Poetry & Analysis
Selected Poems
Inspirational PoemsSolitude
Laugh, and the world laughs with you;
Weep, and you weep alone;
For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth,
But has trouble enough of its own.
Sing, and the hills will answer;
Sigh, it is lost on the air;
The echoes bound to a joyful sound,
But shrink from voicing care.
Rejoice, and men will seek you;
Grieve, and they turn and go;
They want full measure of all your pleasure,
But they do not need your woe.
Be glad, and your friends are many;
Be sad, and you lose them all,—
There are none to decline your nectared wine,
But alone you must drink life’s gall.
Feast, and your halls are crowded;
Fast, and the world goes by.
Succeed and give, and it helps you live,
But no man can help you die.
There is room in the halls of pleasure
For a large and lordly train,
But one by one we must all file on
Through the narrow aisles of pain.
Overview Short Summary
The poem contrasts how people respond to joy and sorrow, suggesting that pain is often faced alone.
Performance Note Why It Works as Spoken Word
This is strong spoken word poetry about loneliness and mental health. Let the contrasts sound sharp but controlled.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Loneliness: A key idea that supports the poem’s spoken word impact.
- Public joy: A key idea that supports the poem’s spoken word impact.
- Private pain: A key idea that supports the poem’s spoken word impact.
Opportunity
This I beheld, or dreamed it in a dream:—
There spread a cloud of dust along a plain;
And underneath the cloud, or in it, raged
A furious battle, and men yelled, and swords
Shocked upon swords and shields. A prince’s banner
Wavered, then staggered backward, hemmed by foes.
A craven hung along the battle’s edge,
And thought, ‘Had I a sword of keener steel—
That blue blade that the king’s son bears,—but this
Blunt thing!’—he snapt and flung it from his hand,
And lowering crept away and left the field.
Then came the king’s son, wounded, sore bestead,
And weaponless, and saw the broken sword,
Hilt-buried in the dry and trodden sand,
And ran and snatched it, and with battle-shout
Lifted afresh he hewed his enemy down,
And saved a great cause that heroic day.
Overview Short Summary
The poem shows that courage and action matter more than waiting for perfect tools or perfect conditions.
Performance Note Why It Works as Spoken Word
Use this for spoken word poetry for beginners because the story is clear and the message is direct.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Courage: A key idea that supports the poem’s spoken word impact.
- Action: A key idea that supports the poem’s spoken word impact.
- Opportunity: A key idea that supports the poem’s spoken word impact.
Hope is the thing with feathers
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,
And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
I’ve heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.
Overview Short Summary
The poem imagines hope as a small bird that keeps singing inside the soul, even during storms.
Performance Note Why It Works as Spoken Word
This is a short spoken word poem about hope and healing. Use a gentle voice and clear pauses.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Hope: A key idea that supports the poem’s spoken word impact.
- Inner strength: A key idea that supports the poem’s spoken word impact.
- Healing: A key idea that supports the poem’s spoken word impact.
I'm Nobody! Who are you?
I’m nobody! Who are you?
Are you nobody, too?
Then there’s a pair of us—don’t tell!
They’d banish us, you know.
How dreary to be somebody!
How public, like a frog
To tell your name the livelong day
To an admiring bog!
Overview Short Summary
The speaker playfully rejects public importance and finds comfort in being outside attention.
Performance Note Why It Works as Spoken Word
This is a useful spoken word poetry example for students because it feels like a quick conversation with the audience.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Identity: A key idea that supports the poem’s spoken word impact.
- Privacy: A key idea that supports the poem’s spoken word impact.
- Social performance: A key idea that supports the poem’s spoken word impact.
Because I could not stop for Death
Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality.
We slowly drove, he knew no haste,
And I had put away
My labor, and my leisure too,
For his civility.
We passed the school where children played,
Their lessons scarcely done;
We passed the fields of gazing grain,
We passed the setting sun.
We paused before a house that seemed
A swelling of the ground;
The roof was scarcely visible,
The cornice but a mound.
Since then ’tis centuries; but each
Feels shorter than the day
I first surmised the horses’ heads
Were toward eternity.
Overview Short Summary
The speaker imagines death as a quiet carriage ride through scenes of life toward eternity.
Performance Note Why It Works as Spoken Word
This poem works as spoken word when delivered calmly. The quiet tone makes the subject even more powerful.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Death: A key idea that supports the poem’s spoken word impact.
- Time: A key idea that supports the poem’s spoken word impact.
- Calm reflection: A key idea that supports the poem’s spoken word impact.
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More selected reading from Inspirational Poems.
