The Daily Poem

Today’s poem throws unambiguous shade on one of 18th-century England’s most divisive politicians, and marks out Swift as one of the gutsiest Scriblerians. Happy reading.

Alexander Pope (1688-1744) was notorious for embroiling himself in literary-political controversy–his sharp pen writing scathing checks his 4’6” frame couldn’t necessarily cash. Today’s poem is selec…

Great poets write as much by ear as by sight, and often turn to sonic phenomena for inspiration. The ringing of bells is one of the most time-honored of those sounds, and in today’s poem Wilbur deepe…

Today’s poem runs the gamut of Italian renaissance poetry, the Book of Common Prayer, and the depths and heights of the human soul. It opens with an allusion to the Italian poet Guido Cavalcanti, tur…

Librettist, essayist, translator, and author of ten poetry collections, Scott Cairns is Curators’ Distinguished Professor Emeritus at University of Missouri. His poems and essays have appeared in Poe…

Today’s poem finds the meeting place between the bump on the log and the one on the camel. Happy reading.

Today’s poem plays nicely against Hughes’ more famous meditation on “dreams” (the deferred kind, in “Harlem”). Rather than emphasizing the danger of a dream under pressure, here he stresses the impor…

Today’s poem features a simple but satisfying sleight of hand. Happy reading.

Richard Henry Horne (1802-1884), poet, was born on 31 December 1802 at Edmonton, near London, the eldest of three sons of …

Today’s poem is the best-remembered work of the beloved “nonsense poet” Edward Lear–a silly lyric about a serious love. The episode also features a few guest readers. Happy reading.

Edward Lear, the B…

Today’s poem will leave you “knowing very well what it was all about.” Happy reading.

Gary Soto was born in Fresno, California on April 12, 1952, to working-class Mexican American parents. As a teenag…

Today’s poem is a meditation on speech in the voice of a president. Perfect for an obligatory federal holiday. Happy reading.

Today’s poem looks back on a lifetime of maturing love.

Today’s poem, reminiscent of yesterday’s “From a Railway Carriage,” was written by Auden for use in the 1936 documentary short film, Night Mail, and combines the powerful deep magics of locomotive tr…

Today’s poem grew out of an elaborate game of make-believe between the Brontë siblings, and gives some idea of the mature verse that might have been if Anne had not died young. Happy(?) reading.

Anne …

Today’s poem is the final stanza of Tennyson’s “Ulysses,” in which the hero of the Trojan war persuades his aging compatriots to wring out the last of their energies in a quest for the ends of the ea…

Poet’s don’t typically compete for “coolest book cover,” and it’s probably because Zbigniew Herbert won years ago. Today’s poem is his tender look at poverty, pleasure, and irretrievable loss.

Zbigni…

Today’s poem glides, settles, dances, waves, and soars its way through the unassuming comforts of the familiar. Happy reading.

Phyllis McGinley (March 21, 1905 – February 22, 1978) was an American author of children's books and poetry. Her poetry was in the style of light verse, specializing in humor, satiric tone and the po…

As William Shakespeare was putting the final touchers on Hamlet, George Chapman was beginning (arguably) an even more momentous undertaking: introducing the English-speaking world to Homer’s epics. I…

Today’s poem was too topical to pass up. Like so many of Oliver’s poems, it is an invitation to attend closely to life’s unexpected gifts. Happy reading.