Poem Explorer

Curated reading path

Spiritual and mystical poetry

Spiritual poems often begin where ordinary explanation gives out. They approach faith, doubt, ecstasy, absence, and the soul through image, address, song, and paradox.

This collection brings devotional and mystical traditions into conversation without flattening their differences. Source and translation notes remain attached to every poem.

1569 matching poems117 poets160 selected starting points

Poems in this path

  1. 310. Tam o’ Shanter: A TaleRobert Burns · 224 lines
  2. 6th April 1651 L'Amitie: To Mrs. M. AwbreyKatherine Philips · 22 lines
  3. A Ballad of DreamlandAlgernon Charles Swinburne · 29 lines
  4. A Ballad upon a WeddingSir John Suckling · 132 lines
  5. A Child's LaughterAlgernon Charles Swinburne · 30 lines
  6. A Dead RoseElizabeth Barrett Browning · 32 lines
  7. A DreamHelen Hunt Jackson · 24 lines
  8. A Farewell to False LoveSir Walter Raleigh · 30 lines
  9. A Hymn for Christmas DayThomas Chatterton · 42 lines
  10. A Hymn to God the FatherBen Jonson · 32 lines
  11. A Hymn to the Name and Honour of the Admirable Saint TeresaRichard Crashaw · 140 lines
  12. A Letter from Artemesia in the Town to Chloe in the CountryJohn Wilmot · 266 lines
  13. A Letter From the Trenches to a School FriendCharles Sorley · 97 lines
  14. A Letter to Lady Margaret Cavendish Holles-Harley, when a ChildMatthew Prior · 13 lines
  15. A Musical InstrumentElizabeth Barrett Browning · 42 lines
  16. A poem on divine revelationHugh Henry Brackenridge · 678 lines
  17. A Poem Sacred to the Memory of Sir Isaac NewtonJames Thomson · 209 lines
  18. A poem, on the rising glory of AmericaHugh Henry Brackenridge · 760 lines
  19. A PrayerAmy Levy · 30 lines
  20. A Psalm of LifeHenry Wadsworth Longfellow · 37 lines
  21. A Retir'd FriendshipKatherine Philips · 36 lines
  22. A Song of AutumnAdam Lindsay Gordon · 320 lines
  23. A Song of Pitcairn's IslandWilliam Cullen Bryant · 45 lines
  24. A spirit spedStephen Crane · 22 lines
  25. A Woman's ShortcomingsElizabeth Barrett Browning · 40 lines
  26. A Word for the HourJohn Greenleaf Whittier · 29 lines
  27. Against Scoffing and Calling NamesIsaac Watts · 24 lines
  28. Air And AngelsJohn Donne · 28 lines
  29. Ali's AnswerMaghreb oral tradition · 71 lines
  30. An Angel in the HouseJames Henry Leigh Hunt · 14 lines
  31. An Elegy on the Death of Montgomery TappenMajor Henry Livingston, Jr. · 21 lines
  32. An Epitaph On A Child Of Queen Elizabeth's ChapelBen Jonson · 24 lines
  33. An Epitaph upon Husband and WifeRichard Crashaw · 16 lines
  34. An Essay on Criticism.Alexander Pope · 747 lines
  35. An Evening Thought: Salvation by Christ, with Penetential CriesJupiter Hammon · 88 lines
  36. An Hymn To Humanity (To S.P.G. Esp)Phillis Wheatley · 41 lines
  37. And ask ye why these sad tears stream?Lord Alfred Tennyson · 26 lines
  38. Annabel LeeEdgar Allan Poe · 41 lines
  39. ApologyJoyce Kilmer · 41 lines
  40. AprilEdward Thomas · 26 lines
  41. At A Solemn MusickJohn Milton · 30 lines
  42. AutumnThomas Hood · 62 lines
  43. Brother Jonathan's LamentOliver Wendell Holmes · 36 lines
  44. Buried Life, TheMatthew Arnold · 98 lines
  45. But Men Loved Darkness rather than LightRichard Crashaw · 4 lines
  46. Celestial LoveRalph Waldo Emerson · 107 lines
  47. ChristabelSamuel Coleridge · 689 lines
  48. Come hither, childEmily Bronte · 32 lines
  49. DeathJohn Clare · 26 lines
  50. Death, To The Dead For EvermoreRobert Louis Stevenson · 25 lines
  51. DisabledWilfred Owen · 45 lines
  52. Divine Epigrams: On the Miracle of the Multiplied LoavesRichard Crashaw · 4 lines
  53. Divine Epigrams: To our Lord, upon the Water Made WineRichard Crashaw · 4 lines
  54. Doubtful DreamsAdam Lindsay Gordon · 433 lines
  55. DreamsAnne Bronte · 28 lines
  56. Drinking SongLi Po · 30 lines
  57. EasterEdmund Spenser · 14 lines
  58. Easter DayOscar Wilde · 14 lines
  59. Easter WeekCharles Kingsley · 16 lines
  60. Easter WeekJoyce Kilmer · 40 lines
  61. Elegy to the Memory of WerterRobinson · 38 lines
  62. Eloisa to Abelard.Alexander Pope · 366 lines
  63. Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot; or, Prologue to the Satires.Alexander Pope · 425 lines
  64. FarewellAnne Bronte · 28 lines
  65. First AnniversaryAndrew Marvell · 402 lines
  66. Flowers in WinterJohn Greenleaf Whittier · 68 lines
  67. For a Naughty Little GirlAnn Taylor · 24 lines
  68. For I Will Consider My Cat Jeoffry (excerpt, Jubilate Agno)Christopher Smart · 74 lines
  69. FragmentsAlan Seeger · 83 lines
  70. Fragments of School Exercises: From the "Prometheus Vinctus" of Aeschylus,George Gordon, Lord Byron · 16 lines
  71. Friendships Mystery, To My Dearest LucasiaKatherine Philips · 30 lines
  72. from Jubilate Agno, Fragment B, lines 695-768Christopher Smart · 77 lines
  73. From The Ladies DefenceLady Mary Chudleigh · 77 lines
  74. Gitanjali 04: Life of my life, I shall ever try to keep my bRabindranath Tagore · 10 lines
  75. GodKahlil Gibran · 26 lines
  76. God Needs AntonioGeorge Eliot · 77 lines
  77. Gods.Walt Whitman · 32 lines
  78. Going to Heaven!Emily Dickinson · 27 lines
  79. Happy As The Day Is LongEdward Taylor · 32 lines
  80. Harp of the North, Farewell!Sir Walter Scott · 27 lines
  81. HeavenRupert Brooke · 34 lines
  82. Holy Sonnet X: Death Be Not ProudJohn Donne · 14 lines
  83. How still, how happy!Emily Bronte · 32 lines
  84. How we Beat the FavouriteAdam Lindsay Gordon · 367 lines
  85. Hymn 121Isaac Watts · 18 lines
  86. Hymn 52Isaac Watts · 22 lines
  87. I'd Mourn the HopesThomas Moore · 32 lines
  88. In Honor of Lalla Aycha-El-MannoubyyaMaghreb oral tradition · 77 lines
  89. In Memoriam A. H. H.: 121. Sad Hesper o'er the buried sunLord Alfred Tennyson · 20 lines
  90. In Memoriam A. H. H.: 78. Again at Christmas did we weaveLord Alfred Tennyson · 20 lines
  91. In Thankful Remembrance for My Dear Husband's Safe ArrivalAnne Bradstreet · 24 lines
  92. InsensibilityWilfred Owen · 65 lines
  93. Jehovah JesusWilliam Cowper · 24 lines
  94. Jubilate Agno (excerpt)Christopher Smart · 74 lines
  95. Jubilate Agno: Fragment AChristopher Smart · 113 lines
  96. Jubilate Agno: Fragment B, Part 4Christopher Smart · 192 lines
  97. Juvenilia, An Ode to Natural BeautyAlan Seeger · 175 lines
  98. LaudamusAdam Lindsay Gordon · 45 lines
  99. Let such pure hate still underpropHenry David Thoreau · 66 lines
  100. Lines Written From HomeAnne Bronte · 32 lines
  101. Lines Written In Early SpringWilliam Wordsworth · 24 lines
  102. Loch NessWilliam Topaz McGonagall · 28 lines
  103. Lord Ullin's DaughterThomas Campbell · 56 lines
  104. LoveKahlil Gibran · 20 lines
  105. Love Among the RuinsRobert Browning · 84 lines
  106. M'Fingal - Canto IIJohn Trumbull · 810 lines
  107. M'Fingal - Canto IIIJohn Trumbull · 662 lines
  108. M'Fingal - Canto IVJohn Trumbull · 1040 lines
  109. Modern Love III: This Was the WomanGeorge Meredith · 16 lines
  110. Modern Love XXIII: 'Tis Christmas WeatherGeorge Meredith · 16 lines
  111. Modern Love XXXII: Full Faith I HaveGeorge Meredith · 16 lines
  112. Monday Night May 11th 1846 / Domestic PeaceAnne Bronte · 28 lines
  113. Mother MindJulia Ward Howe · 34 lines
  114. Music At The Villa MarinaRobert Louis Stevenson · 28 lines
  115. Music: An OdeAlgernon Charles Swinburne · 29 lines
  116. My Last DanceJulia Ward Howe · 48 lines
  117. My MonumentAlexander Pushkin · 22 lines
  118. My MuseAlexander Pushkin · 16 lines
  119. My PedigreeAlexander Pushkin · 65 lines
  120. My TriumphJohn Greenleaf Whittier · 72 lines
  121. MycerinusMatthew Arnold · 127 lines
  122. Nature that Washed Her Hands in MilkSir Walter Raleigh · 36 lines
  123. Nay, Lord, not thus! white lilies in the spring,Oscar Wilde · 32 lines
  124. Nearer, my God, to Thee.Sarah Flower Adams · 35 lines
  125. NephelidiaAlgernon Charles Swinburne · 24 lines
  126. Ode IHafiz · 23 lines
  127. Ode IIHafiz · 26 lines
  128. Ode in Memory of the American Volunteers Fallen for FranceAlan Seeger · 104 lines
  129. Ode On A Grecian UrnJohn Keats · 50 lines
  130. Ode To BeautyRalph Waldo Emerson · 99 lines
  131. Ode to WinterThomas Campbell · 64 lines
  132. Ode VHafiz · 20 lines
  133. Ode VIHafiz · 52 lines
  134. Ode XIIHafiz · 18 lines
  135. Ode XIVHafiz · 16 lines
  136. Ode XVIHafiz · 26 lines
  137. Ode XVIIHafiz · 18 lines
  138. Of Old Sat FreedomLord Alfred Tennyson · 24 lines
  139. Of Old Sat Freedom on the HeightsLord Alfred Tennyson · 24 lines
  140. On ChildrenKahlil Gibran · 34 lines
  141. On GivingKahlil Gibran · 86 lines
  142. On Joy and SorrowKahlil Gibran · 40 lines
  143. On LoveKahlil Gibran · 78 lines
  144. On The Death Of Mr. Robert Levet, A Practiser In PhysicSamuel Johnson · 36 lines
  145. ON THE Dutchess of Grafton Under the Name of Alinda.Anne Killigrew · 29 lines
  146. On the Funeral of Charles the FirstWilliam Lisle Bowles · 36 lines
  147. On the Universality and Other Attributes of the God of NaturePhilip Freneau · 28 lines
  148. On TimeJohn Milton · 22 lines
  149. On WorkKahlil Gibran · 92 lines
  150. ParisAlan Seeger · 174 lines
  151. PassionCharlotte Bronte · 53 lines
  152. Patriotism 02 Nelson, Pitt, FoxSir Walter Scott · 143 lines
  153. PeaceHenry Vaughan · 20 lines
  154. Peace after a StormWilliam Cowper · 24 lines
  155. Picnic-timeEugene Field · 24 lines
  156. PrayerGeorge Herbert · 14 lines
  157. PrayerHenry David Thoreau · 14 lines
  158. PrayerRichard Crashaw · 124 lines
  159. Prayer for ChildrenWilliam Cowper · 24 lines
  160. PrometheusGeorge Gordon, Lord Byron · 59 lines