Poem Timeline
Musicalized poems placed on 50-year eras by their poet’s approximate writing years. Bar length is poem count; color leans dark or bright with average emotional tone.
Eras use a writing-age proxy (about age thirty), not known composition dates. Tone comes from interpretive emotion profiles.
3,361 poems in view .
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Poems in 1550s · 91
In Youth Is Pleasure
Robert Wever
Nostalgic joy
A Cassandre
Pierre de Ronsard
Sensual longing
Je ne suis point, ma guerrière Cassandre
Pierre de Ronsard
Tragic longing
Quand au matin ma déesse s'habille
Pierre de Ronsard
Sensual admiration
Quand vous serez bien vieille
Pierre de Ronsard
Reflective nostalgia
A Rondel of Love
Alexander Scott
Bittersweet reflection
A Song to the Lute in Musicke
Richard Edwardes
Uplifting reverence
In Commendation of Musick
Richard Edwardes
Uplifting solace
The Louer Refused of His Loue Imbraceth Death
Richard Tottel
Despairing longing
Vpon Consideracion of the State of This Lyfe He Wisheth Death
Richard Tottel
Resigned melancholy
Jolly Good Ale and Old
William Stevenson
Joyful revelry
A Lover's Lullaby
George Gascoigne
Tender resignation
Of all the birds
George Gascoigne
Joyful affection
Come woeful Orpheus
William Byrd
Melancholic yearning
Is Love a boy?
William Byrd
Pensive inquiry
Out of Sight, Out of Mind
Barnabe Googe
Bittersweet resignation
To an Old Gentlewoman, Who Painted Her Face
George Turberville
Reflective resignation
Fancy, Farewell
Sir Edward Dyer
Melancholic farewell
The Lowest Trees Have Tops
Sir Edward Dyer
Reflective contemplation
O lusty May
David Melvill
Joyful celebration
To Portsmouth
David Melvill
Joyful celebration
Address to the Sun
Alexander Montgomerie
Tender admiration
Quhy Sowld I Luve
Alexander Montgomerie
Melancholic longing
I walk'd along a stream
Christopher Marlowe
Ethereal delight
The Passionate Shepherd to His Love
Christopher Marlowe
Romantic idealism
If women could be fair
Edward de Vere
Cynical reflection
Lullaby
Richard Rowlands
Tender serenity
Fayre eyes
Edmund Spenser
Turbulent longing
Men call you fayre
Edmund Spenser
Reflective admiration
The glorious portrait of that Angel's face
Edmund Spenser
Awe-filled admiration
The sovereign beauty which I do admire
Edmund Spenser
Awe-inspired admiration
Cards and Kisses
John Lyly
Playful melancholy
Down in the depth of mine iniquity
Fulke Greville
Spiritual reflection
Only Joy, Now Here You Are
Sir Philip Sidney
Tense longing
Phillida and Coridon
Nicholas Breton
Joyful celebration
Ring out your bells
Sir Philip Sidney
Melancholic reflection
The Bargain
Sir Philip Sidney
Tender devotion
The Night before his Death
Sir Walter Raleigh
Reflective melancholy
What Is Our Life?
Sir Walter Raleigh
Reflective melancholy
You that seek what life is in death
Fulke Greville
Contemplative melancholy
Bethsabe's Song
George Peele
Sensual longing
What Thing Is Love
George Peele
Playful contemplation
Ladies, you see time flieth
Thomas Morley
Reflective urgency
Will you buy a fine dog?
Thomas Morley
Playful absurdity
Pluck the fruit and taste the pleasure
Thomas Lodge
Carpe Diem Reflection
Sephestia's Song to Her Child
Robert Greene
Bittersweet reflection
Bridal Song
George Chapman
Romantic reverie
You stole my love
Anthony Munday
Bitter lament
I Die Alive
Robert Southwell
Ethereal melancholy
Loves Garden Grief
Robert Southwell
Profound despair
Fair is my love
Samuel Daniel
Bittersweet admiration
My Ladies presence makes the roses red
Henry Constable
Romantic admiration
To His Absent Diana
Henry Constable
Melancholic longing
Flow, my tears
John Dowland
Profound sorrow
Fra bank to bank
Mark Alexander Boyd
Bittersweet reflection
Pearce did dance with Petronella
Giles Farnaby
Playful irony
Since there's no help
Michael Drayton
Bittersweet farewell
Ubique
Joshua Sylvester
Eternal devotion
Alas, poor Yorick!
William Shakespeare
Melancholic reflection
All the world’s a stage
William Shakespeare
Reflective melancholy
Ariel's Song
William Shakespeare
Ethereal reflection
Come Away, Death
William Shakespeare
Profound sorrow
Friends, Romans, countrymen
William Shakespeare
Tragic reflection
Grief fills the room up of my absent child
William Shakespeare
Profound sorrow
I loved Ophelia
William Shakespeare
Intense grief
If music be the food of love
William Shakespeare
Yearning beauty
If you prick us, do we not bleed?
William Shakespeare
Defiant sorrow
Now is the winter of our discontent
William Shakespeare
Tragic introspection
O Romeo, Romeo!
William Shakespeare
Longing and tenderness
O, that this too too solid flesh would melt
William Shakespeare
Profound despair
O, what a noble mind is here o’erthrown!
William Shakespeare
Melancholic reflection
Sonnet 18
William Shakespeare
Timeless admiration
The Wind and the Rain
William Shakespeare
Reflective resignation
There is a tide in the affairs of men
William Shakespeare
Reflective urgency
This day is called the feast of Crispian
William Shakespeare
Triumphant camaraderie
To Thine Own Self Be True
William Shakespeare
Reflective guidance
To be, or not to be
William Shakespeare
Existential contemplation
What a piece of work is a man!
William Shakespeare
Ironically contemplative
Every bush new springing
Michaell Cavendish
Bittersweet whimsy
Now peep, bo-peep
Francis Pilkington
Tender longing
Rest, sweet nymphs
Francis Pilkington
Serene comfort
Short is my rest
William Barley
Melancholic reflection
With angel's face and brightness
George Kirbye
Enchanting celebration
A Short View of the State of Man
William Alexander
Somber reflection
In Time of Plague
Thomas Nashe
Somber reflection
Jack and Joan
Thomas Campion
Joyful simplicity
There Is a Garden in Her Face
Thomas Campion
Romantic allure
On his Mistress, the Queen of Bohemia
Sir Henry Wotton
Admiring reverence
The Character of a Happy Life
Sir Henry Wotton
Contented reflection
To the Nightingale
Sir John Davies
Joyful reverie
To the Spring
Sir John Davies
Joyful renewal