Poetry & Analysis
Selected Poems
Sad PoemsThe Pulley
When God at first made man,
Having a glass of blessings standing by,
“Let us,” said he, “pour on him all we can.
Let the world’s riches, which dispersèd lie,
Contract into a span.”
So strength first made a way;
Then beauty flowed, then wisdom, honour, pleasure.
When almost all was out, God made a stay,
Perceiving that, alone of all his treasure,
Rest in the bottom lay.
“For if I should,” said he,
“Bestow this jewel also on my creature,
He would adore my gifts instead of me,
And rest in Nature, not the God of Nature:
So both should losers be.
“Yet let him keep the rest,
But keep them with repining restlessness;
Let him be rich and weary, that at least,
If goodness lead him not, yet weariness
May toss him to my breast.”
Overview Short Summary
Herbert’s poem explains human restlessness as part of the spiritual condition. For readers seeking poems about worry and peace of mind, it frames unrest as a force that may lead the soul back toward rest.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Restlessness: Humans receive many gifts but not complete rest.
- Spiritual longing: Weariness becomes a path toward divine comfort.
- Peace of mind: Rest is treated as the missing blessing everyone seeks.
Emotional Effect Tone and Mood
The tone is reflective and theological, with a mood of thoughtful unease.
Craft Literary Devices
- Allegory: The creation story explains why humans feel restless.
- Metaphor: Rest is imagined as a jewel left at the bottom of a glass.
On His Blindness
When I consider how my light is spent,
Ere half my days in this dark world and wide,
And that one Talent which is death to hide
Lodged with me useless, though my Soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest He returning chide;
“Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?”
I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent
That murmur, soon replies, “God doth not need
Either man’s work or his own gifts; who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state
Is kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed
And post o’er land and ocean without rest:
They also serve who only stand and wait.”
Overview Short Summary
Milton’s sonnet presents worry about usefulness, limitation, and spiritual duty. The answer comes through patience: service is not only action, but also faithful waiting.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Worry about purpose: The speaker fears that his gift has become useless.
- Patience: Patience answers the speaker’s anxious complaint.
- Acceptance: The poem finds dignity in waiting.
Emotional Effect Tone and Mood
The tone moves from troubled questioning to calm spiritual acceptance.
Craft Literary Devices
- Personification: Patience speaks as a guiding voice.
- Biblical allusion: The “Talent” recalls the parable of responsibility and stewardship.
A Poison Tree
I was angry with my friend:
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe:
I told it not, my wrath did grow.
And I watered it in fears,
Night and morning with my tears;
And I sunned it with smiles,
And with soft deceitful wiles.
And it grew both day and night,
Till it bore an apple bright;
And my foe beheld it shine,
And he knew that it was mine.
And into my garden stole,
When the night had veiled the pole:
In the morning glad I see
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.
Overview Short Summary
Blake’s poem is not only about anger; it also shows how fear, tears, secrecy, and brooding thought can grow into something poisonous. It fits worry keywords connected to fear and emotional pressure.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Hidden emotion: Unspoken anger grows stronger when it is concealed.
- Fear and obsession: The speaker waters wrath with fears and tears.
- Consequences: A private emotion becomes destructive.
Emotional Effect Tone and Mood
The tone is deceptively simple and dark, while the mood is ominous.
Craft Literary Devices
- Allegory: Wrath grows into a poison tree.
- Symbolism: The apple represents the attractive but deadly result of hidden hatred.
The Darkling Thrush
I leant upon a coppice gate
When Frost was spectre-gray,
And Winter’s dregs made desolate
The weakening eye of day.
The tangled bine-stems scored the sky
Like strings of broken lyres,
And all mankind that haunted nigh
Had sought their household fires.
The land’s sharp features seemed to be
The Century’s corpse outleant,
His crypt the cloudy canopy,
The wind his death-lament.
The ancient pulse of germ and birth
Was shrunken hard and dry,
And every spirit upon earth
Seemed fervourless as I.
At once a voice arose among
The bleak twigs overhead
In a full-hearted evensong
Of joy illimited;
An aged thrush, frail, gaunt, and small,
In blast-beruffled plume,
Had chosen thus to fling his soul
Upon the growing gloom.
So little cause for carolings
Of such ecstatic sound
Was written on terrestrial things
Afar or nigh around,
That I could think there trembled through
His happy good-night air
Some blessed Hope, whereof he knew
And I was unaware.
Overview Short Summary
Hardy’s poem begins in bleakness and emotional exhaustion but ends with a mysterious song of hope. It works well for poems about worry and hope because the speaker cannot explain the hope he hears, but he still feels it.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Despair and hope: A bleak landscape is interrupted by a bird’s song.
- Uncertainty: The speaker does not fully understand the hope he senses.
- Renewal: The thrush suggests life and song inside a dying world.
Emotional Effect Tone and Mood
The tone is bleak at first, then quietly wonder-filled; the mood shifts from desolate to cautiously hopeful.
Craft Literary Devices
- Personification: The century is imagined as a corpse.
- Contrast: The frail bird’s joyful song contrasts with the dead winter landscape.
I Shall Not Care
When I am dead and over me bright April
Shakes out her rain-drenched hair,
Though you should lean above me broken-hearted,
I shall not care.
I shall have peace, as leafy trees are peaceful
When rain bends down the bough;
And I shall be more silent and cold-hearted
Than you are now.
Overview Short Summary
Teasdale’s poem imagines a final state beyond worry, hurt, and longing. Its calm surface hides a sharp emotional pain, making it useful for readers looking for poems about sadness, worry, and peace.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Emotional exhaustion: The speaker imagines a future in which feeling no longer hurts.
- Peace: Death is pictured through trees, rain, silence, and stillness.
- Love and hurt: The poem suggests that present heartbreak has made indifference seem restful.
Emotional Effect Tone and Mood
The tone is cold, wounded, and calm, while the mood is quiet but painful.
Craft Literary Devices
- Simile: Peace is compared to leafy trees in rain.
- Contrast: Bright April contrasts with the speaker’s cold indifference.
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