Articles

Poem Guide
Thomas Hardy: “The Shadow on the Stone”
After the poet lost his wife, he found his voice.
By Jeremy Axelrod

Poem Guide
Gary Snyder: “Four Poems for Robin”
A turbulent first love recollected in something like tranquility.
By Troy Jollimore

Poem Guide
Elizabeth Barrett Browning: “Sonnets from the Portuguese 28”
A secret romance made (almost) public.
By Stephen Burt

Poem Guide
Percy Bysshe Shelley: “Ozymandias”
A poem to outlast empires.
By David Mikics

Poem Guide
W.S. Merwin: “The Nails”
A long-lost meditation on heartbreak and pain.
By Jeffrey McDaniel

Poem Guide
Mina Loy: “Lunar Baedeker”
The poet navigates the unknown world.
By Jessica Burstein

Poem Guide
Anne Bradstreet: “To My Dear and Loving Husband”
Anne Bradstreet became a cultural icon for speaking out. Anne Hutchinson was banished.
By Emily Warn

Poem Guide
Philip Larkin: “An Arundel Tomb”
Does a notoriously grumpy poet believe in everlasting love?
By Jeremy Axelrod

Poem Guide
Walt Whitman: “A Passage to India”
Exploring the spiritual in the great master's ode to architecture.
By Robin Ekiss

Poem Guide
Yusef Komunyakaa: “Facing It”
What happens when metaphor meets a monument?
By Robin Ekiss