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 dead loss body pain wind philosophical music voice 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 eyes

“restoration” across the centuries

Related terms Include related catalogue terms in the chart (each poem counted once per era, even if it has several tags).
ration 1 poem

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

pre-1500 0 / 30 BCE 0 / 12 1500s 0 / 10 1550s 0 / 90 1600s 0 / 176 1650s 15 / 59 1700s 1 / 34 1750s 0 / 163 1800s 0 / 685 1850s 1 / 944 1900s 0 / 1120 1950s 0 / 15

Sample poems · click an era above to focus

An Ode to Love
Available versions

An Ode to Love

by Aphra Behn · English

Aphra Behn portrait

1640 - 16 April 1689 (~49)

Fair, sweet, and young
Available versions

Fair, sweet, and young

by John Dryden · English

John Dryden portrait

9 August 1631 - 12 May 1700 (~69)

Prepare, prepare
Available versions

Prepare, prepare

by Thomas Shadwell · English

Thomas Shadwell portrait

c. 1642 - 19 November 1692 (~50)

A Catch
Available versions

A Catch

by Alexander Brome · English

Alexander Brome portrait

1620 - 30 June 1666 (~46)

Chloe Divine
Available versions

Chloe Divine

by Thomas d'Urfey · English

Thomas d'Urfey portrait

c. 1653 - 26 February 1723 (~70)

What have I left to doe but dye
Available versions

What have I left to doe but dye

by Charles Cotton · English

Charles Cotton portrait

28 April 1630 - 16 February 1687 (~57)

False though She be
Available versions

False though She be

by William Congreve · English

William Congreve portrait

24 January 1670 - 19 January 1729 (~59)

Nell Gwyn
Available versions

Nell Gwyn

by Algernon Charles Swinburne · English

Algernon Charles Swinburne portrait

5 April 1837 - 10 April 1909 (~72)

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