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
faith.
Twenty-five poems, ranked.
25 of the finest public-domain poems about faith, 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
Ash Wednesday
T. S. Eliot · 1930
“*Ash Wednesday* is T. S. Eliot's lengthy poem exploring the challenge of shifting focus from worldly matters to God, composed following his conversion to Anglic…”
Open the poem
02
Blind Bartimeus
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“This poem recounts the Biblical tale of Blind Bartimaeus, a beggar waiting outside Jericho who calls out to Jesus and is healed. Longfellow preserves the essent…”
Open the poem
03
By Santa Teresa De Avila
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“This brief poem is Longfellow's English version of a well-known prayer-poem by the 16th-century Spanish mystic, Saint Teresa of Ávila. It encourages readers not…”
Open the poem
The complete index
- 04
God's Grandeur
Gerard Manley Hopkins
God's Grandeur is Gerard Manley Hopkins's assertion that the world is filled with divine energy, much like an everlasting battery — even as humans continue to harm the planet throu…
- 05
Jubilate Agno
Christopher Smart
*Jubilate Agno* ("Rejoice in the Lamb") is a lengthy, fragmented poem by Christopher Smart, composed during his time in a mental asylum in the 1750s and 60s. It joyfully celebrates…
- 06
The Altar
George Herbert
George Herbert's "The Altar" is a brief devotional poem where the speaker presents his broken heart to God as a living altar, crafted not from stone but from genuine human emotion…
- 07
The Child Christ
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
A child speaks from his own perspective, calling himself Jesus and clearly saying that he was born to suffer and die for the sake of others' lives. The poem captures the essence of…
- 08
The Coasts of Caesarea Philippi
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
This brief dramatic piece from Longfellow's larger work *Christus: A Mystery* highlights the moment when Jesus asks his disciples whom the people think he is — a question central t…
- 09
The Divine Comedy
Dante Alighieri
*The Divine Comedy* is Dante's epic journey through Hell (Inferno), Purgatory (Purgatorio), and Heaven (Paradiso), first guided by the Roman poet Virgil and later by his idealized…
- 10
The Hound of Heaven
Francis Thompson
A man flees from God across the vast universe—through moments of pleasure, the beauty of nature, love, and the joy of being with children—yet God chases him tirelessly, like a houn…
- 11
The Twenty-Third Psalm
Eugene Field
Eugene Field's "The Twenty-Third Psalm" offers a heartfelt poetic retelling of the well-known Biblical psalm usually linked to King David. It preserves all the familiar imagery — t…
- 12
A Song to David
Christopher Smart
A Song to David is Christopher Smart's powerful ode that honors the biblical King David as the ultimate poet and musician. It explores his virtues, his creation of the Psalms, and…
- 13
Ecce Homo
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
This brief dramatic poem recounts the moment from the Gospels when the Roman governor Pontius Pilate offers the crowd a choice: free Jesus or free Barabbas. Pilate clearly sees Jes…
- 14
Gaspar
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
This short poem is delivered by Gaspar, one of the three Wise Men, as he welcomes the infant Jesus in the manger. Gaspar praises the newborn as something beyond all of life's highs…
- 15
John the Baptist
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
This poem voices John the Baptist, the biblical prophet who paved the way for Jesus, as he urges crowds—including priests, Pharisees, and Scribes—to abandon their sins before it’s…
- 16
Martin Luther
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
This poem immerses us in Martin Luther's thoughts while he hides at Wartburg Castle after the Catholic Church labels him a heretic. Longfellow blends Luther's well-known hymn "A Mi…
- 17
On His Blindness
John Milton
Milton wrote this sonnet after he lost his sight completely, pondering whether God still expects him to create great poetry despite his blindness. The poem explores that fear and r…
- 18
The Lamb
William Blake
A child asks a lamb who made it and then answers their own question: God did — the same God who refers to himself as "the Lamb of God" and came to earth as a child. The poem connec…
- 19
The Song Celestial
Edwin Arnold
*The Song Celestial* is Edwin Arnold's 1885 verse translation of the *Bhagavad Gita*, the ancient Hindu scripture where the god Krishna advises the warrior Arjuna on the brink of a…
- 20
The Three Kings
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
This poem recounts the biblical tale of the Three Wise Men — Melchior, Gaspar, and Baltasar — who journey from the East, guided by a bright star, to find the newborn Jesus in Bethl…
- 21
Death Be Not Proud
John Donne · 1633
Death Be Not Proud is John Donne's bold challenge to the common belief that death holds great power. He turns the argument on its head: if sleep (essentially a brief taste of death…
- 22
Fishers of Men
Alfred Noyes · 1907
Alfred Noyes reflects on the well-known Gospel moment when Jesus invites his disciples to become "fishers of men" and poses a challenging question: after two millennia of conflict…
- 23
The Matin-Song of Friar Tuck
Alfred Noyes · 1913
Friar Tuck, the cheerful friar from the Robin Hood tales, offers a morning prayer that discovers God not in elaborate churches but in the song of a thrush perched on a hawthorn bus…
- 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 Hymn
Horace
A Roman farmer prays to Faunus, the god of the countryside, asking him to protect his fields and animals in return for gifts of wine, incense, and a young goat. When Faunus's festi…
Read deeper