Free summaries
Poetry — page 3
112 public-domain poetry books, summarised. Page 3 of 3.
Life Immovable. First Part
Kostes Palamas
A mind burdened by modern isolation yearns for wholeness, seeking truth in the ruins of ancient wisdom, the harshness of nature, and the unyielding spark of human spirit.
The Love Poems: (From Les Heures claires, Les Heures d'après-midi, Les Heures du Soir)
Emile Verhaeren
Two souls find sanctuary in a secluded garden, binding their lives together across a journey that deepens from youth’s fiery intensity to old age's quiet, unshakable devotion.
A Vers de Société Anthology
Unknown
The poet is a florist of the ephemeral, gathering the scattered blossoms of wit, romance, and social observation into a single, delicate bouquet. This collection preserves the fine art of saying everything—and nothing—with perfect grace.
Sappho: One Hundred Lyrics
Bliss Carman
The soul of a lyric poet, long lost to the erosion of centuries, finds a new, imagined voice in these verses of passion, memory, and the shifting tides of the Aegean.
The Bible, King James version, Book 19: Psalms
Anonymous
These ancient poems capture the raw, unfiltered spectrum of human emotion, from the heights of ecstatic joy to the depths of profound despair. They offer a timeless map of the soul’s struggle to find meaning in a turbulent world.
35 Sonnets
Fernando Pessoa
The gap between what we feel and what we can express is the primary tragedy of the human condition. In these verses, the struggle to reconcile the internal soul with the external world reveals that our true selves remain forever inaccessible, even to ourselves.
Poems we all love
Unknown
This collection serves as a moral compass for the early twentieth-century reader, gathering verse that champions resilience, faith, and the quiet dignity of a life lived for others. It offers a meditative survey of the human condition, framing life’s inevitable hardships not as reasons for despair, but as essential…
Poems
George Meredith
This collection of verse captures the transition from the lush, mythological romanticism of a young writer to the sharper, more socially conscious perspective of a man grappling with the complexities of the Victorian world. It is a work of restless intellectual energy, moving between the observation of nature and…
Buddhist Psalms translated from the Japanese of Shinran Shonin
Shinran
This collection of devotional poetry captures the profound surrender of a seeker who finds ultimate peace not in his own moral accomplishments, but in the boundless mercy of the Infinite. It remains a foundational testament to the Pure Land tradition, articulating a shift from rigorous, self-reliant asceticism to…
Music, and Other Poems
Henry Van Dyke
These verses offer a serene refuge, celebrating the quiet dignity of daily labor, the healing power of nature, and the enduring strength of human love.
A Voice on the Wind, and Other Poems
Madison Julius Cawein
The natural world is an enchanted tapestry where every breeze, bird, and blossom whispers secrets to those patient enough to listen. These verses map the transition from the vibrant heat of summer to the haunting quietude of winter’s threshold.
The Poems of Madison Cawein, Volume 4 (of 5): Poems of mystery and of myth and romance
Madison Julius Cawein
An ancient ruby pulses like a beating heart upon a lover’s hand, drawing its life from mortal blood before dissolving into mist. Across haunted forests and forgotten ruins, spectral figures and ancient gods whisper the secrets of love, decay, and longing.
Anthology of modern Indian poetry
Unknown
Bound by no single voice or province, a vast landscape of longing and spiritual awakening opens across these gathered verses.
The Modern Scottish Minstrel, Volume 3.: The Songs of Scotland of the Past Half Century
Unknown
A broad cultural survey balances Greek antiquity against Scottish verse to uncover how a nation's popular songs preserve its living history and moral character.
The Feast of the Virgins and Other Poems
Hanford Lennox Gordon
Across sweeping verses of Dakota legends and Civil War battlefields, this Victorian collection yields a surprisingly raw, rhythmic view of nineteenth-century American conflict and myth.
Who Can Be Happy and Free in Russia?
Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov
Seven peasants meet on a high road and fall into an endless argument over a single question: who can live in Russia with happiness and freedom?