet, actor, and playwright during the Jacobean and Elizabethan periods of British theater, and his poems and plays are his lasting legacy with millions of people around the world still enjoying his writings today.

When Was William Shakespeare Born?

He was born on the 26th of April and was baptized in England that same day in 1564 in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, and passed away there in April 1616. His father, John Shakespeare, married his mother, Mary Arden, and they had eight children together, two of whom died as infants, leaving William as the eldest.

What Was Shakespeare’s Real Name?

Gulielmus Shakespeare was the name recorded at Shakespeare’s baptism in 1564. Gulielmus is Latin and means William in English, and he was referred to as William Shakespeare by most of his contemporaries. In addition, Will was what he called himself in his poems.

Do We Know What Shakespeare Looked Like?

There is no surviving written record of William Shakespeare’s physical appearance, and there does not seem to be any evidence suggesting that a portrait was ever commissioned by him. There is the Droeshout engraving (1623), which is the frontispiece for the page of the First Folio, a collection of 36 plays written by Shakespeare. This engraving is a portrait of him that was produced by Martin Droeshout, and is one of two works that definitively depicts Shakespeare.

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