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.

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

“hope” 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 / 28 BCE 1 / 12 1500s 1 / 9 1550s 3 / 89 1600s 2 / 176 1650s 2 / 57 1700s 1 / 34 1750s 4 / 161 1800s 32 / 683 1850s 33 / 937 1900s 16 / 1115 1950s 0 / 15

Poems in 1750s · 4 with this theme Show all eras

On a Bed of Guernsey Lilies
Available versions

On a Bed of Guernsey Lilies

by Christopher Smart · English

Christopher Smart portrait

11 April 1722 - 21 May 1770 (~48)

The wretch condemn'd with life to part
Available versions

The wretch condemn'd with life to part

by Oliver Goldsmith · English

Oliver Goldsmith portrait

c. 10 November 1728 - 4 April 1774 (~46)

To the Lark
Available versions

To the Lark

by Anna Lætitia Barbauld · English

Anna Lætitia Barbauld portrait

20 June 1743 - 9 March 1825 (~82)

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