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 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

“pain” + painted, paine across the centuries

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 1 / 28 BCE 0 / 12 1500s 1 / 9 1550s 3 / 89 1600s 5 / 176 1650s 2 / 57 1700s 1 / 34 1750s 9 / 161 1800s 16 / 683 1850s 46 / 937 1900s 30 / 1115 1950s 0 / 15

Sample poems · click an era above to focus

O vis eternitatis

Available versions

O vis eternitatis

by Hildegard of Bingen · Latin

c. 1098 - 17 September 1179 (~81)

No Pleasure Without Some Pain

Available versions

No Pleasure Without Some Pain

by Thomas, Lord Vaux · English

25 April 1509 - c. October 1556 (~47)

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Available versions

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

by Barnabe Googe · English

11 June 1540 - February 1594 (~54)

Sephestia's Song to Her Child

Available versions

Sephestia's Song to Her Child

by Robert Greene · English

c. 11 July 1558 - 3 September 1592 (~34)

Vpon Consideracion of the State of This Lyfe He Wisheth Death

Available versions

Vpon Consideracion of the State of This Lyfe He Wisheth Death

by Richard Tottel · English

c. 1528 - 2 July 1593 (~65)

The Triple Foole

Available versions

The Triple Foole

by John Donne · English

1572 - 31 March 1631 (~59)

The Wounded Heart

Available versions

The Wounded Heart

by Robert Herrick · English

24 August 1591 - 15 October 1674 (~83)

The Heart Breaking

Available versions

The Heart Breaking

by Abraham Cowley · English

1618 - 28 July 1667 (~49)

The Noble Spanish Soldier

Available versions

The Noble Spanish Soldier

by Thomas Dekker · English

c. 1572 - 25 August 1641 (~69)

Weep no more

Available versions

Weep no more

by John Fletcher · English

20 December 1579 - 29 August 1625 (~46)

Prepare, prepare

Available versions

Prepare, prepare

by Thomas Shadwell · English

c. 1642 - 19 November 1692 (~50)

Hidden Flame

Available versions

Hidden Flame

by John Dryden · English

9 August 1631 - 12 May 1700 (~69)

Now playing

-

-

Loop

0:00

0:00

Track 1