Start here to explore the Archive through individual poems. You can select
titles, poetic forms or themes, or you can follow a route suggested by one of our
guides. You can also go straight from here to our Education pages, where you'll
find a wealth of information and advice to help you with your studies, or you
can watch one of our interviews with a poet. Don't forget to listen to what's
new, either: the Poetry Archive is always adding new 'historic' voices, as well
as contemporary ones.
Start here to explore the Archive through individual poems. You can select
titles, poetic forms or themes, or you can follow a route suggested by one of our
guides. You can also go straight from here to our Education pages, where you'll
find a wealth of information and advice to help you with your studies, or you
can watch one of our interviews with a poet. Don't forget to listen to what's
new, either: the Poetry Archive is always adding new 'historic' voices, as well
as contemporary ones.
I love this archive. It's an important reminder that all literature has its roots in the human voice. Black print on white paper is not remote and abstract stuff but grows out from 'ordinary' language, is linked to stories told to children at dusk, to gossip and jokes and song. It reaches back to the tales that were spoken and sung long before print existed, to the first stories and spells chanted by firelight in ancient caves.
The Waste Land Part I - The Burial of the Dead
by
T. S. Eliot
Bring poetry to life in your school! These pages are specially designed to help you and your students to get the most out of the Poetry Archive.
Students
The Poetry Archive is a great place for students to research and learn about poetry.
Librarians
Support and practical ideas to help you and your readers enjoy the Archive.
New to Poetry?
Tips on using the Archive for less confident readers, and for those who are unfamiliar with reading poetry.
This part of the Archive is full of poems chosen specially for children. Meet old favourites and make new discoveries.
Do you like hearing something about how or why the poem was written? Here are poems introduced by the poet.
Do you have a favourite sort of poem, like a haiku, a riddle or a kenning? You can search the Archive by poetic forms.
This part of the Archive is full of poems chosen specially for children. Meet old favourites and make new discoveries.
My Archive
Create lists of your favourite poems and poets and share them with friends.
Browse all poems by theme
- abroad,
- age,
- ancestors,
- animals,
- apocalypse,
- archaeology...
Browse all poems by form
The Poetry Archive depends on donations from public bodies and private individuals. Find out how you can contribute to the work of the Archive.