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 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

“virtue” 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 / 30 BCE 0 / 12 1500s 2 / 10 1550s 2 / 90 1600s 2 / 176 1650s 0 / 59 1700s 0 / 34 1750s 5 / 163 1800s 7 / 685 1850s 3 / 944 1900s 0 / 1120 1950s 0 / 15

Sample poems · click an era above to focus

Tanto gentile, e tanto onesta pare

Available versions

Tanto gentile, e tanto onesta pare

by Dante Alighieri · Italian

c. May 1265 - 14 September 1321 (~56)

Give Place, Ye Lovers

Available versions

Give Place, Ye Lovers

by Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey · English

c. 1517 - 19 January 1547 (~30)

A True Love

Available versions

A True Love

by Nicholas Grimald · English

c. 1519 - c. May 1562 (~43)

Fair is my love

Available versions

Fair is my love

by Samuel Daniel · English

c. 1562 - 14 October 1619 (~57)

Bridal Song

Available versions

Bridal Song

by George Chapman · English

c. 1559 - 12 May 1634 (~75)

Virtue

Available versions

Virtue

by George Herbert · English

3 April 1593 - 1 March 1633 (~40)

The Undertaking

Available versions

The Undertaking

by John Donne · English

1572 - 31 March 1631 (~59)

Late Wisdom

Available versions

Late Wisdom

by George Crabbe · English

24 December 1754 - 3 February 1832 (~78)

The Lily

Available versions

The Lily

by William Blake · English

28 November 1757 - 12 August 1827 (~70)

Enquiry After Happiness

Available versions

Enquiry After Happiness

by Thomas Chatterton · English

20 November 1752 - 24 August 1770 (~18)

On a Friend

Available versions

On a Friend

by Robert Burns · English

25 January 1759 - 21 July 1796 (~37)

To Delia

Available versions

To Delia

by John Scott · English

9 January 1730 - 12 December 1783 (~53)

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