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 voice music landscape hope religious sorrow spring flowers children faith bird water rose mortality silence lover domestic presence childhood sound earth past consciousness truth women dream flower irish garden mind rain summer lovers

“body” 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.

pre-1500 2 / 29 BCE 2 / 12 1500s 1 / 10 1550s 2 / 89 1600s 8 / 176 1650s 1 / 57 1700s 0 / 34 1750s 4 / 163 1800s 13 / 684 1850s 13 / 939 1900s 68 / 1119 1950s 2 / 15

Sample poems · click an era above to focus

Upon a Dead Man's Head

Available versions

Upon a Dead Man's Head

by John Skelton · English

c. 1460 - 21 June 1529 (~69)

Animula vagula blandula

Available versions

Animula vagula blandula

by Publius Aelius Hadrianus · Latin

24 January 76 - 10 July 138 (~62)

Time, the Devourer of All Things

Available versions

Time, the Devourer of All Things

by Publius Ovidius Naso · Latin

20 March 43 BC - c. 17 (~60)

Laodamia's Lament

Available versions

Laodamia's Lament

by Publius Ovidius Naso · Latin

20 March 43 BC - c. 17 (~60)

The Aged Lover Renounceth Love

Available versions

The Aged Lover Renounceth Love

by Thomas, Lord Vaux · English

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

Men call you fayre

Available versions

Men call you fayre

by Edmund Spenser · English

c. 1552 - 13 January 1599 (~47)

A Short View of the State of Man

Available versions

A Short View of the State of Man

by William Alexander · English

c. 1567 - 12 February 1640 (~73)

Sonnet 17

Available versions

Sonnet 17

by Richard Barnefield · English

29 June 1574 - 1627 (~53)

The Dissolution

Available versions

The Dissolution

by John Donne · English

1572 - 31 March 1631 (~59)

Aire and Angels

Available versions

Aire and Angels

by John Donne · English

1572 - 31 March 1631 (~59)

The Blossome

Available versions

The Blossome

by John Donne · English

1572 - 31 March 1631 (~59)

To Live Merrily

Available versions

To Live Merrily

by Robert Herrick · English

24 August 1591 - 15 October 1674 (~83)

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