“

Now reading

Blind Joy

Crude seeing’s all our joy: could we discern

The cold dark infinite vast where atoms burn

—Lone suns—in flesh, our treasure and our play,

Who’d dare to breathe this fern-thick bird-rich day?

41,493

poems

4,155

poets

207

poetic terms

Browse the collection

Explore the archive →
01

By feeling

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

Emotions →
02

By form

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

The glossary →
03

By constellation

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

Poets →

Selected

Poems worth returning to

These guys try to make us …

Rae Armantrout

Why did the chicken cross the road? When …

Jennifer Michael Hecht

my west-facing window …

Aishvarya Arora

I think with you at the center of my thoughts. Europa orbits Jupiter and centers Jupiter in its thoughts. Europa thinks about its day, spinning around that thing that is slowest to come when you want to escape. It massages its swollen feet, points its toes to the wall, points them back. It spun through the day while deferring the day. It spins with no intention …

Moon Bo Young

PAUL RAMSEY …

Paul Ramsey

TWO POEMS …

Dorothy Leonard

Maurice Moore …

Maurice Moore

theme, right to left …

Angelo Mao

The glossary

The language about poetry

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

Explore the glossary→
Accentual verseAccentual-syllabic verseAcmeismAlcaicAlexandrineAmbiguity