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

“summer” 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 1 / 29 BCE 0 / 12 1500s 0 / 10 1550s 1 / 89 1600s 1 / 176 1650s 1 / 57 1700s 0 / 34 1750s 6 / 163 1800s 7 / 684 1850s 26 / 941 1900s 10 / 1119 1950s 0 / 15

Sample poems · click an era above to focus

Sumer is icumen in

Available versions

Sumer is icumen in

by W. de Wycombe · Middle English

c. 1270 - c. 1330 (~60)

Sonnet 18

Available versions

Sonnet 18

by William Shakespeare · English

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

The Grasshopper

Available versions

The Grasshopper

by Abraham Cowley · English

1618 - 28 July 1667 (~49)

The Voice of Cicadas

Available versions

The Voice of Cicadas

by Matsuo Bashō · Japanese

1644 - 28 November 1694 (~50)

London's Summer Morning

Available versions

London's Summer Morning

by Mary Robinson · English

27 November 1757 - 26 December 1800 (~43)

The Dragonfly and the Ant

Available versions

The Dragonfly and the Ant

by Ivan Krylov · Russian

13 February 1769 - 21 November 1844 (~75)

The Schoolboy

Available versions

The Schoolboy

by William Blake · English

28 November 1757 - 12 August 1827 (~70)

Oh! when 'tis summer weather

Available versions

Oh! when 'tis summer weather

by William Lisle Bowles · English

24 September 1762 - 7 April 1850 (~88)

As yet Thy Griefs Have Been but Summer Showers

Available versions

As yet Thy Griefs Have Been but Summer Showers

by Amelia Alderson Opie · English

12 November 1769 - 2 December 1853 (~84)

The Author's Life

Available versions

The Author's Life

by Robert Fergusson · English

5 September 1750 - 16 October 1774 (~24)

Old Song

Available versions

Old Song

by Edward FitzGerald · English

31 March 1809 - 14 June 1883 (~74)

On the Grasshopper and Cricket

Available versions

On the Grasshopper and Cricket

by John Keats · English

31 October 1795 - 23 February 1821 (~26)

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