The Mask

Death is a beautiful white mask,
That slips over the face, when the moment comes,
To hide the happiness of the soul.

41,493

poems

4,155

poets

207

poetic terms

Browse the collection

Grief, desire, revolt, wonder. Start where the poem meets your life.

Follow the sonnet, ghazal, villanelle, ode, and every shape in between.

Move between a poet, their influences, peers, translations, and afterlives.

Selected

IN TWO CITIES …

John Lehmann

Every tripod- …

Amit Majmudar

On my desk there is a stone with the word “Amen” on it, …

Yehuda Amichai

Night enters the Plaza, step by step, in the singular …

Jay Wright

Until I had to balance the blood, …

William Greenway

White horses, tails high, rise from the cedar. …

Roberta Hill Whiteman

I. …

Katie Peterson

a pigeon festival of bread crumbs. …

Carolyn Marie Rodgers

The glossary

From aubade to zuihitsu, 207 definitions of the forms, figures, and schools that shape the line.