Poem Explorer

Curated reading path

Short public-domain poems

A short poem can turn on a single image, argument, sound, or surprise. Its small scale makes repetition, line breaks, and word choice unusually visible.

Every poem here is fourteen lines or fewer. The selection includes brief lyrics and epigrams as well as compact poems whose intensity exceeds their length.

1260 matching poems90 poets160 selected starting points

Poems in this path

  1. "Hope" is the thing with feathersEmily Dickinson · 12 lines
  2. A Calendar of Sonnets: JuneHelen Hunt Jackson · 14 lines
  3. A Calendar of Sonnets: MayHelen Hunt Jackson · 14 lines
  4. A cloud of flowersMatsuo Basho · 3 lines
  5. A FarewellCharles Kingsley · 10 lines
  6. A Letter to Lady Margaret Cavendish Holles-Harley, when a ChildMatthew Prior · 13 lines
  7. A MemoryWilliam Allingham · 7 lines
  8. Amoretti III: The Sovereign BeautyEdmund Spenser · 14 lines
  9. Amoretti LXXIV: Most Happy LettersEdmund Spenser · 14 lines
  10. An ancient pondMatsuo Basho · 3 lines
  11. An Angel in the HouseJames Henry Leigh Hunt · 14 lines
  12. Another Acrostic ( In the style of Father William )Lewis Carroll · 13 lines
  13. AutumnWalter Savage Landor · 8 lines
  14. AutumnWilliam Morris · 4 lines
  15. Autumnal SonnetWilliam Allingham · 14 lines
  16. Bright Star, Would I Were Steadfast As Thou ArtJohn Keats · 14 lines
  17. But Men Loved Darkness rather than LightRichard Crashaw · 4 lines
  18. Child of a DayWalter Savage Landor · 8 lines
  19. Christmas HolidaysThomas Hood · 14 lines
  20. Come Home!Mary Elizabeth Coleridge · 12 lines
  21. DeathJames Henry Leigh Hunt · 13 lines
  22. DeathThomas Hood · 14 lines
  23. Divine Epigrams: On the Miracle of the Multiplied LoavesRichard Crashaw · 4 lines
  24. Divine Epigrams: To our Lord, upon the Water Made WineRichard Crashaw · 4 lines
  25. EasterEdmund Spenser · 14 lines
  26. Easter DayOscar Wilde · 14 lines
  27. Farewell Love and All Thy Laws ForeverSir Thomas Wyatt · 14 lines
  28. Farewell to the CourtSir Walter Raleigh · 14 lines
  29. FreedomHelen Hunt Jackson · 14 lines
  30. Gitanjali 02: When thou commandest me to sing it seems that Rabindranath Tagore · 11 lines
  31. Gitanjali 03: I know not how thou singest, my master! I everRabindranath Tagore · 9 lines
  32. Gitanjali 04: Life of my life, I shall ever try to keep my bRabindranath Tagore · 10 lines
  33. Gitanjali 05: I ask for a moment’s indulgence to sit by thy Rabindranath Tagore · 9 lines
  34. Gitanjali 06: Pluck this little flower and take it, delay noRabindranath Tagore · 7 lines
  35. Gitanjali 07: My song has put off her adornments. She has noRabindranath Tagore · 6 lines
  36. Gitanjali 08: The child who is decked with prince’s robes anRabindranath Tagore · 8 lines
  37. Gitanjali 09: O Fool, try to carry thyself upon thy own shouRabindranath Tagore · 7 lines
  38. GlassAnne Kingsmill Finch · 14 lines
  39. Goodtime JesusEdward Taylor · 6 lines
  40. Happy the Lab'rerJane Austen · 12 lines
  41. Happy The ManJohn Dryden · 8 lines
  42. HERODIAS Daughter presenting to her Mother St. JOHN's Head in a Charger, also Painted by her selfAnne Killigrew · 12 lines
  43. Holy Sonnet X: Death Be Not ProudJohn Donne · 14 lines
  44. How Soon Hath TimeJohn Milton · 14 lines
  45. I Find No PeaceSir Thomas Wyatt · 14 lines
  46. In a Spring GroveWilliam Allingham · 14 lines
  47. Late AutumnWilliam Allingham · 14 lines
  48. LifeSir Walter Raleigh · 10 lines
  49. Life and ArtEmma Lazarus · 14 lines
  50. Little Girls Must Not FretJane Taylor · 12 lines
  51. Marriage BellsEmma Lazarus · 14 lines
  52. On a Forenoon of SpringWilliam Allingham · 14 lines
  53. On a withered branchMatsuo Basho · 3 lines
  54. On First Looking Into Chapman's HomerJohn Keats · 14 lines
  55. On His Deceased WifeJohn Milton · 14 lines
  56. OzymandiasPercy Bysshe Shelley · 14 lines
  57. Part In Peace: Is Day Before Us?Sarah Flower Adams · 12 lines
  58. Patience Taught By NatureElizabeth Barrett Browning · 14 lines
  59. PiececitosGabriela Mistral · 12 lines
  60. Pied BeautyGerard Manley Hopkins · 11 lines
  61. PrayerGeorge Herbert · 14 lines
  62. PrayerHenry David Thoreau · 14 lines
  63. RegretAlexander Pushkin · 13 lines
  64. Rose AylmerWalter Savage Landor · 8 lines
  65. RosesGeorge Eliot · 7 lines
  66. Rumi 01: “The song of the spheres in their revolutionsJalal al-Din Rumi · 8 lines
  67. Rumi 02: “Men incur the reproach of wine and drugsJalal al-Din Rumi · 4 lines
  68. Rumi 03: “Angel and brute man’s wondrous leaven compose;Jalal al-Din Rumi · 3 lines
  69. Rumi 04: “Do you know a name without a thing answering toJalal al-Din Rumi · 10 lines
  70. Rumi 05: “The man of God is made wise by the Truth,Jalal al-Din Rumi · 4 lines
  71. Rumi 06: “I have put duality away, I have seen that the tJalal al-Din Rumi · 5 lines
  72. Rumi 07: “Not-being and defect, wherever seen,Jalal al-Din Rumi · 6 lines
  73. Rumi 08: “Fools buy false coins because they are like theJalal al-Din Rumi · 13 lines
  74. So We'll Go No More a-RovingGeorge Gordon, Lord Byron · 12 lines
  75. Song from ArcadiaSir Philip Sidney · 14 lines
  76. Song of Fairies Robbing an OrchardJames Henry Leigh Hunt · 12 lines
  77. Song On May MorningJohn Milton · 10 lines
  78. Sonnet 116: Let me not to the marriage of true mindsWilliam Shakespeare · 14 lines
  79. Sonnet 130: My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sunWilliam Shakespeare · 14 lines
  80. Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?William Shakespeare · 14 lines
  81. Sonnet 29: When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyesWilliam Shakespeare · 14 lines
  82. Sonnet 30 (Fire And Ice)Edmund Spenser · 14 lines
  83. Sonnet 54Edmund Spenser · 14 lines
  84. Sonnet 73: That time of year thou mayst in me beholdWilliam Shakespeare · 14 lines
  85. Sonnet 75Edmund Spenser · 14 lines
  86. Sonnet III: With how sad stepsSir Philip Sidney · 14 lines
  87. Sonnet VII: When NatureSir Philip Sidney · 14 lines
  88. Sonnet XLIII: The Unhappy ExileCharlotte Smith · 14 lines
  89. Sonnet XLIV: Press'd by the MoonCharlotte Smith · 14 lines
  90. Sonnet XVI: In Nature AptSir Philip Sidney · 14 lines
  91. Sonnet XVII: His Mother Dear CupidSir Philip Sidney · 14 lines
  92. Sonnet XXXIII: I WakeRobinson · 14 lines
  93. Souls And Rain-DropsSidney Lanier · 8 lines
  94. Speak Of The North! A Lonely MoorCharlotte Bronte · 12 lines
  95. SpringGerard Manley Hopkins · 14 lines
  96. SpringWilliam Morris · 4 lines
  97. St. John Baptist Painted by her self in the Wilderness, with Angels appearing to him, and with a Lamb by himAnne Killigrew · 8 lines
  98. SuccessEmma Lazarus · 14 lines
  99. Success is counted sweetestEmily Dickinson · 12 lines
  100. Such, Such Is DeathCharles Sorley · 14 lines
  101. SummerWilliam Morris · 4 lines
  102. Summer DawnWilliam Morris · 14 lines
  103. SympathyEmma Lazarus · 14 lines
  104. The Baby's DanceAnn Taylor · 8 lines
  105. The Chimney SweeperWilliam Blake · 12 lines
  106. The cry of the cicadaMatsuo Basho · 3 lines
  107. The Evening StarWalter Savage Landor · 8 lines
  108. The Hope Of My HeartJohn McCrae · 13 lines
  109. The RoseWilliam Browne · 14 lines
  110. The Sick RoseWilliam Blake · 8 lines
  111. The Soldier's WifeRobert Southey · 12 lines
  112. The Young SoldierWilfred Owen · 12 lines
  113. There Was an Old Man in a TreeEdward Lear · 5 lines
  114. Time and GriefWilliam Lisle Bowles · 14 lines
  115. Time of RosesThomas Hood · 12 lines
  116. To --Percy Bysshe Shelley · 12 lines
  117. To Her Father with Some VersesAnne Bradstreet · 14 lines
  118. To MemoryMary Elizabeth Coleridge · 12 lines
  119. To my Dear and Loving HusbandAnne Bradstreet · 12 lines
  120. To My Wife - With A Copy Of My PoemsOscar Wilde · 12 lines
  121. To The Sad MoonSir Philip Sidney · 14 lines
  122. To----Edgar Allan Poe · 12 lines
  123. Unstable DreamSir Thomas Wyatt · 14 lines
  124. We Never Said FarewellMary Elizabeth Coleridge · 8 lines
  125. When Lovely Woman Stoops To FollyOliver Goldsmith · 8 lines
  126. While Summer Suns O'er the Gay Prospect Play'dThomas Warton · 14 lines
  127. WinterRobert Southey · 14 lines
  128. Winter HeavensGeorge Meredith · 14 lines
  129. Winter SongWilfred Owen · 10 lines
  130. Written near a Port on a Dark EveningCharlotte Smith · 14 lines
  131. 만월대회고Hwang Jini · 8 lines
  132. 박연Hwang Jini · 8 lines
  133. 상사몽Hwang Jini · 4 lines
  134. 송도Hwang Jini · 4 lines
  135. 영반월Hwang Jini · 4 lines
  136. 'Mighty Eagle'Percy Bysshe Shelley · 7 lines
  137. 'Tis moonlight, summer moonlightEmily Bronte · 12 lines
  138. 'Twas here my summer pausedEmily Dickinson · 8 lines
  139. 'Twas later when the summer wentEmily Dickinson · 8 lines
  140. 'Twould ease -- a Butterfly --Emily Dickinson · 14 lines
  141. "And the sins of the fathers shall be"Stephen Crane · 10 lines
  142. "By the Waters of Babylon."George Gordon, Lord Byron · 12 lines
  143. "Faith" is a fine inventionEmily Dickinson · 4 lines
  144. "Heaven" -- is what I cannot reach!Emily Dickinson · 12 lines
  145. "Heavenly Father" -- take to theeEmily Dickinson · 8 lines
  146. "I have heard the sunset song of the birches,"Stephen Crane · 10 lines
  147. "It was wrong to do this," said the angelStephen Crane · 10 lines
  148. "Lethe" in my flower,Emily Dickinson · 8 lines
  149. "Nature" is what we see --Emily Dickinson · 12 lines
  150. “Said a Sheet of Snow-White Paper....”Kahlil Gibran · 8 lines
  151. "The Lass With The Delicate Air"John Clare · 14 lines
  152. 123. Lines to an Old SweetheartRobert Burns · 8 lines
  153. 166. Epitaph for William Nicol, High School, EdinburghRobert Burns · 4 lines
  154. 167. Epitaph for Mr. William Michie, SchoolmasterRobert Burns · 4 lines
  155. 1914 I: PeaceRupert Brooke · 14 lines
  156. 1914 V: The SoldierRupert Brooke · 14 lines
  157. 204. Song—Love in the Guise of FriendshipRobert Burns · 8 lines
  158. 220. Song—The Winter it is PastRobert Burns · 8 lines
  159. 279. Epigram on Francis Grose the AntiquaryRobert Burns · 6 lines
  160. 292. Song—Farewell to the HighlandsRobert Burns · 13 lines