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 nature beauty 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 childhood presence sound past lover consciousness truth earth women dream flower irish garden rain summer mind lovers

“heart” + hearty, sweetheart, hearth, hearts across the centuries

Related terms Include related catalogue terms in the chart (each poem counted once per era, even if it has several tags).
hearty 1 poem sweetheart 1 poem hearth 6 poems hearts 1 poem heartbreak 3 poems

Bar length = percentage of poems in that cohort whose critique surfaced any of these terms. Click an era to focus the poem list below.

pre-1500 3 / 28 BCE 1 / 12 1500s 0 / 9 1550s 7 / 87 1600s 20 / 172 1650s 4 / 57 1700s 1 / 32 1750s 17 / 160 1800s 36 / 680 1850s 58 / 930 1900s 64 / 1109 1950s 0 / 15

Sample poems · click an era above to focus

Merciles Beaute
Available versions

Merciles Beaute

by Geoffrey Chaucer · Middle English

Geoffrey Chaucer portrait

c. 1343 - 25 October 1400 (~57)

To a Lady
Available versions

To a Lady

by William Dunbar · English

William Dunbar portrait

c. 1460 - c. 1520 (~60)

Chun Wang
Available versions

Chun Wang

by Du Fu · Mandarin Chinese

Du Fu portrait

712 - 770 (~58)

The Steady Fire
Available versions

The Steady Fire

by Albius Tibullus · Latin

Albius Tibullus portrait

c. 55 BC - 19 BC (~36)

Friends, Romans, countrymen
Available versions

Friends, Romans, countrymen

by William Shakespeare · English

William Shakespeare portrait

c. 23 April 1564 - 23 April 1616 (~52)

In Youth Is Pleasure
Available versions

In Youth Is Pleasure

by Robert Wever · English

Robert Wever portrait

c. 1520 - c. 1570 (~50)

A Rondel of Love
Available versions

A Rondel of Love

by Alexander Scott · English

Alexander Scott portrait

c. 1525 - c. 1584 (~59)

Quhy Sowld I Luve
Available versions

Quhy Sowld I Luve

by Alexander Montgomerie · English

Alexander Montgomerie portrait

c. 1545 - August 1598 (~53)

The Bargain
Available versions

The Bargain

by Sir Philip Sidney · English

Sir Philip Sidney portrait

30 November 1554 - 17 October 1586 (~32)

Batter my heart, three-person'd God
Available versions

Batter my heart, three-person'd God

by John Donne · English

John Donne portrait

1572 - 31 March 1631 (~59)

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