poetry is a way to express emotions that are difficult for most people to articulate.
Great poetry about life gives us a glimpse into the poet’s heart and also inspires us to explore our inner worlds.
Poetry is a powerful tool for self-discovery and can take you to a different place or time. It will expand your perspective on the world.
The most beautiful poems are those that have an elegant and distinctive style. This elevates the feelings expressed and invites us to respond at a soul level.
Here are some of the most inspiring poems to lift your spirits.
25 Beautiful and Exquisite Poems About Life
What might move or be an inspiration to one person, may not have the same effect on another.
Most poetry is universal. The poet’s words reflect truths that we all know.
If you’re new to poetry let’s begin with some shorter pieces that can say a lot in a few short words.
Enjoy these short poems about life
Risk by Anis Nin
The day finally arrived, when the risk became real
Keep your hands tight
in a bud
It was even more painful
The risk is greater than the benefit
It took
The blossoming of the flower
“Hope” is the thing with feathers, by Emily Dickinson
“Hope” has feathers on it.
What perches on the soul?
The song is sung without words.
Never stop – ever.
The sweetest sound – from the Gale – is heard.
The storm must be a savage one.
The Little Bird could be a threat
It was a great way to keep many people warm.
I’ve heard this in the coldest place on earth –
The Strangest Sea is a –
But – Never – Extreme,
It asked for a crumb from me.
The Dust of Snow, by Robert Frost
Crows have a unique way of communicating
I was shaken to the core
Dust of Snow
From a hemlock Tree
Has given my heart
Change of mood
You can save some money by reducing your consumption.
A day that I rued.
The Peace of Wild Things, by Wendell Berry
When I feel despair for the whole world growing in me
When I hear the slightest sound, I am awakened.
I am afraid for my own life and the lives of my children.
I lie down in the woods drake
The great heron is a beautiful bird that rests on the water.
I have come to the peace of wild animals
Who does not plan their life with forethought?
I am filled with grief. I am in the presence of still waters.
Above me, I can feel the stars that are blinded by day.
Waiting with their light. For a while
I am at peace and rest in the grace that the world has given me.
The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost
Two roads diverged through a yellow forest.
Sorry I couldn’t travel to both
Long I was a traveller.
I looked as far down as I could.
Where it bends in the undergrowth
Take the other as equally fair.
The better claim is:
It was grassy, and it needed wear.
As for the passing of there
They were worn about the same.
Both mornings equally lay
No black footstep had been made on the leaves.
Oh, I saved the first one for another day!
Knowing the way to go is crucial.
I wondered if I would ever return.
This is what I will be saying with a sigh
Somewhere, ages and years hence:
In a forest, two roads diverged.
I chose the road less travelled.
It has been a game-changer.
Inspirational Poems About Life
Mary Oliver, The Summer Day
Who created the world?
Who created the black bear and the swan?
Who makes the grasshoppers?
This grasshopper is what I’m referring to
The one who has thrown herself off the grass.
The one who is eating the sugar from my hand
Who is moving her mouth back and forth, instead of up-and-down?
Who is that woman who has such large and complex eyes?
She washes thoroughly her face by lifting her pale forearms.
She now opens her wings and flies away.
I’m not sure what a “prayer” is.
I know how to be attentive, and how to fall.
How to kneel in the grass?
How to walk through the fields and be blessed.
This is what I’ve been doing for the past 24 hours.
What else could I have done to improve my situation?
Isn’t it too early that everything dies?
What are you planning to do?
With your precious and wildlife?
The Guest House, by Rumi
This is a guesthouse.
Every morning, a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
Some momentary Awareness Comes
As an unexpected guest.
All are welcome to enjoy the show!
Even if it is a mob of sorrows
Who violently sweeps your house
Empty of all its furniture
Still, treat every guest with honour.
You may be able to clear your mind if he does so
for some new delight.
The malice, the dark thoughts, and the shame.
Invite them in by laughing when you meet them.
Be grateful for everything that comes your way.
Because each of you has been sent
As a guide, from the beyond.
Still, I Rise, by Maya Angelou
You can write down my name in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You can trample me to the ground
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.
Do you find my sassiness offensive?
Why do you feel so gloomy?
Because I walk as if I have oil wells
Pumping in My Living Room
Like the suns and moons,
The tides are always predictable.
Just like hopes springing high,
Still, I’ll rise.
Do you want me to be broken?
What is the difference between a bowed head and eyes lowered?
Shoulders falling like teardrops
My soulful cries have you been weakened?
Is my arrogance offensive to you?
Take it easy on yourself
Because I laugh as if I have gold mines
Digging in my backyard
You can shoot me by your words
You can cut me with your eye.
Your hatred may be enough to kill me.
Like air, I will still rise.
Do you find my sexuality offensive?
Is it a surprise?
This is what I do: I dance as if I have diamonds
When will my legs meet?
The huts of shameful history are no more
I rise
Get up from a painful past
I rise
I am a wide and soaring black ocean.
The tide is rising and I am swollen.
Leave behind the nights of terror
I rise
An amazingly clear daybreak
I rise
Bring the gifts my ancestors left me,
I am the hope and the dream of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
Warning, by Jenny Joseph
Purple will be my colour of choice when I grow old.
I’m wearing a red hat that doesn’t match and isn’t me.
Spending my pension on brandy, summer gloves and other items.
You can’t buy butter, but you can wear satin sandals.
When I am tired, I will sit on the pavement
Samples in stores and alarm bells
I’ll run my stick up and down the railings
I will make up for my sobriety in my youth.
I will go out in my slippers even if it rains
Pick flowers from other people’s gardens
Learn to spit.
Wearing terrible shirts can make you fatter
Eat three pounds of sausages in one go
Or just bread and pickles for a whole week
Keep pens, pencils, beermats and other items in boxes.
Now we need waterproof clothes
We must pay our rent, and we must not swear on the street
Set a good example to the kids.
It is important to invite friends over for dinner and to read the newspaper.
Maybe I should practice now?
People who know me well are not surprised by my actions.
When I suddenly become old and begin to wear purple.
One, by Shawnee Kellie
A single word can ignite a moment.
A single flower can awaken the dream.
A single tree can begin a forest.
One bird can herald Spring.
A smile can create a lasting friendship.
One handclasp is enough to lift the soul.
A ship can be guided by a single star at sea.
A single cheer can help you achieve your goal.
One vote can transform a nation
One sunbeam is enough to lift an entire room.
One candle can eliminate darkness
One smile can lift the spirits.
Two lives can be changed by a single glance
Love can bloom with just one kiss
Each journey must begin with a single step
Each prayer must begin with a single word
Hope can lift our spirits.
A simple touch can be enough to show that you care.
Wisdom can be expressed by a single voice
Only one heart can tell what is true.
One person can make a huge difference.
You and I share a life.
Copyright A(c), 1980 Shawnee Kelly. All rights reserved.
Poems about Life and Love
Love After Love by Derek Walcott
It will be soon.
When, with elation
You will welcome yourself upon arrival
Mirror yourself at home
Each will welcome the other with a smile.
Sit down. Eat.
You will fall in love with the stranger that was once you.
Give bread. Give wine. Give your heart back
To the stranger who has adored you
All your life you ignored
For another, who knows your name by heart?
Remove the love letters that are on the bookshelf.
The photographs and the desperate notes
Peel your reflection from the mirror.
Sit. Sit.
#34 from Milk and Honey, by Rupi Kaur
Most importantly, love
Like it’s all you know
All this is a waste of time
Nothing
This page
Where you are sitting
your degree
your job
The money
Nothing matters
Love and human connection is not the only thing that matters
Who you love
How deeply you love them
How you touch the people around You
How much did you give them?
Sonnet 29, by William Shakespeare
When you are in disgrace before the eyes of fortune and men,
I am alone in my misery.
My bootless cries will disturb the deaf heaven.
Look at me and curse my fate.
Wanting to be richer in hope is what I wish for.
Like him, possessed,
Wanting this man’s art, and another man’s scope
What I enjoy most and what I am least contented with;
In these thoughts I almost despise myself.
Then I will think of you, and your state.
Like the dawning lark
The earth is a sulky place.
Your sweet love brought such wealth
Then I would not change my status with kings.
When I Die I Want Your Hands on My Eyes, by Pablo Neruda
When I die, I want you to touch my eyes.
Your hands are my beloved light and wheat.
Pass their freshness to me again
I felt the smoothness of my life change.
While I am waiting for you, I want to see you alive.
I want you to continue hearing the wind.
For you to smell the sea we loved together
You can continue walking on the same sand as we did.
I want to live for what I am passionate about
You are the only one I love and sing about.
Flowery, continue to bloom,
So that you can achieve all my love has ordered for you.
So that my shadow passes through your hair
So that they can understand the meaning of my song.
Make Me Feel, by Mariah Chandan
Take my heart, I’ll give you it easily.
Join me on this journey by taking my hand.
Heal all the scars.
When things get tough, you can overcome these fears.
Make this smile so big.
Take my hands and hold me so tightly.
Make these feelings real.
Show me what you feel at the end.
Sad Poems About Life
Acquainted with Night, By Robert Frost
I am a familiar with the night.
I’ve walked in the rain and come back in the rain.
I’ve walked past the farthest city lights.
I’ve walked down the most depressing city street.
I passed the watchman as he was on his beat
I dropped my eyes and refused to explain.
I’ve stopped hearing the sound of my feet
The sound of an interrupted cry
The houses were a few streets away.
Please do not call me or say goodbye.
Then, at an unimaginable height,
One luminary clock against a sky
Declaring the time is neither wrong nor correct.
I am a familiar with the night.
Her Kind, by Ann Sexton
I am a witch possessed.
The black air is more frightening at night.
Dreaming of evil, I’ve done my part
Over the plain houses, Light by Light:
Out of sight, lonely twelve-fingered thing.
A woman who behaves like this isn’t a woman at all.
I am her kind.
The warm caves are in the woods.
Fill them with shelves, shelves, and carvings.
closets, silks, innumerable goods;
The elves and worms ate their dinners:
Whining and rearranging those who are out of alignment.
Women like this are misunderstood.
I am her kind.
I’ve ridden on your cart, driver.
waved my nude arms at villages going by,
Learning the last bright routes of survivor
Where your flames still bite me on the thigh
My ribs are cracked where your wheels turn.
It is not shameful for a woman to die.
I am her kind.
Time Does Not Bring Relief, by Edna St. Vincent Milay
You all lied about the time it takes to bring relief
Who told you that time would make your pain go away?
I missed him in the rain.
I want him when the tide is shrinking;
Every mountainside is bare of old snow.
The leaves of last year are now smoke on every road;
Last year’s bitter love must be kept.
My old thoughts are still there, and I feel it.
There are 100 places that I am afraid.
As his memories brim, he goes.
You can enter a quiet place with relief.
Never fell his foot, never shone his face
I say: “There’s no memory of him anywhere!”
So, stand struck and remember him.
A Question, by Robert Frost
The voice said: “Look at me in the stars”
Tell me honestly, men of the earth.
All the scars on your body and soul
Was it not too much for the birth?
Haiku Poems About Life
All is not lost, By Barrie Davenport
The Moments of Birth
A baby crying in amazement
All is not lost. . .
Haiku Triad, by Millard Lowe
Nature made her decisions by monitoring herself: Disaster rained down… The water rose — Life sank below the level, hope floated over… We wait, like Noah… Flooding water still standing– Vultures rest on wires.
A World of Dew, by Kobayashi Issa
A World of Dew,
Within every dewdrop
A world in turmoil.
This Tea, by Barrie Davenport
Why should I try HTML0?
I want to live my life now, but all I need is
Is this a cup of tea?
Lines on a Skull, by Ravi Shankar
Our heads are small, but our lives are big
and sad. Redeemed and waste clay
This is your chance. Useful.
Care, by Barrie Davenport
The world turns and spins
Slowly but without Mercy
Or care. The leaf.
Final Thoughts
What will you do with the poems on life?
You can also find many more life poems on the Internet or in poetry anthologies. There are many different ways to enjoy poetry.
There are many different themes in poetry. Poems about life lessons or life struggles are two examples. Other themes include:
Discover the poetry that resonates most with you. You may enjoy the works of different poets. An anthology will allow you to discover different styles. Both classic and contemporary poetry should be read.
Use specific lines from poems you love as daily affirmations. Use lines from your favourite poems as daily affirmations.
Share your love of poetry by reading a poem every day. You might find that poetry reading inspires you.