The Daily Poem

Poet and critic Robert B. Shaw earned a BA from Harvard University, where he studied with Robert Lowell, and a PhD from Yale University. Influenced by Elizabeth Bishop and Philip Larkin, Shaw’s wry and plainspoken formal verse is often grounded in, or sprung from, the debris of daily life. He is the author of several collections of poetry, including Solving For X (2002), which won the Hollis Summe...

Edward Estlin (E.E.) Cummings was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He attended the Cambridge Latin High School, where he studied Latin and Greek. Cummings earned both his BA and MA from Harvard, and his earliest poems were published in Eight Harvard Poets (1917). As one of the most innovative poets of his time, Cummings experimented with poetic form and language to create a distinct personal styl...

Today’s poem is by Dylan Marlais Thomas, born October 27, 1914 in the Welsh seaport of Swansea, Wales. Thomas attended the Swansea Grammar School, where he received all of his formal education. As a student he made contributions to the school magazine and was keenly interested in local folklore. Having declared at the age of eight that he was a poet, he began writing early and published his first...

Christine Perrin is the director of writing at Messiah College and has taught literature and creative writing at Johns Hopkins University, with Gordon College’s Orvieto Program, through the Pennsylvania Arts Council to students of all ages, and at the local classical school where her children attended. She consults with classical schools in curriculum development and faculty development in poetry...

Today being St. Crispin’s Day, it seems only right to share, once again, one of the most famous speeches in English literature—Henry V’s “Crispin’s Day” speech which was given prior to the battle of Agincourt, as penned by Shakespeare in his history, Henry V . This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack...

Today’s poem is by Carl August Sandburg (January 6, 1878 – July 22, 1967), an American poet, biographer, journalist, and editor. He won three Pulitzer Prizes : two for his poetry and one for his biography of Abraham Lincoln . During his lifetime, Sandburg was widely regarded as "a major figure in contemporary literature", especially for volumes of his collected verse, including Chicago Poems (1916...

Today’s poem is by an anonymous poet but it artfully commemorates the life and death of a great historical figure. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe

Today’s poem is by Samuel Taylor Coleridge ( /ˈkoʊlərɪdʒ/ KOH-lə-rij ; [1] 21 October 1772 – 25 July 1834), an English poet , literary critic , philosopher , and theologian who, with his friend William Wordsworth , was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets . He also shared volumes and collaborated with Charles Lamb , Robert Southey , and Charles Lloyd . He wr...

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include the poems " Paul Revere's Ride ", " The Song of Hiawatha ", and " Evangeline ". He was the first American to completely translate Dante Alighieri 's Divine Comedy and was one of the fireside poets from New England. Longfellow wrote many lyric poems known for their musicalit...

Today’s poem is by Michael Dana Gioia ( /ˈdʒɔɪ.ə/ ; born December 24, 1950), an American poet , literary critic , literary translator, and essayist. Since the early 1980s, Gioia has been considered part of the literary movements within American poetry known as New Formalism , which advocates the continued writing of poetry in rhyme and meter, and New Narrative , which advocates the telling of non-...

Today’s poems are by Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde [a] (16 October 1854 – 30 November 1900), an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is best remembered for his epigrams and plays, his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray . —Bio via Wikipedia This is a public episode. If y...

Today’s poem is by Gerard Manley Hopkins SJ (28 July 1844 – 8 June 1889), an English poet and Jesuit priest, whose posthumous fame places him among leading English poets. His prosody – notably his concept of sprung rhythm – established him as an innovator, as did his praise of God through vivid use of imagery and nature. Only after his death did Robert Bridges publish a few of Hopkins's mature poe...

Today’s poem is by Theodore Huebner Roethke ( /ˈrɛtki/ RET-kee ; [1] May 25, 1908 – August 1, 1963), an American poet. He is regarded as one of the most accomplished and influential poets of his generation, having won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1954 for his book The Waking , and the annual National Book Award for Poetry on two occasions: in 1959 for Words for the Wind , [2] and posthumously...

Today’s poem is by John Ronald Reuel Tolkien CBE FRSL ( /ˈruːl ˈtɒlkiːn/ , ROOL TOL-keen ; [a] 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973), an English writer and philologist . He was the author of the high fantasy works The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings . From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon and a Fellow of Pembroke College , both at the University of Oxford...

Today’s poem is by Robert Lee Frost (March 26, 1874 – January 29, 1963), an American poet . His work was initially published in England before it was published in the United States. Known for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloquial speech , [2] Frost frequently wrote about settings from rural life in New England in the early 20th century, using them to examine...

Today’s poem is dedicated to my son, Coulter, who turns twelve today. Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( /ˈrʌdjərd/ RUD-yərd ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936) [1] was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India , which inspired much of his work. Kipling's works of fiction include the Jungle Book duology ( The Jungle Book , 1894; The Second Jungle Book , 18...

Jane Kenyon (May 23, 1947 – April 22, 1995) was an American poet and translator . Her work is often characterized as simple, spare, and emotionally resonant. Kenyon was the second wife of poet, editor, and critic Donald Hall who made her the subject of many of his poems. —Bio via Wikipedia This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episode...

Today’s poem is by Thomas Stearns Eliot OM (26 September 1888 – 4 January 1965), a poet , essayist , publisher , playwright , literary critic and editor . [1] Considered one of the 20th century's major poets, he is a central figure in English-language Modernist poetry. Through his trials in language, writing style, and verse structure, he reinvigorated English poetry. He also dismantled outdated b...

Today’s poem is by Thomas Gray (26 December 1716 – 30 July 1771), an English poet, letter-writer, classical scholar, and fellow at Pembroke College , Cambridge . He is widely known for his Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard , published in 1751. [1] Gray was a self-critical writer who published only 13 poems in his lifetime, despite being very popular. He was even offered the position of Poet La...

Today’s poem is by Pablo Neruda ( /nəˈruːdə/ ; [1] Spanish pronunciation: [ˈpaβlo neˈɾuða] ⓘ ; born Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto ; 12 July 1904 – 23 September 1973) a Chilean poet-diplomat and politician who won the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature . [2] Neruda became known as a poet when he was 13 years old, and wrote in a variety of styles, including surrealist poems, historical epics ,...

Today’s poem is by Frédéric-Louis Sauser (1 September 1887 – 21 January 1961), [1] better known as Blaise Cendrars , a Swiss-born novelist and poet who became a naturalized French citizen in 1916. He was a writer of considerable influence in the European modernist movement. —Bio via Wikipedia This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus epis...

Today’s poem is by Roald Dahl [a] (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990), a British popular author of children's literature and short stories, a poet, and wartime fighter ace . [1] [2] His books have sold more than 300 million copies worldwide. [3] [4] Dahl has been called "one of the greatest storytellers for children of the 20th century". [5] Dahl's short stories are known for their unexpected e...

Today’s poem is by Thomas Stearns Eliot OM (26 September 1888 – 4 January 1965), a poet , essayist , publisher , playwright , literary critic and editor . [1] Considered one of the 20th century's major poets, he is a central figure in English-language Modernist poetry. Through his trials in language, writing style, and verse structure, he reinvigorated English poetry. He also dismantled outdated b...

Today’s poem is by Mary Jane Oliver (September 10, 1935 – January 17, 2019) , an American poet who won the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize . Her work is inspired by nature, rather than the human world, stemming from her lifelong passion for solitary walks in the wild. It is characterized by a sincere wonderment at the impact of natural imagery, conveyed in unadorned language. In 2007, s...

Today’s poem is by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (née Moulton-Barrett ; 6 March 1806 – 29 June 1861), an English poet of the Victorian era , popular in Britain and the United States during her lifetime. In the 1840s, Elizabeth was introduced to literary society through her distant cousin and patron John Kenyon . Her first adult collection of poems was published in 1838, and she wrote prolifically bet...