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On Donne's Poetry

With Donne, whose muse on dromedary trots,
Wreathe iron pokers into true-love knots;
Rhyme's sturdy cripple, fancy's maze and clue,
Wit's forge and fire-blast, meaning's press and screw.

41,493

poems

4,155

poets

207

poetic terms

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01

By feeling

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

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02

By form

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

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03

By constellation

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

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Selected

Poems worth returning to

We dipped our hands in the dish together. …

James L. Duff

November wind. The feeling of knowing …

Katie Peterson

I grow old under an intensity …

James Merrill

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies. …

Maya Angelou

Now that I notice it is my much beloved body which has been …

Michael Benedikt

I have met them in dark alleys, limping and one-armed; …

David Kirby

Seamen three! What men be ye? …

Thomas Love Peacock

O winds that pass uncomforted …

Clark Ashton Smith

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