The Daily Poem
An audio anthology of the best poetry ever written
- Update frequency
- every 2 days
- Average duration
- 7 minutes
- Episodes
- 984
- Years Active
- 2019 - 2025
David Lehman's "The Ides of March"
Today’s poem marks the ides (or idus) or March, a day classically associated with the settling of debts (and maybe old scores, too).
One of the foremost editors, literary critics, and anthologists of …
Li Po's "The Solitude of Night"
Today’s poem is the work of an eighth-century poet whose reputation didn’t peak until the twentieth century. Li Po’s “The Solitude of Night” (translated here by Shigeyoshi Obata) resembles Japanese h…
James Merrill's "The Octopus"
"A master of forms, Merrill’s later poetry rarely feels formal. In the Atlantic Monthly, poet X.J. Kennedy observed that “Merrill never sprawls, never flails about, never strikes postures. Intuitivel…
Hilaire Belloc's "Lines to a Don"
Today’s poem is a master-class in snappy putdowns and the value of a fiercely-loyal and equally witty friend.
Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc (1870 – 1953) was a Franco-English writer and historian …
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "The Poet's Calendar"
Today’s poem is a grand smorgasbord of poetical allusions from the unofficial patron of The Daily Poem. Happy reading!
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers o…
Naomi Shihab Nye's "The Traveling Onion"
Naomi Shihab Nye was born on March 12, 1952, in St. Louis to a Palestinian father and an American mother. During her high school years, she lived in Ramallah in Palestine, the Old City in Jerusalem, …
Colley Cibber's "The Blind Boy"
Today’s poem (from an oft-maligned poet) makes frequent appearances in poetry anthologies for children, but hides a satisfying subtlety.
Colley Cibber (6 November 1671 – 11 December 1757) was an Engli…
Bertolt Brecht's "A Worker Reads History"
Bertolt Brecht (February 10, 1898 – August 14, 1956) was an influential playwright and poet. His poetry is collected in Poems 1913-1956 (1997) and Poetry and Prose: Bertolt Brecht (2003). He wrote a …
J. R. R. Tolkien's "The Road Goes Ever On"
Today’s poem is a walking song composed by Bilbo Baggins, reworked and repurposed at several key moments in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Happy reading!
This is a public episode. If you'd lik…
Dr. Seuss' "Did I Ever Tell You..?"
Today’s poem is a piece of uncollected verse from one of the world’s most beloved children’s writers: Dr. Seuss.
Theodor Seuss Geisel (March 2, 1904 – September 24, 1991) was an American children's au…
Richard Wilbur's "The Death of a Toad"
Today’s poem comes from one of America’s most beloved and decorated poets, Richard Wilbur. Don’t be put off by the title; no matter the subject, Wilbur’s poetry is always so marvelously companionable…
Howard Nemerov's "De Anima"
For the day that only comes ‘round once every four years, we have a haunting poem about missed connections–and from a poet with a “Leap Day” birthday, no less.
Howard Nemerov was born on February 29, …
Elizabeth Drew Barstow Stoddard's "Nameless Pain"
Elizabeth Drew Barstow Stoddard (1823-1902) was a poet, fiction writer, and essayist born and raised in Mattapoisset, Massachusetts. The daughter of a shipbuilder, Stoddard was educated at Wheaton Fe…
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "The Poet and His Songs"
Happy Birthday to America’s great man of letters, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow!
Get to know Longfellow better through his own verse, or in the pages of Nicholas Basbanes’ excellent biography, Cross of S…
Edwin Arlington Robinson's "Richard Cory"
Edwin Arlington Robinson was born in Head Tide, Maine on December 22, 1869 (the same year as W. B. Yeats). His family moved to Gardiner, Maine, in 1870, which renamed “Tilbury Town,” became the backd…
William Butler Yeats' "The Lake Isle of Innisfree"
Today’s classic poem from W. B. Yeats doubles as one of the greatest literary justifications for committing poems to memory. Happy reading!
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this wit…
Three by Edna St. Vincent Millay
Today’s poems pay tribute to the soulful and spirited Edna St. Vincent Millay, first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. They are “First Fig,” “Second Fig,” and “Thursday,” all from her colle…
W. H. Auden's "In Memory of W. B. Yeats"
In today’s poem one great poet pays passionate tribute to another.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.…
Maurice Manning's "A Brief Refutation..."
The full title of today’s poem from Maurice Manning says it all: “A Brief Refutation of the Rumor That I Allowed Willie and Tad to Relieve Themselves in my Up-Turned Hat on a Sunday Morning at the Of…
James Matthew Wilson's "The Scar of Odysseus"
James Matthew Wilson has published ten books, among them four collections of poems, including The Strangeness of the Good. His poems, essays, and reviews appear regularly in a wide range of magazines…