Editor's note
Ranking is generated by Storgy's classification model, which scores each poem's thematic depth on this subject relative to the rest of the corpus. The list is re-indexed weekly as new poems enter the public-domain corpus.
Best poems about — Storgy
Deception.
Twenty-five poems, ranked.
25 of the finest public-domain poems about deception, ranked by thematic depth. Scored by Storgy's classification model against the rest of the corpus, and re-indexed weekly as new works enter the canon.
The leading three
01
The Flea
John Donne · 1633
“A man is attempting to persuade a woman to sleep with him by highlighting a flea that has bitten them both. He argues that since the flea now has their blood mi…”
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02
We Wear the Mask
Paul Laurence Dunbar · 1896
“A group of people—Black Americans during Dunbar's era—must conceal their true pain behind cheerful, agreeable expressions just to navigate a hostile environment…”
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03
Cotton-Wool
Alfred Noyes · 1907
“Alfred Noyes advises children to disregard the so-called "clever" individuals in the world — those who twist words, show off, and make genuine goodness seem bor…”
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The complete index
- 04
The Road Not Taken
Robert Frost · 1915
A traveler finds himself at a fork in the woods, faced with the challenge of choosing one path, aware that he can't return to try the other. He reassures himself that the road he p…
- 05
Disabled
Wilfred Owen · 1917
A young soldier sits in a wheelchair, waiting for someone to help him to bed, while he reflects on the life he had before the war took his legs and his future. Owen contrasts the s…
- 06
The General
Siegfried Sassoon · 1917
A soldier angrily recounts how a cheerful, oblivious general sent his men to their deaths, all while smiling and greeting them. The general's friendly demeanor starkly contrasts wi…
- 07
Envoi
Alfred Noyes · 1922
This clever little poem takes a jab at literary fame and the type of clever-sounding nonsense that often pretends to be profound thought. Noyes reminds us that if trendy writers le…
- 08
Five Criticisms
Alfred Noyes · 1922
Alfred Noyes delivers five pointed critiques of the literary and political trends of his time: the cynical love-triangle novel, the obsession with novelty over truth, revolutionary…
- 09
Peace in a Palace
Alfred Noyes · 1922
The Empress of Germany dreams of drowning children reaching out to her, mistaking her for their mother. As the dream unfolds, it becomes evident that she's haunted by the passenger…
- 10
What Grandfather Said
Alfred Noyes · 1922
An older man pens a pointed letter to a young artist who professes to care about ordinary folks but actually looks down on them. The grandfather's message is straightforward: if yo…
- 11
Star-Splitter
Robert Frost · 1923
A New England farmer, Brad McLaughlin, decides to burn down his house to cash in on the insurance, allowing him to buy a telescope—he's far more fascinated by the stars than by far…
- 12
A Ballad
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Shelley outfits the Devil in elegant attire and sends him on a journey through early 19th-century Britain, where he discovers that priests, kings, lawyers, bishops, and statesmen a…
- 13
A Chamber in the Vatican
Percy Bysshe Shelley
This is the opening scene of Shelley's verse drama *The Cenci* (1819), set in Renaissance Rome. Giacomo Cenci tells Cardinal Camillo about his cruel father, who has left him broke…
- 14
A Dialogue
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Two personified villains, Vice and Falsehood, boast to one another about the pain they’ve inflicted on humanity — through war, tyranny, false religion, and famine. In the end, they…
- 15
A Fable
James Russell Lowell
Two friends sneak away on a Sunday to go hunting and end up shooting a goose that belongs to a local deacon. They bicker over whether to eat it fresh or wait, eventually deciding t…
- 16
A Fragment
Percy Bysshe Shelley
A Fragment is Shelley's unfinished sketch of Prince Athanase, a young idealist on a lifelong quest for a deep, soul-stirring love. He falls for a deceptive, superficial version of…
- 17
After Many Days
D. H. Lawrence
Two people come together after a long time apart, but the speaker is unsure if the other person shares the same deep feelings. The speaker craves any genuine response — even if it'…
- 18
A Garden of the Cenci Palace
Percy Bysshe Shelley
This is the opening scene of Shelley's verse drama *The Cenci*, which takes place in the garden of the Cenci palace in Rome. Beatrice, a young noblewoman stuck in a harsh household…
- 19
Also St. John, with Some Gentlemen of the Inns of Court
Percy Bysshe Shelley
This scene from Shelley's unfinished play *Charles the First* unfolds in the court of King Charles I of England, just before the Civil War. The characters — King Charles, Queen Hen…
- 20
A Misconception
James Russell Lowell
A Misconception is a clever four-line joke targeting a corrupt official referred to simply as "B." He has misunderstood Alexander Pope's well-known advice to "do good by stealth,"…
- 21
A Narrow Fellow in the Grass
Emily Dickinson
A speaker recounts a surprising encounter with a snake hidden in the grass—its movements, habitat, and the shock of stumbling upon it. While the speaker generally feels a sense of…
- 22
An Interview with Miles Standish
James Russell Lowell
A narrator sits alone by a dying fire when the ghost of Miles Standish, the tough Pilgrim soldier from Plymouth Colony, pays a visit. Standish expresses his frustration with those…
- 23
A Proper Trewe Idyll of Camelot
Eugene Field
A Proper Trewe Idyll of Camelot is a comic poem that throws a smooth-talking American con artist into the realm of King Arthur and his knights. The outsider wins over the ladies of…
- 24
Argument
Homer
This is the opening book of Homer's *Odyssey*, which lays the groundwork for the entire epic: the gods agree it's finally time for Ulysses (Odysseus) to return home after a decade…
- 25
A Second Letter from B. Sawin, Esq
James Russell Lowell
Birdofredum Sawin, an ordinary soldier, writes home after his experience in the Mexican-American War, listing what the war has cost him: one leg, one eye, one arm (mostly), six bro…
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