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
Gender and Power.
Twenty-five poems, ranked.
25 of the finest public-domain poems about gender and power, 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
Porphyria's Lover
Robert Browning · 1836
“A man waits alone in a stormy cottage for Porphyria, the woman he loves but who hesitates to fully commit to him. When she finally arrives and expresses her ten…”
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03
My Last Duchess
Robert Browning · 1842
“A Duke is displaying a painting of his deceased ex-wife to an envoy sent to discuss his upcoming marriage. As he speaks, it becomes evident that he orchestrated…”
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The complete index
- 04
The New Colossus
Emma Lazarus · 1883
A statue stands at the entrance to America, speaking not as a conqueror but as a mother welcoming the world's most desperate people. Emma Lazarus gives the Statue of Liberty a voic…
- 05
Home Burial
Robert Frost · 1914
A husband and wife stand on a staircase after losing their baby. What begins as a tense discussion about what she keeps looking at out the window escalates into a fierce argument a…
- 06
Portrait of a Lady
T. S. Eliot · 1915
A young man meets with an older woman three times throughout the seasons. Each time, she pours out intense, needy speeches about friendship, life, and the desire to feel understood…
- 07
Huntress
H. D. · 1916
A group of huntresses challenges an outsider to keep pace with them as they dash across hills and through woods in an exhilarating chase. The poem serves as a playful taunt and inv…
- 08
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…
- 09
The Contest
H. D. · 1916
H.D.'s "The Contest" presents an intense, almost legendary conflict — probably between two opposing forces, characters, or wills — where beauty and power clash, and neither side em…
- 10
Portrait of a Lady
William Carlos Williams · 1920
Williams transforms a straightforward scene—a woman sitting in a garden or an indoor space—into a playful struggle between beauty and the mundane, physical world. Whenever the poem…
- 11
Circe
H. D. · 1921
Circe, the formidable sorceress of Greek mythology, acknowledges that her magic is ultimately worthless since she cannot bring back the one man she loves — Odysseus. She can change…
- 12
Demeter
H. D. · 1921
Demeter, the Greek goddess of the harvest, shares her feelings about being revered as a grand, heavy statue adorned with gold, while her daughter Persephone is the one who captures…
- 13
Evadne
H. D. · 1921
In this poem, Evadne reflects on the love she shared with Apollo, the Greek god of light. She vividly recalls the physical sensations from that encounter — his hair, his mouth, his…
- 14
Hymen
H. D. · 1921
H.D.'s "Hymen" is a ceremonial poem-sequence that enacts a Greek-style wedding ritual, featuring processions of children, maidens, matrons, and Love himself. Each group carries flo…
- 15
Leda
H. D. · 1921
H.D.'s "Leda" reimagines the Greek myth where Zeus takes the form of a swan to connect with the mortal Leda, but it sheds the violence, replacing it with rich, sensory beauty. The…
- 16
Phaedra
H. D. · 1921
Phaedra, the famed queen of Crete, appeals to the gods of her homeland to regain the power she once wielded over love and desire—a power now hindered by rival magic. She senses her…
- 17
Simaetha
H. D. · 1921
A woman named Simaetha carries out a ritual spell, dyeing wool and burning herbs in an attempt to win back — or perhaps punish — a man who has hurt her. She fluctuates between deep…
- 18
A Game of Chess
T. S. Eliot · 1922
This is the second section of T. S. Eliot's *The Waste Land*, where two very different couples find themselves stuck in unfulfilling lives. In the first scene, a wealthy woman loun…
- 19
An Open Boat
Alfred Noyes · 1922
A woman in a lifeboat tossed by stormy waves clings to the hope that her lover is still alive, wrapping her hair around him to keep him warm as the other survivors plead with her t…
- 20
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…
- 21
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…
- 22
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…
- 23
Wild Grapes
Robert Frost · 1923
A woman reflects on a childhood afternoon when her brother bent a birch tree down so she could reach wild grapes, leaving her hanging in the air, gripping on for dear life. This me…
- 24
Helios
H. D. · 1924
H. D.'s "Helios" explores the sun god as a dual force—capable of both nurturing life and causing destruction. He can reduce crops to ashes one moment and bring stability the next.…
- 25
She Contrasts with Herself Hippolyta
H. D. · 1924
Hippolyta, the Amazon queen from Greek myth, contemplates her defeat by Theseus — not out of love, but through brute force — and the son, Hippolytus, born from that tumultuous unio…
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