Best Poems – Interesting Literature

10 of the Best Poems about Adversity and Hardship

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

Adversity and hardship have been common themes in poetry, because they are, of course, common experiences for many people. Poets seeking to raise awareness of the suffering people have undergone, or their financial dire straits, have often drawn attention to the hardships suffered by particular groups of people: refugees in a new country, people who belong to a minority ethnic group, or people who simply don’t have much money to pay the bills or feed their families.

10 of the Best Poems about Knowledge and Wisdom

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

What are the best poems about knowledge? Poetry often contains a kind of wisdom or deeper knowledge: about the world, about love, about what might await us after we die. Whether we agree with the forms of knowledge poets postulate or vehemently disagree, the poet is often seeking out, in William Blake’s memorable phrase, ‘the Palace of Wisdom’.

The Best Poems about Tolerance and Acceptance

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

Tolerance is an important topic in literature, because to tolerate something also involves an acknowledgment that there is a potential objection to the thing being tolerated. Nobody ‘tolerates’ winning a million pounds on the lottery, but we talk of ‘tolerating’ the loud music coming from a neighbour’s house when they’re having a barbecue, with ‘tolerating’ here meaning ‘putting up with’ something.

10 of the Best Poems about Race and Racism

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

Poetry can be used to address and explore a range of pressing social issues, and racial prejudice and racial identity are among these topics which poets have written about powerfully, from a range of perspectives.

Whether it’s African-American poets writing at the time of the Civil Rights movement in the US, or British Asian poets writing about dual identity, the following poets have articulated important aspects of ‘the race debate’ (or, perhaps, debates). As well as getting us to think, they have made us feel.

10 of the Best Anti-Love Poems

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘Poetry’ and ‘love’ are almost synonymous in some people’s minds, with the very idea of poetry summoning images of the romantic – hopeless or otherwise – and rather highly-strung soul devoted to the beauty of words and the truth of love.

But as well as celebrating being in love, wooing someone into becoming their beloved, or lamenting a noble but unrequited love, poets have also turned against love on many occasions. Below, we introduce ten of the best ‘anti-love’ poems: poems which offer a more sceptical, and sometimes even downright cynical, perspective on loving and being (or not being) loved.