“

Now reading

So they stood

So they stood

Upon ladders

With pruning hooks

Backs to the king

Who took his leave

Of gardening

This morning

I am forlorn

As he was then

No one born

After the war

Remembers when

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

From down the road, starting up …

Wesley McNair

For Michael, fallen through a sky-light …

Dorothy Barresi

I bring fresh showers for the thirsting flowers, …

Percy Bysshe Shelley

If you don't get too close to people you can't disappoint them, …

Stephanie Burt

The beauty that my love wore all the seven …

A. M. Klein

kiss …

D. A. Powell

As the sweet-apple reddens on the high branch, …

Sappho

Dusk to dawn, sleek skunks enjoy …

Diana García

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