Kindly recommend poems for an amateur

[Nikhar]

When it comes to poems and poetry, I am as dumb as a wild turkey. :goof: I don't know what it is, but I can't just get to understand the poems (But then, that maybe because I'm such a twit :D).

So, basically, I was wondering if you guys could help me with it. Obviously, you can't turn me into a poet in a day. And I'm not asking that anyways.

I'd be really obliged if you guys could suggest me some simple poems (By simple poems, I'm not referring to Hickory Dickory Dock and London Bridge is Falling down :p). That could be a start and maybe I would slowly develop an understanding of this wonderful form of art. :)

[Il Dante]

A universe of beauty and delight lies before you.

I'm an amateur too. But that won't stop me from recommending poems! :biggrin5:

I would recommend the following poem by Alfred Tennyson:

Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean,
Tears from the depth of some divine despair
Rise in the heart, and gather to the eyes,
In looking on the happy Autumn-fields,
And thinking of the days that are no more.

Fresh as the first beam glittering on a sail,
That brings our friends up from the underworld,
Sad as the last which reddens over one
That sinks with all we love below the verge;
So sad, so fresh, the days that are no more.

Ah, sad and strange as in dark summer dawns
The earliest pipe of half-awakened birds
To dying ears, when unto dying eyes
The casement slowly grows a glimmering square;
So sad, so strange, the days that are no more.

Dear as remembered kisses after death,
And sweet as those by hopeless fancy feigned
On lips that are for others; deep as love,
Deep as first love, and wild with all regret;
O Death in Life, the days that are no more.


You might also check out a poem I've been working on called The Divine Comedy. It's been getting fairly good reviews. I think it'll be a big hit. :wink5:

[jadrianne]

is an amateur?:smilielol5::smilielol5::smilielol5:

Yes he is right.You should definitely read The Divine Comedy. And Ovid's Metamorphoses,Virgil -the Georgics,the Aeneid,the Eclogues.

Petrarca,Leopardi,Poe,Rimbaud, Baudelaire..................and so on

[Lokasenna]

Have a read of Lyrical Ballads - that's what first got me interested in poetry. It's not all brilliant, but it has some exceptional moments. From a similar period you might like to consider Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience, which is wonderful.

Edgar Allan Poe, Christina Rossetti and Elizabeth Barret-Browning are excellent if you want to look at some great poetry in an easily understandable, modern form.

Have a look at bits of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales if you're feeling brave - the language is a bit daunting at first, but you'll soon get use to it, and he's great fun.

Hope that helps!

[TheFifthElement]

Nikhar, you're not a twit! Poetry takes deep reading, sometimes you'll get it, sometimes you won't; the same is true of anyone.

Contrary to the recommendations here, I would not suggest reading old 'classic' poetry because you'll have to get over the barrier of dead language as well as trying to appreciate the poetry. What I would suggest is that you find something you enjoy reading and work from there. In contemporary terms you might enjoy someone like Mark Strand or Billy Collins who are both very accessible writers. You might find some of their works on the web too. Or perhaps Michael Ondaatje who writes lovely poetry. It's hard to go wrong with Pablo Neruda who writes the most astonishing love poetry, or if you're looking for something more classic a bit of William Butler Yeats is always a good place to start. I particularly like 'When you are old and grey'.

I'd suggest you dig around a bit and find something you enjoy reading just for the sake if it, and the rest will come from there. Maybe get a good collection, something like 'Being Alive' from Bloodaxe Books, which I can't recommend enough, which has a lot of different types of poems and poetry in it and which will help you distinguish your taste and preferences.

Good luck!

[OrphanPip]

Have a read of Lyrical Ballads - that's what first got me interested in poetry. It's not all brilliant, but it has some exceptional moments. From a similar period you might like to consider Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience, which is wonderful.

Edgar Allan Poe, Christina Rossetti and Elizabeth Barret-Browning are excellent if you want to look at some great poetry in an easily understandable, modern form.


Wordsworth and Coleridge are great recommendations, especially because the language used is relatively simple.

The Victorian poets are often easily accessible: Tennyson, both of the Brownings, and Matthew Arnold.

Dylan Thomas, Stevie Smith, Theodore Roethke, Dickinson, Plath, and the other high school regulars are good choices as well.

I think Pope's Rape of the Lock is an easy read for a longer poem, though the language may be difficult at times.

[Niamh]

I second Christina Rossetti and W.B.Yeats.
Then try some Dylan Thomas, Patrick Kavanagh...
Shakespeare, Donne, Marvell...
Maybe even some Spike Milligan
Really good poem is Philip Sydneys "My true Love hath My Heart and I have His"

[sinotsimon]

Contrary to the recommendations here, I would not suggest reading old 'classic' poetry because you'll have to get over the barrier of dead language as well as trying to appreciate the poetry.

I agree! I would say that poetry takes reading and rereading, no one fully 'gets' a poem straight away on a first reading, or rather than 'fully', i mean to the extent that they will do after reading it again and again. I am personally hook line and sinker in love with the poetry of William Carlos Williams and a lot of his poems are of very simple concepts, but different people have different experiences reading the same poems, I showed my housemate a poem that really got me good, and although he understood it, it just didn't do the same for him - poetry is a matter of preference like any art! But anyway, I would recommend William Carlos Williams, start with shorter poems such as 'Complete Destruction', 'Thursday' and, possibly one a new reader would enjoy most of these three, 'To A Poor Old Woman'. You may find that its not for you, but give it a try!

There is also a book called 'Why Poetry Matters' by Jay Parini which I would recommend. :)

[L.M. The Third]

Well, I don't know how amateur you are, but here are some suggestions.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - his works introduced me to the beauty of poetry. They are very simple, but have a flow that makes them easy to memorize. ... Just thinking, if you're American you may have taken some of his poetry in school, so maybe you don't like him. (Some people don't like his need for moralization, and his romantic portrayals in poems like "Hiawatha".)

Whittier and Bryant are two less known American poets with a simple, readable style.
Emily Dickinson is a popular American poet. Many of her works are puzzling and enigmatic, but well worth it. "Because I Could Not Stop for Death", "A Narrow Fellow in the Grass", and "There is No Frigate Like a Book" may be good starts.

Like a poster above, I would also recommend Tennyson. He's got a quality that even the very young can appreciate.

Wordsworth is one of my favorite poets - but you may like to read some of his sonnets and ballads before reading his longer pieces. "We are Seven", "The World is Too Much with Us", "I Know an Aged Man Constrained to Dwell", and "Milton, Thou Shouldst Be Living" are among my personal favorites.
(Speaking of Milton, I began with some of his great sonnets.)

Shakespeare is of course considered by most the finest poet in the English Language, but a continual reading of the sonnets can grow tedious to the new-reader. I'd recommend some of the poems within the plays, such as "All the World's a Stage".

I hope these help you a little. However, remember we are all effected differently, and by different poems and poets. Although I believe the mind should be trained to appreciate great poetry, poetry is also intensely emotional and personal - something we must experience for ourselves. I'd love to hear updates as you explore this magical realm!

[JuniperWoolf]

is an amateur?:smilielol5::smilielol5::smilielol5:

Yes he is right.You should definitely read The Divine Comedy. And Ovid's Metamorphoses,Virgil -the Georgics,the Aeneid,the Eclogues.

Petrarca,Leopardi,Poe,Rimbaud, Baudelaire..................and so on

Actually, Ovid isn't a bad idea. When I read The Metamorphoses, I always forget that it's a "poem" because I get lost in the stories.

I used to have a little book of Keats when I was a wee one. I think I liked it, and it wasn't over my head at the time.

[Nikhar]

Firstly, Thanks a lot everyone. Il Dante, jadrianne, Lokasenna, TheFifthElement, OrphanPip, Niamh, sinotsimon, L.M. The Third, JuniperWoolf.

I'm really glad that people showed so much enthusiasm and helped me out. :)

I think after reading all the suggestions I'll begin with Tennyson and Wordsworth. I have read a poem of Pablo Neruda (was in our literature course) and a small bit from Endymion from Keats.

I wikied 'The Divine Comedy' but I think it'll go way over my head at least at the moment and so would Shakespeare.

Songs of Innocence and Experience seems quite simple and yet enjoyable. I have bookmarked it too. :)

I don't think 'Being Alive' is available on net for download.

My true Love hath My Heart and I have His is quite short and seems enjoyable. Would check it out soon.

I found a lot of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poems online which is awesome.

Whoa...that should keep me busy for a while. Thanks a lot to everyone. :)

[jadrianne]

welcome. Hope this will help you.:D

[L.M. The Third]

The Wordsworth and Tennyson choice made me smile, since Wordsworth held the position of poet laureate and then Tennyson.

[L.M. The Third]

Sorry for the double post. I thought I'd mention a few more good Wordsworth poems, since despite his relative simplicity, you probably had best not start out with "Intimations of Immortality", or the other rather long poems.

Among Wordsworth's most famous are, "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud", "She Was a Phantom of Delight", "The Solitary Reaper", and any of the poems classified as 'Lucy' poems.

[shortstoryfan]

I definitely agree with TheFifthElement. Even the more inaccessible writers I've read that are contemporary are more interesting to me than classic works. A lot of people probably think there is something wrong with that, but I don't care. Right now, I mostly read contemporary work, and I'm fine with that. It has really made me crazy about poetry, and now I spend most of my free time writing and reading poetry.

I think Linda Pastan would be someone who is easy to understand, but her poems are still deep and very pretty.

[Nikhar]

Sorry for the double post. I thought I'd mention a few more good Wordsworth poems, since despite his relative simplicity, you probably had best not start out with "Intimations of Immortality", or the other rather long poems.

Among Wordsworth's most famous are, "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud", "She Was a Phantom of Delight", "The Solitary Reaper", and any of the poems classified as 'Lucy' poems.


I read 'The Solitary Reaper' around 4 years back. Was in our course too.

[Niamh]

Cant believe i forgot to mention Seamus Heaney. His poems are simply amazing. Read Personal Helicon to get a feel for him. Its one of my favourites. :nod:

[sdmkc]

I suppose someone has recommended Emily Dickinson by now --- not that she is ultimately simple, she isn't, but I can't imagine anyone not enjoying her poetry. Heads up, though, she was one deep lady.

[poetindisguise]

Try Pablo Neruda.
He may be one of the best poets of our time. His words are poetry at its finest.

[Wendy M]

Have a read of Lyrical Ballads - that's what first got me interested in poetry. It's not all brilliant, but it has some exceptional moments. From a similar period you might like to consider Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience, which is wonderful.

Edgar Allan Poe, Christina Rossetti and Elizabeth Barret-Browning are excellent if you want to look at some great poetry in an easily understandable, modern form.

Have a look at bits of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales if you're feeling brave - the language is a bit daunting at first, but you'll soon get use to it, and he's great fun.

Hope that helps!

Here's some one with good taste in Poetry..

[Otokonoko]

Edgar Allen Poe rekindles my love of poetry every time I take the opportunity to read his work. It's easy to understand, but multilayered. It's open to interpretation and analysis, but can also be read for simple enjoyment.

What I love most about Poe is his incredible sense of rhythm. It is almost impossible for me to read his work without falling into a pattern. I can't explain it, but his work compels me to slow down, speed up, crescendo, decrescendo, stage whisper ... I reckon it sounds really good read aloud. Try "The Raven" or, if you want to step away from the most obvious selections, "The Haunted Palace" is quite beautiful as well.

[Otokonoko]

Here's some one with good taste in Poetry..

I'll second that. I forgot to mention Chaucer. Hard work, but so rewarding.

[sonnet61]

I love Chaucer, Neruda, Keats, Shakespeare's Sonnets and Frost. I'm going to take some of the suggestions from here though for sure!

[boscospants]

i recommend Seamus Heaney a fantastic and easily accessible poet for an amateur like myself. google 'mid term break' and 'digging' to get started