Poetry

The frontispiece of Wheatley's poetry collection describes her as a "Negro servant" rather than a slave, though she wasn't freed until after the book's publication.

The Most Notorious Poet in 18th Century America Was An Enslaved Teenager You've Never Heard Of

Phyllis Wheatley was a prodigy, but her ultimate fate reflects the gross racial disparities of 1700s America

Partridges, turtledoves, geese... you know the drill.

12 Facts About ‘The 12 Days of Christmas’

Amaze and astound your loved ones with these pieces of carol trivia

Middlebury College Archivist Danielle Rougeau holds a Christmas card sent by poet Robert Frost in 1962, shortly before his death.

Catch a Rare Viewing of Robert Frost's Cheery, Dreary, Dark Christmas Cards

The poet’s annual Christmas cards, made in compilation with printer Joe Blumenthal, were not necessarily traditional, but they were always beautiful

The reproductive organs of Schlumbergera, known as the Holiday Cactus. This was heady stuff in Erasmus Darwin's time.

Charles Darwin’s Grandfather Was Famous for His Poems About Plant Sex

Erasmus Darwin’s poetics influenced his grandson’s vision of nature

Researchers Investigate What Makes a Poem Popular

A recent study found that vividness of imagery best predicted a poem's aesthetic appeal

Marley Dias

Marley Dias' Inspirational Goal to Collect Books About Girls of Color

What can we learn from a 12-year-old who’s turning the literary world upside down? Everything

This manuscript on astronomy by Issachar Ber Carmoly dates to 1751.

Hidden in a Basement for 70 Years, Newly Discovered Documents Shed Light on Jewish Life and Culture Before WWII

The 170,000 pages found might be “the most important collection of Jewish archives since the Dead Sea Scrolls.”

Pablo Neruda Did Not Die of Cancer, Raising the Possibility He Was Murdered

The Nobel-prize winning Chilean poet died 2 weeks after the brutal Pinochet regime took power in his country

July 18, 2006 file photo of poet Richard Wilbur

Richard Wilbur, Esteemed Poet and Two-Time Pulitzer Winner, Dies at 96

He championed a formal style in an era dominated by experimental, confessional poetry

The front of a Nobel Prize medal.

The Perks and Pitfalls of Being a Nobel Laureate: Early Mornings, Performance Anxiety

On the plus side, at UC Berkeley you get free parking

The Smithsonian's well attended Asian-American Literature Festival could soon be traveling to other cities around the nation.

At the Smithsonian's First Asian-American Lit Fest, Writers Share Falooda, Politics and Poetry

More than 80 award-winning and aspirational writers shared work across multiple genres

Is Jupiter the "Star" in Lord Byron's Famous Poem?

According to astronomer Donald Olson, the brilliant star described in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage is actually a planet

Triple-Face Portrait by Sylvia Plath, c. 1950-1951

The Whimsical, Chameleon-Like Figure Behind the Myth of Sylvia Plath

Today, visions of a life marked by mental illness endure, but the author had a light side—and a knack for savvy image control

Library of Congress Names Tracy K. Smith As New Poet Laureate

Smith previously won a Pulitzer Prize for her work, which is by turns philosophical, fantastical and deeply personal

Thank Andrey Markov for your smartphone's predictive text feature—and also somewhat sillier uses.

Three Very Modern Uses For A Nineteenth-Century Text Generator

Andrey Markov was trying to understand poems with math when he created a whole new field of probability studies

Thoreau kept—and illustrated—journals throughout his lifetime.

Snoop Inside Thoreau's Journals at This New Exhibition

It's your chance to get up-close and personal with the philosopher-poet’s possessions

According to Mary Sawyer's account, the lamb was a female. Sarah Hale's poem says it was a male. Sawyer is probably the source with reason to know.

'Mary Had a Little Lamb' Is Based on a True Story

As a child, Mary Sawyer rescued a lamb. Then it followed her to school one day

Walk Across the Brooklyn Bridge as Bill Murray Reads You Poetry This June

Langston Hughes by Edward Henry Weston, 1932

Why Langston Hughes Still Reigns as a Poet for the Unchampioned

Fifty years after his death, Hughes’ extraordinary lyricism resonates with power to people

The National Portrait Gallery commissioned a poem from the Pulitzer Prize winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa for the museum's new exhibition, "The Face of Battle."

A New Poem is Commissioned to Honor the Soldiers Who Fight America’s Wars

Pulitzer Prize winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa writes “After the Burn Pits” for the National Portrait Gallery

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