Find classic, modern, and contemporary poems that reflect on grief and mourning.
Classic Poems on Grief
“Plácido’s Farewell to His Mother” by Gabriel de la Concepción Valdés
The ending of my history of grief. . .
“Interim” by Clarissa Scott Delany
Just one dark hour of shaken depths. . .
“Rose Song” by Anne Reeve Aldrich
my heart may tell, / Its Past of Love and Grief. . .
“The Harp of Broken Strings” by John Rollin Ridge
He loves her still—but darkness falls / Upon his ruined fortunes now. . .
“Fire-Flowers” by Emily Pauline Johnson
Of desolating fire, of human pain. . .
“On Pain” by Kahlil Gibran
Your pain is the breaking of the shell. . .
Brooding Grief by D. H. Lawrence
the quick leaf tore me / Back to this rainy swill. . .
“Sonnet V” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Behold and see / What a great heap of grief lay hid in me. . .
“The Second Coming” by W. B. Yeats
The darkness drops again. . .
“Fantasy in Purple” by Langston Hughes
Beat the drums of tragedy for me. . .
“Pietà” by Rainer Maria Rilke
I harden as a stone. . .
“Niobe” by Henrietta Cordelia Ray
O image of despair. . .
“Enigma” by Leonora Speyer
It would be easy to forget. . .
“Regret” by Olivia Ward Bush-Banks
I said a thoughtless word one day. . .
“How Great My Grief” by Thomas Hardy
How great my grief, my joys how few. . .
“[When night draws on, remembering keeps me wakeful]” by al-Khansāʾ
never of woe like this in the world of spirits. . .
Poems for Grief and Grieving
Essays on Grief
Introduction to The Art of Losing: Poems of Grief and Healing by Kevin Young
In a way, the process of grief, I have found, can mirror that of writing. . .
“To Go Its Way in Tears: Poems of Grief” by Edward Hirsch
To grieve is to lament, to mourn, to let sorrow inhabit one's very being. . .
“Elegy and Eros: Configuring Grief” by David Baker
Nothing else cries or laughs the way we do. . .
“Poems for Tragedy and Grief”
These poems try to help us to heal, or give us wisdom. . .
Contemporary and Modern Poems on Grief
“Good Grief” by KB Brookins
The sky can only do what it does. . .
“Grief #213” by Saeed Jones
I grieve forced laughter. . .
“Grief Work” by Natalie Diaz
Why not now go toward the things I love?. . .
“Day of Grief” by Gerald Stern
it was a relief to know I wasn't alone. . .
“The Song of Despair” by Pablo Neruda
what sorrow did you not express. . .
“Grief Puppet” by Sandra Beasley
we each bought an hour with the grief puppet. . .
“Greensickness” by Laurel Chen
Let me feel hurt. . .
“One Summer” by Ann-Margaret Lim
Too brief again, this August light. . .
“A Raft of Grief” by Chelsea Rathburn
If only it were that easy. . .
“The Interviewer Acknowledges Grief” by Tarfia Faizullah
tell me, what is it to say I miss you?. . .
“Corazón in Fall” by Emma Trelles
Then and now and now. . .
“Description of Symptoms” by Allison Benis White
I watched a bird’s shadow cross a field. . .
“I Want Nothing” by Hieu Minh Nguyen
relieved at the absence of my own grief. . .
“My Mother and Lucille Clifton Have Tea” by Parneshia Jones
A sadness they will never be without. . .
Poetry Coalition: "and so much lost you’d think / beauty had left a lesson: Poetry & Grief"
As part of the Poetry Coalition’s programming, five renowned poets reflected on poems that helped them better understand or process grief. Poets reflected on loss, abandonment, heartbreak, and more in this series of micro-essays:
Poetry & Grief: On “Greensickness” by Laurel Chen
Poetry & Grief: On “That This” by Susan Howe
Poetry & Grief: On “There, There, Grieving” by Zeina Hashem Beck
Poetry & Grief: On “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden
Poetry & Grief: Andrea Cohen on “Les Cloches” (“The Bells”) by Guillaume Apollinaire