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
Despair.
Twenty-five poems, ranked.
25 of the finest public-domain poems about despair, 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
Sonnet 29: When, in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes
William Shakespeare · 1609
“The speaker is having a terrible day — feeling like a failure, envious of those around him, and convinced that even God isn’t listening. But then he thinks of t…”
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02
The Human Abstract
William Blake · 1794
“Blake suggests that virtues such as Pity and Mercy arise solely because humans inflict suffering — they aren’t indicators of goodness but evidence that somethin…”
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03
Dejection: An Ode
Samuel Taylor Coleridge · 1802
“Coleridge sits alone on a stormy night, feeling utterly numb. He notices the beauty in nature but struggles to feel it. He attributes this to a loss of inner jo…”
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The complete index
- 04
Darkness
George Gordon Byron · 1816
Byron envisions a world where the sun extinguishes, leading to a slow demise — every fire flickers out, every person succumbs to starvation, and ultimately, the last two survivors…
- 05
The Conqueror Worm
Edgar Allan Poe · 1843
Poe envisions human life as a theatrical performance in front of sorrowful angels, with people acting as puppets manipulated by unseen powers. The true main attraction is a monstro…
- 06
In a London Drawingroom
George Eliot · 1865
George Eliot gazes out a window in Victorian London and takes in a city that seems to have drained the vitality from everything — the sky, the people, the light. Each detail she ob…
- 07
Growing Old
Matthew Arnold · 1867
Growing old, Arnold says, isn’t the dignified, wise, golden-sunset experience we pictured in our youth. Instead, it feels like a slow numbness — being stuck in the moment, disconne…
- 08
O Me! O Life!
Walt Whitman · 1867
A person is overwhelmed with questions about why life seems so pointless and filled with failures—both their own and those of others. Then, in just two lines, Whitman turns it all…
- 09
Alone
Edgar Allan Poe · 1875
A lone rider crosses a vast, scorching wilderness, witnessing his companions perish one by one until only he and his horse remain. The desert deceives him, presenting a mirage of c…
- 10
Miniver Cheevy
Edwin Arlington Robinson · 1907
Miniver Cheevy is a man who despises the era he was born into and longs for a glorious, romanticized past—like ancient Troy, Arthurian Camelot, or Renaissance Florence. Rather than…
- 11
Garden
H. D. · 1916
H. D.'s "Garden" is a two-part poem that captures the feeling of being stuck in oppressive summer heat. In the first part, the speaker gazes at a rose that is so vivid and solid it…
- 12
Mid-Day
H. D. · 1916
A speaker standing in the scorching midday sun feels utterly overwhelmed—her thoughts are scattered and worn out, like dried seeds tossed off their stalks. She glances up and spots…
- 13
Morning at the Window
T. S. Eliot · 1917
A speaker gazes from an upper window at a grey, foggy city morning, observing the weary individuals below — housemaids, passers-by — simply going through the motions of another dul…
- 14
Rhapsody on a Windy Night
T. S. Eliot · 1917
A man strolls through deserted city streets in the early hours of the night, and as the clock strikes from midnight to four, the street lamps seem to whisper to him, stirring fragm…
- 15
Futility
Wilfred Owen · 1918
A soldier has just died on the Western Front, and the speaker urges his comrades to bring him into the sunlight — the same sun that used to greet him every morning back home. Yet,…
- 16
Gerontion
T. S. Eliot · 1920
An old man who has never truly lived—never fought, never felt, never believed—sits in a decaying house, pondering history, faith, and the gradual decline of his inner life. He obse…
- 17
The Second Coming
W. B. Yeats · 1920
The world feels like it’s unraveling — violence surrounds us, decent people seem to have fallen silent, and the fanatics are drowning them out. Yeats imagines a terrifying creature…
- 18
The Snow Man
Wallace Stevens · 1921
A person has to become as cold and empty as winter itself to truly perceive a winter landscape without imbuing it with human emotions. Stevens poses the question: what does it take…
- 19
The Burial of the Dead
T. S. Eliot · 1922
This is the opening section of T. S. Eliot's influential poem *The Waste Land* (1922), and it lays the groundwork for the entire piece: a world where spring feels more like a curse…
- 20
The Fire Sermon
T. S. Eliot · 1922
This part of T. S. Eliot's *The Waste Land* takes us along the Thames River through a modern London that seems empty and spiritually lifeless. We hear from various voices—a blind p…
- 21
The Waste Land
T. S. Eliot · 1922
*The Waste Land* is a lengthy, fragmented poem that captures a world drained of spirit and energy in the wake of World War I. Eliot weaves together various voices, languages, and m…
- 22
What the Thunder Said
T. S. Eliot · 1922
This is the fifth and final section of T. S. Eliot's *The Waste Land*, bringing the entire poem to a fragmented and introspective conclusion. A weary group of figures meanders thro…
- 23
Prayer
H. D. · 1924
A speaker who has lost their creative spark turns to a goddess — most likely Athena or a Muse-like figure — pleading for the inspiration and skill that once allowed them to create…
- 24
The Hollow Men
T. S. Eliot · 1925
*The Hollow Men* (1925) is T. S. Eliot's depiction of individuals who are spiritually vacant—alive physically but dead within, unable to take action, believe, or truly feel anythin…
- 25
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…
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