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 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

“earth” across the centuries

Related terms Include related catalogue terms in the chart (each poem counted once per era, even if it has several tags).
earthly 18 poems hearth 6 poems

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 / 28 BCE 0 / 12 1500s 0 / 9 1550s 1 / 89 1600s 0 / 176 1650s 0 / 57 1700s 0 / 34 1750s 2 / 161 1800s 11 / 683 1850s 18 / 936 1900s 29 / 1115 1950s 0 / 15

Sample poems · click an era above to focus

Caedmon's Hymn
Available versions

Caedmon's Hymn

by Caedmon · Old English

Caedmon portrait

c. 600 - c. 681 (~81)

The Wife's Lament
Available versions

The Wife's Lament

by Ealhswith of Mercia · Old English

Ealhswith of Mercia portrait

c. 920 - c. 970 (~50)

To the Spring
Available versions

To the Spring

by Sir John Davies · English

Sir John Davies portrait

16 April 1569 - 8 December 1626 (~57)

Songs of Experience Introduction
Available versions

Songs of Experience Introduction

by William Blake · English

William Blake portrait

28 November 1757 - 12 August 1827 (~70)

Earth's Answer
Available versions

Earth's Answer

by William Blake · English

William Blake portrait

28 November 1757 - 12 August 1827 (~70)

Thanatopsis
Available versions

Thanatopsis

by William Cullen Bryant · English

William Cullen Bryant portrait

3 November 1794 - 12 June 1878 (~84)

The Cloud
Available versions

The Cloud

by Percy Bysshe Shelley · English

Percy Bysshe Shelley portrait

4 August 1792 - 8 July 1822 (~30)

On the Grasshopper and Cricket
Available versions

On the Grasshopper and Cricket

by John Keats · English

John Keats portrait

31 October 1795 - 23 February 1821 (~26)

Hamatreya
Available versions

Hamatreya

by Ralph Waldo Emerson · English

Ralph Waldo Emerson portrait

25 May 1803 - 27 April 1882 (~79)

November
Available versions

November

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · English

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow portrait

27 February 1807 - 24 March 1882 (~75)

Warm Summer Sun
Available versions

Warm Summer Sun

by Mark Twain · English

Mark Twain portrait

30 November 1835 - 21 April 1910 (~75)

Now playing
-
-
0:00
0:00
Track 1

Poem Actions

Choose an action for this poem

Skip to main content