Reading 5 Famous Poems... A daunting task

Now I don’t know if it’s just me, but poetry as a genre has always come off as super daunting and difficult to digest. Maybe I need things spelled out, but poems always seem to need dissection and further examination to understand some ambiguous meaning. This always seemed excessive and I simply stopped trying to enjoy poems, but I felt like I was missing out on a world of worthy words. So, I decided to sit down with an open mind and explore poems written from various time periods by multiple poets. I read five very famous and very classic poems and I can confidently say that I really enjoyed it. So take this documentation below as a formal recommendation to explore the world of poetry!

First Poem: “Phenomenal Woman” by Maya Angelou 

Now I’ve read a few poems by Maya Angelou and she has long been a writer that I’ve admired, but I’ve never really gone into a deep dive into all her work. And I can confidently say that “Phenomenal Woman” was an absolute joy to read. It’s a lyric poem written in free verse and it reads like a piece of music. I think she touches upon valuable themes in it, and this feeling of self-love and confidence is palpable. The poem is about what truly makes a woman beautiful, and how it's more than physicality. It is also your attitude, mind, and spirit. It is the way you view yourself and the way you carry yourself. It is your joy and it is simply being you that makes you phenomenal and Angelou did a beautiful job demonstrating this.

Second Poem: “Because I could not stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson 

I’ve never read anything by Emily Dickinson because honestly, something about classical poetry in the 1800s intimidates me. But I didn’t really need to feel like that because this poem was strangely calming even when discussing death. Death in this poem is a kinder more chivalrous figure, offering the central figure a carriage ride to the afterlife. It was just a little eerie and it was weird how I could almost feel the vibe of the whole thing (I promise I’m not crazy). It was a unique way to look at and personify death, I appreciated it. Though I don’t think I’ll be exploring more of Dickinson, I can still say that this poem of hers was not a pointless read. 

Third Poem: “She Walks in Beauty” by Lord Byron 

I think we as a society need to go back to professing love like this because why was this poem so beautiful? Where are the men who write about both your inner and outer beauty and talk about you so lovingly like ‘hello?’. But real talk, the prose within this and all the descriptors are so lovely, the way the woman in this poem is viewed/admired through such a pure and adoring lens is so nice to read. It’s a quick poem but it is worth your time. 

Fourth Poem: “Good Bones” by Maggie Smith 

This poem is more recent, having been published in 2016, and I can’t say that it stood out to me like the others. Smith’s piece is meant to explore the good and bad of our world, to show that for every good deed, there is an opposite action of hatred and cruelty. Her voice in the poem talks about shielding her children’s innocence from all that is abysmal in our reality. And though these sentiments are important and incredibly impactful, I find that the prose itself wasn’t very inspiring and was rather simple. It wasn’t bad by any means, but for a message such as this, I was expecting just a little more. 

Fifth Poem: “The Hill We Climb” by Amanda Gorman 

By far, without a doubt about it, this is my favorite poem. I’m genuinely amazed each time I go back to re-read it, it’s like I’m seeing it for the first time. Gosh, the delivery, the tone, and the phrasing are perfect. Gorman’s piece has truly stuck with me. It was performed at the inauguration back in January of 2021 and watching that video and seeing Amanda recite her words aloud only made my love for this poem stronger. This poem is inspiring as much as it is powerful due to its message about uniting together as a country and moving forward through adversities to a world of improvement and goodness. I cannot express how much this poem resonated with me, I would recommend it to anyone.