Sonnet Poem Examples: 11 Famous Sonnets, Explained
A sonnet is a 14-line poem, usually in iambic pentameter with a set rhyme scheme, built around a turn in thought called the volta. The sonnet poem examples below show each rule in action, and show which rules poets bend. Most people can name a famous sonnet but can’t explain what makes it work. This […]
What is a Tanka Poem? The 5-7-5-7-7 Pattern, Made Simple
A tanka is a five-line Japanese poem with 31 sound units arranged in a 5-7-5-7-7 pattern, one of the oldest poetic forms still written today. That’s the wall most people hit with a tanka poem: the numbers are everywhere, but nobody explains what they’re for. Part of the problem is translation. “Tokyo” is two syllables […]
She Is Gone by David Harkins: Funeral Poem
Losing someone close is hard. Finding the right words to say goodbye can feel even harder. That is why so many people turn to She Is Gone by David Harkins. Some families read it as He Is Gone when honoring a father, brother, or husband. This poem has helped families find comfort at funerals for […]
Sailing to Byzantium: Stanza by Stanza Summary & Analysis
An old man wants to leave his body and turn into a golden bird. That’s the odd ending of Sailing to Byzantium, and it’s why so many readers stop and reread it. Why a scarecrow? Why a city that changed its name long ago? Yeats packs old age, faith, and art into just 32 lines, […]
Kindness Poem: What Nye Really Means and What to Read Next
Most people searching for a kindness poem expect a feel-good quote with line breaks. What they find, if they look a little deeper, is something that asks a lot more of them. The best-known kindness poem is Naomi Shihab Nye’s “Kindness,” a 34-line free verse poem first published in 1980. It argues that you only […]