Classic poems · sourced quotes
Quotes & Poems

Short famous poems to read, learn and share

Updated

A short poem can do in eight lines what a long speech can't. These are classic poems of 4 to 12 lines - about life, hope and hard times, plus a few that children love to learn by heart. Each has its source and a short note, and all are in the public domain, so you can print them, share them or read them aloud.

Short poems about life

"I'm nobody! Who are you?" - Emily Dickinson

Poems, Second Series, 1891

I'm nobody! Who are you?
Are you nobody, too?
Then there's a pair of us -- don't tell!
They'd banish us, you know.

How dreary to be somebody!
How public, like a frog
To tell your name the livelong day
To an admiring bog!

What it's about: A playful poem in praise of being nobody in particular. Fame, Dickinson jokes, is like being a frog croaking its own name all day to a bog. Eight lines - funny, and a good one for teenagers.

"If I can stop one heart from breaking" - Emily Dickinson

Poems, 1890

If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.

What it's about: A whole philosophy of life in seven lines: if you help even one person - or one tired bird - your life has counted.

Short poems about hope

"Hope is the thing with feathers" - Emily Dickinson

Poems, Second Series, 1891

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

What it's about: Hope is a small bird inside us that keeps singing through every storm and never asks for anything back. One of the best-known short poems about hope in English. More on our Emily Dickinson page.

Poems for hard times

"The Rainy Day" (last stanza) - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Ballads and Other Poems, 1841

Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;
Thy fate is the common fate of all,
Into each life some rain must fall,
Some days must be dark and dreary.

What it's about: After two gloomy verses, the poet talks to himself: everyone has dark days, and the sun is still there behind the clouds. Five lines worth sending to a friend who is struggling.

"Aspiration" - Emily Dickinson

Poems, Third Series, 1896

We never know how high we are
Till we are called to rise;
And then, if we are true to plan,
Our statures touch the skies.

The heroism we recite
Would be a daily thing,
Did not ourselves the cubits warp
For fear to be a king.

What it's about: We don't know how strong we are until we have to be. The second verse says everyday courage would be common if fear didn't make us shrink ourselves. ("Cubits" are an old measure of height.)

If you are going through a loss, our funeral poems page has gentle poems for grief.

Four-line and eight-line poems

"Rain" - Robert Louis Stevenson (4 lines)

A Child's Garden of Verses, 1885

The rain is falling all around,
It falls on field and tree,
It rains on the umbrellas here,
And on the ships at sea.

"I never saw a moor" - Emily Dickinson (8 lines)

Poems, 1890

I never saw a moor,
I never saw the sea;
Yet know I how the heather looks,
And what a wave must be.

I never spoke with God,
Nor visited in heaven;
Yet certain am I of the spot
As if the chart were given.

What it's about: We can be sure of things we've never seen - the sea, the moors, and, for Dickinson, heaven. A quiet poem of faith; good for a religious service or a card.

Short poems for children to memorize and recite

"Who has seen the wind?" - Christina Rossetti

Sing-Song, first published 1872 (text from the 1893 edition)

Who has seen the wind?
Neither I nor you:
But when the leaves hang trembling
The wind is passing thro'.

Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor I:
But when the trees bow down their heads
The wind is passing by.

What it's about: We can't see the wind, but we can see what it does to the leaves and trees. Eight lines with a repeating question - perfect for a young child to learn. Stevenson's four-line "Rain" (above) is another easy first poem.

Tips for learning a poem by heart: read it aloud three times, learn one verse a day, and say it while you walk - the rhythm helps it stick.

Short inspirational poems

Dickinson's "Hope" and "Aspiration" (above) are the classic picks. For single lines rather than whole poems, see our quotes about life, patience and kindness.

Our own short poems

The Shortest Day

The shortest day is over.
Tomorrow, one more minute of light.
That is how it starts.

Original - Quotes and Poems

Small Things

A warm cup. A kind word.
A window someone opened
so the room could breathe.

Original - Quotes and Poems

Copycat (for children)

My shadow is a copycat,
it follows me all day;
but when the sun goes in for tea
it slips away to play.

Original - Quotes and Poems

FAQ

What is a good short poem about hope?

Emily Dickinson's "Hope is the thing with feathers" (Poems, Second Series, 1891). It is 12 lines long and in the public domain in its 1891 text, printed in full above.

What short poem can a child memorize?

Christina Rossetti's "Who has seen the wind?" (Sing-Song, 1872) - 8 lines - and Robert Louis Stevenson's "Rain" (A Child's Garden of Verses, 1885) - just 4 lines.

Can I print these poems for a class or school?

Yes. The classic poems are in the public domain - please credit the poet. Our original poems are free for classroom use with the credit "Quotes and Poems". See our terms of use.

Sources

Not the former quotesandpoems.com - an independent collection of public-domain poems and original writing.