Articles

Poem Guide
Lucille Clifton: “won't you celebrate with me”
Lucille Clifton celebrates self-discovery in “won’t you celebrate with me.”
By Robin Ekiss

Poem Guide
Emily Dickinson: “I Started Early — Took my Dog —”
The poet puts her vast imagination on display at the beach.
By Robin Ekiss

Poem Guide
Louise Bogan: “A Tale”
Was her first poem her best?
By Caitlin Kimball

Poem Guide
Thom Gunn: “From the Wave”
Touch, risk, trust, improvisation—“the intellect as powerhouse of love.”
By Joshua Weiner

Poem Guide
William Carlos Williams: “To a Poor Old Woman”
A poem from the Great Depression reveals the egalitarian nature of pleasure—and the formal innovation of a modernist master.
By Stephen Burt

Poem Guide
Amy Lowell: “The Garden by Moonlight”
Ezra Pound thought she ruined imagism, but her erotic lyricism turned it into a style all her own.
By D. A. Powell

Poem Guide
Gerard Manley Hopkins: “The Windhover”
A rapturous re-reading of the poet's love poem to life.
By Ange Mlinko

Poem Guide
Charlotte Mew: “The Trees Are Down”
A poet anticipates the  contemporary narrative lyric—and her own unfortunate end.
By Molly Peacock

Poem Guide
Walt Whitman: “Time to Come”
The young poet shows the first stirrings of genius.
By David Baker

Poem Guide
Margaret Avison: “New Year's Poem”
How to balance image, thought, and story to convey the numinous.
By Linda Bierds