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
fear.
Twenty-five poems, ranked.
25 of the finest public-domain poems about fear, 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 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…”
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02
Bayonet Charge
Ted Hughes · 1957
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03
An Apartment in the Castle of Petrella
Percy Bysshe Shelley
“This scene from Shelley’s verse drama *The Cenci* depicts the monstrous Count Cenci as he schemes to ruin his daughter Beatrice—physically, mentally, and social…”
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The complete index
- 04
An Apartment in the Cenci Palace
Percy Bysshe Shelley
This is the opening scene of Shelley's verse drama *The Cenci*, where we meet Count Cenci, a ruthless Roman nobleman who has just bribed the Pope to hide a murder. Cardinal Camillo…
- 05
Death of a Naturalist
Seamus Heaney
A young boy who enjoyed collecting frogspawn from a nearby flax dam slowly loses his innocent joy in nature when he sees the frogs coming back to reclaim their eggs — and feels mor…
- 06
Elm
Sylvia Plath
In "Elm," Sylvia Plath presents an ancient elm tree that talks directly to the reader about suffering, fear, and the frightening depths of the self. The tree symbolizes Plath's own…
- 07
King Herod
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
This poem immerses us in King Herod's thoughts as he decides to carry out the Massacre of the Innocents—the biblical killing of infant boys in Bethlehem intended to eliminate the n…
- 08
On the Medusa of Leonardo Da Vinci in the Florentine Gallery
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Shelley gazes at a painting he thinks is by Leonardo da Vinci, depicting the severed head of Medusa. He feels torn between horror and fascination with its beauty. He contends that…
- 09
Seein' Things
Eugene Field
A young boy boasts about his bravery during the day—he isn't afraid of snakes, bugs, or anything else—but every night when the lights go out, shadowy figures emerge in his room and…
- 10
The Bee Meeting
Sylvia Plath
A speaker joins a group of beekeepers in a rural village ritual, but instead of feeling involved, she feels like an outsider — exposed, vulnerable, and gradually becoming the victi…
- 11
The Beleaguered City
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
A ghostly army encircles Prague at night, only to disappear when the cathedral bell tolls for morning prayer. Longfellow then discloses that this was merely a metaphor: the true be…
- 12
The Demons
Alexander Pushkin
Written in 1830, "The Demons" is a short lyric about a traveler caught in a blizzard at night who starts to believe that the swirling snow-spirits are leading him astray. The storm…
- 13
The Nurse Medusa
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
A nurse gasps in horror as two men tear a child apart — the child being King Herod's only son. This poem is a brief, impactful dramatic monologue that encapsulates a moment filled…
- 14
The Spectral Horseman
Percy Bysshe Shelley
A ghostly horseman shows up every seven years, riding a white horse across a stormy heath, and his arrival sends every dark creature in the spirit world into a frenzy. The poem cre…
- 15
The Witches Mangling a Boy
Horace
A boy is held captive by a coven of witches led by Canidia, who intend to bury him alive and watch him die slowly, all to gather his dried organs for a love potion. Initially, the…
- 16
Pursuit
H. D. · 1916
A speaker traces the path left by a fleeing figure through the forest — crushed hyacinths, broken roots, a dragged limb — assembling the chase like a detective piecing together clu…
- 17
Storm on the Island
Seamus Heaney · 1966
A community on a desolate Atlantic island gets ready for a violent storm, only to realize that the true horror lies not in the wind or the sea, but in the emptiness — the lack of a…
- 18
An Apartment in the Castle
Percy Bysshe Shelley
This intense moment from Shelley's verse play *The Cenci* depicts Beatrice Cenci as she plots to kill her abusive father, Count Cenci. Just before the act, two hired assassins hesi…
- 19
Anxiety
D. H. Lawrence
A speaker gazes out of a window, anxiously awaiting the arrival of a telegram boy at their gate—because a telegram would bring news of someone they care about who is gravely ill. T…
- 20
Before the Castle of Petrella
Percy Bysshe Shelley
This is a tense moment from Shelley's verse play *The Cenci*, taking place on a castle's ramparts at midnight. Beatrice and her mother Lucretia are plotting the murder of Beatrice'…
- 21
By Clotilde De Surville
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
A mother gazes at her sleeping baby and feels a jolt of fear: the child lies so still and pale that he seems lifeless. In a panic, she gently wakes him to confirm he’s alive, then…
- 22
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 to fear or be distu…
- 23
Canidia's Answer
Horace
A witch named Canidia gives an angry, triumphant speech to a man who ridiculed her dark rituals and exposed her secrets to the people of Rome. She informs him that no amount of ple…
- 24
Christabel
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Christabel is a young noblewoman who sneaks out at night to pray for her distant lover. During her nighttime escapades, she brings home a mysterious stranger named Geraldine, who p…
- 25
Danny Deever
Rudyard Kipling
A young soldier named Danny Deever is about to be hanged in front of his entire regiment for shooting a fellow soldier while he slept. The poem features a dialogue between two sold…
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