Theme Timeline

Pick a theme and see how often it shows up across 50-year cohorts of V2Melody poets. Bars are normalised so small cohorts don't get drowned out by large ones.

Choose a theme

— none — world life love death beauty nature self social beloved divine memory desire spiritual heart grief power romantic suffering woman light soul dead loss body pain wind philosophical music voice landscape hope religious sorrow spring flowers children water faith bird rose mortality silence lover domestic presence childhood sound past truth earth consciousness dream women flower irish garden eyes mind rain summer

“music” across the centuries

Bar length = percentage of poems in that cohort whose critique surfaced this theme. Click an era to focus the poem list below (click again to show samples from all eras).

pre-1500 0 / 30 BCE 1 / 12 1500s 1 / 10 1550s 8 / 91 1600s 17 / 177 1650s 1 / 60 1700s 0 / 35 1750s 2 / 164 1800s 18 / 687 1850s 18 / 949 1900s 39 / 1126 1950s 0 / 15

Poems in 1600s · 17 with this theme Show all eras

Fair Phyllis I saw sitting all alone

Available versions

Fair Phyllis I saw sitting all alone

by John Farmer · English

c. 1570 - c. 1605 (~35)

Farewell, dear love

Available versions

Farewell, dear love

by Robert Jones · English

c. 1577 - c. 1617 (~40)

Love is a babble

Available versions

Love is a babble

by Robert Jones · English

c. 1577 - c. 1617 (~40)

Matin Song

Available versions

Matin Song

by Thomas Heywood · English

c. 1574 - August 1641 (~67)

Oft thou hast with greedy ear

Available versions

Oft thou hast with greedy ear

by John Cooper · English

c. 1570 - c. 1626 (~56)

Shall a frown

Available versions

Shall a frown

by William Corkine · English

c. 1580 - c. 1620 (~40)

Sweet was the song the Virgin sung

Available versions

Sweet was the song the Virgin sung

by John Attey · English

c. 1598 - c. 1640 (~42)

Sweet, if you like and love me still

Available versions

Sweet, if you like and love me still

by Francis Davison · English

c. 1575 - c. 1619 (~44)

There is a lady sweet and kind

Available versions

There is a lady sweet and kind

by Thomas Ford · English

c. 1580 - November 1648 (~68)

To Music, to Becalm His Fever

Available versions

To Music, to Becalm His Fever

by Robert Herrick · English

24 August 1591 - 15 October 1674 (~83)

Tobacco Is Like Love

Available versions

Tobacco Is Like Love

by Tobias Hume · English

c. 1579 - 16 April 1645 (~66)

Too much I once lamented

Available versions

Too much I once lamented

by Thomas Tomkins · English

1572 - 9 June 1656 (~84)

Weep no more, thou sorry boy

Available versions

Weep no more, thou sorry boy

by Thomas Tomkins · English

1572 - 9 June 1656 (~84)

Weep, weep, mine eyes

Available versions

Weep, weep, mine eyes

by John Wilbye · English

7 March 1574 - September 1638 (~64)

What is beauty

Available versions

What is beauty

by Thomas Greaves · English

c. 1575 - c. 1620 (~45)

What then is love

Available versions

What then is love

by Thomas Ford · English

c. 1580 - November 1648 (~68)

Whither runeth my sweethart

Available versions

Whither runeth my sweethart

by John Bartlet · English

c. 1585 - c. 1620 (~35)

Now playing

-

-

Loop

0:00

0:00

Track 1