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The Real Princess

Beneath nine mattresses I feel the bean.
The silent moon awakes me, going down.
By signs and portents I should be the queen,
But oh, it's lonely waiting for my crown!

41,493

poems

4,155

poets

207

poetic terms

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By feeling

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

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02

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03

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Selected

Poems worth returning to

Season, ending, makes no sign, but the wind …

David Mus

The popple swallows …

Jesse Jennison

POBTRY …

May Swenson

Tonight at dusk we linger by the fence …

James Davis May

TWO POEMS …

Miriam Allen De Ford

"After the Japanese manner …

Nathan Haskell Dole

Walking back to the farm from the depot, …

Donald Hall

Here there is no one to …

Joanna Klink

The glossary

The language about poetry

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

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Accentual verseAccentual-syllabic verseAcmeismAlcaicAlexandrineAmbiguity