Tag Archives: poetry

“In Memory of W. B. Yeats,” poem by W. H. Auden, poets.org This poem has several “movements,” like a symphony. I marvel at its discursive tone — “You were silly like us” — until the last stanza, where it becomes … Continue reading →

“Dover Beach,” poem by Matthew Arnold, https://www.poetryfoundation.org Penned by a Victorian on his honeymoon! This is hardly a celebratory poem, but I get from it what the French call a “morne plaisir,” a gloomy satisfaction. Its somber music moves me, … Continue reading →

“Dirge Without Music,” poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay https://www.poetryfoundation.org I’m attracted to the elegiac mode. This poem is formal, but with half-rhyming that doesn’t chime: “crowned” with “resigned,” for example. The speaker quarrels with how we handle death.

“September 1, 1939,” poem by W. H. Auden, https://www.poets.org This is the longest poem I’ve memorized so far. It has nine stanzas, each of which has eleven lines. There’s a regular rhyme scheme. I detect a three-beat cadence. I read … Continue reading →