Welcome home, fellow poetry lover! Are you searching for your daily shot of emotions? Look no further! We’ve scoured the depths of literary history to bring you the cream of the crop — the best lines from the most famous poems. From Shakespeare’s sonnets to Maya Angelou’s musings, these poetry lines will have you reaching for a notebook (or a tweet) to share your newfound wisdom with the world.
As a kid, I remember feeling overwhelmed by the complexity of poetry. I struggled to understand the hidden meanings and symbols, especially with some style choices in romantic poems, and often felt discouraged by my inability to fully grasp the beauty of verse. But now, as an adult who has lived through lessons and journeys, it’s not as hard to find meaning in poems. In fact, it’s easier to appreciate the nuances and subtleties of a poem once you have some life experience under your belt.
So take the time to appreciate the craft and skill that went into these poems, with their perfect blend of carefully chosen words and intense emotion. Notice the rhythm and rhyme, the imagery and metaphor, and the feelings they evoke. Each line is a window into the mind and heart of the poet and a reflection of the society and culture in which they lived. Some may resonate with you on a personal level, while others could challenge your beliefs or make you see the world in a new way. That’s the beauty of poetry — it can move, change, and connect us to something greater than ourselves.
Whether you’re a seasoned poetry aficionado or a newcomer to the world of verse, we hope you’ll find something that speaks to you and that you’ll come back to read the best poetry lines again and again for inspiration and solace. Happy reading!
#61
"Take, Oh, Take Those Lips Away" — John Fletcher
"Take, oh, take those lips away That so sweetly were forsworn And those eyes, like break of day, Lights that do mislead the morn; But my kisses bring again, Seals of love, though sealed in vain."
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#62
"Love Is Not All" — Edna St. Vincent Millay
"It well may be that in a difficult hour, Pinned down by pain and moaning for release, Or nagged by want past resolution's power, I might be driven to sell your love for peace, Or trade the memory of this night for food. It well may be. I do not think I would."
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#63
"I Have to Tell You" — Dorothea Grossman
"I have to tell you, there are times when the sun strikes me like a gong, and I remember everything, even your ears."
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#64
[Love is more thicker than forget] — E. E. Cummings
"Love is less always than to win less never than alive less bigger than the least begin less littler than forgive it is most sane and sunly and more it cannot die than all the sky which only is higher than the sky"
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#65
"The Sun Rising" — John Donne
"Love, all alike, no season knows nor clime, nor hours, days, months, which are the rags of time."
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#66
"The More Loving One" — W.H. Auden
"If equal affection cannot be, let the more loving be me."
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#67
"Apology" — William Carlos Williams
"The beauty of
the terrible faces
of our nonentities
stirs me to it."
the terrible faces
of our nonentities
stirs me to it."
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#68
"Cotton in the Air" — Derrick Brown
"You are cotton caught in the air. I am unfurling laces in your body."
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#69
"Courage is a Muscle" — Salena Godden
"Courage is the muscle we work night and day
To get equal rights, to get equal pay."
To get equal rights, to get equal pay."
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#70
"The Unbearable Weight of Staying" — Warsan Shire
"I think of lovers as trees, growing to and, from one another, searching for the same light."
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#71
"Nancy Meyers and My Dream of Whiteness" — Morgan Parker
"I can’t be sorry
enough. I have learned
everything is urgent."
enough. I have learned
everything is urgent."
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#72
"Phenomenal Woman" — Maya Angelou
"The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me."
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me."
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#73
"If" — Rudyard Kipling
"If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And — which is more — you’ll be a Man, my son!"
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And — which is more — you’ll be a Man, my son!"
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#74
"To Autumn" — John Keats
"Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run."
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run."
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#75
"One Art" — Elizabeth Bishop
"It's evident
the art of losing's not too hard to master,
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster."
the art of losing's not too hard to master,
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster."
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#76
"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" — T.S. Eliot
"For I have known them all already, known them all:
Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons;
I have measured out my life with coffee spoons."
Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons;
I have measured out my life with coffee spoons."
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#77
"The Wasteland" — T.S. Eliot
"These fragments I have shored
Against my ruins."
Against my ruins."
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#78
"The Second Coming" — William Butler Yeats
"The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity."
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity."
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#79
"Bright Star" — John Keats
"Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,
And so live ever—or else swoon to death."
And so live ever—or else swoon to death."
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#80
"A Question" — Robert Frost
"A voice said, Look me in the stars
And tell me truly, men of earth,
If all the soul-and-body scars
Were not too much to pay for birth."
And tell me truly, men of earth,
If all the soul-and-body scars
Were not too much to pay for birth."
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