Famous Poems of All Time

The world of poems is a fascinating one. On the one hand, they entertain us with their rhymes and rhythms and on the other hand, they give us some inspirational messages in just a few lines. For one who is deeply interested in poetry, it is a world full of wonder and pleasure. Usually, there are a lot of people who get bored by poems and feel sleepy as well. But for others, it is very interesting.

In English literature, there have been many famous poets of every age who have given us a rich treasure of poems to read and enjoy. Most of these poems are read both in schools as well as in colleges. Students of English literature have a full paper on poetry where they are introduced to both long and short poems. Some of the famous poets in English literature are William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, P.B. Shelley, Robert Browning, Alfred Tennyson, William Butler Yeats and many more.

Thus, the world of poetry is very interesting and fun-filled for one who is highly interested in reading poetry. In this blog, we are going to explore some such poems which have inspired a lot of generations and continue to do so.

Top Poems that have Inspired Generations

Some of the poems are as follows-

1. ‘My Mind to Me a Kingdom is’ by Sir Edward Dyer- This poem was firstly published in William Byrd’s Psalmes, Sonets & Songs in 1588. But, there are rumours about its specific authorship. While some present-day authors credit Dyer for the poem, others refrain from taking his name and instead credit the poem to Edward de Vere. But, whoever the author of the poem, this is a powerful poem of the Renaissance in which the poet talks about the power of ‘the mind over matter’ and the wonders of the human imagination.

2. ‘Song of Myself by Walt Whitman- This poem appeared in Whitman’s 1855 volume of poems titled Leaves of Grass. This was also the volume that Whitman got published at his own expense. Although Whitman had no idea that this collection of a dozen poems would inspire millions of people, it did grandly and Whitman had to bring out constant revisions of the volume this very volume inspired the French vers libre and many American poets and writers as well. This is a very long poem that talks about the self.

3. ‘“Hope” is the Thing with Feathers’ by Emily Dickinson- Dickinson always took an abstract idea and transformed it into a poem. So, this poem is no exception to this trend. In this poem, Dickinson has converted hope into a singing bird that continues to sing a wordless tune and never stops.

4. ‘Invictus’ by W.E. Henley- This is a rather dark poem by Henley that was inspired by his struggles with a disability as he had only one leg and his powerful determination to remain ‘bloody but unbowed’. This poem has inspired many generations of people such as South Africa’s first President Nelson Mandela who read it to his fellow prisoners while he was incarcerated on Robben Island. Even Clint Eastwood’s 2009 film on the topic of the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa is named after Henley’s poem.

5. ‘If-’ by Rudyard Kipling- Kipling’s poem majorly deals with the theme of stoicism which means that one must remain the same in both joys and sorrows. A person must not get too happy when he/she wins something or show extreme anger or sadness when losing something. So, in Kipling’s poem, you cannot prevent bad things from happening to you, but you can deal with them in a positive light. One of the famous phrases from this poem is ‘stiff upper lip’ which is now used in daily English conversation to mean a person who is reserved and stoic even in the face of disaster.

6. ‘Desiderata’ by Max Ehrmann- This one is a little different from other poems as it is a prose poem. Ehrmann wrote the poem in 1921 and then got it registered for copyright in 1927 after which he got it published in Christmas cards in 1933. After some years, a psychiatrist by the name of Merrill Moore was given a copy of the poem. He quickly got 1,000 copies made of the same and then distributed them to the soldiers and patients during World War II. This is how it became an inspirational poem of the twentieth century, most notably in the United States.

7. ‘Dreams’ by Langston Hughes- It is a poem of just eight lines but contains a very powerful message from Hughes which tells us to hold on to our ‘dreams’ as they help us achieve our goals and without them, our lives are a ‘barren field’. Hughes was a very prominent figure in the Harlem Renaissance in the United States and wrote many inspiring poems.

8. ‘Coming’ by Philip Larkin- This is a poem that is surprisingly a happy one from a poet who didn’t write many joyous poems in his poetic career. In this poem, Larkin talks about his childhood and connects it with the spring season and he somehow feels very happy recollecting his memories.

9. ‘Ariel’ by Sylvia Plath- This is one of Plath’s poems that has an inspirational message in it. Plath was always drowned in depression and that led to her suicide in 1963. This is one of the poems she wrote during her last days before her suicide. In it, she has described a horse ride in the morning where she is riding into the red of the sunrise. This poem is indeed inspirational in itself.

10. ‘Phenomenal Woman’ by Maya Angelou- This is a highly inspirational poem for women in which Angelou talks about how women carry themselves and how they behave. This is a classic Maya Angelou poem and she has written it, especially for women. It tells women to be themselves and not bow down to society’s expectations.

So, these are our top inspirational poems which have played a very big part to give people hope and some inspiration to turn their life around for sure. We hope that these poems will give you a lot of inspiration as well.