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
Growing-up.
Twenty-five poems, ranked.
25 of the finest public-domain poems about growing-up, 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
If—
Rudyard Kipling · 1910
“Kipling's "If—" offers a father's guidance to his son on living a fulfilling life—a sort of checklist outlining the traits that define true strength and decency…”
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02
Spring and Fall
Gerard Manley Hopkins · 1918
“A speaker observes a young girl named Margaret in tears over autumn leaves cascading from a grove of trees and softly tells her that her sorrow goes deeper than…”
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03
In Just
E. E. Cummings · 1920
“A child's perspective on early spring, where a muddy world comes alive and a mysterious balloon man lures neighborhood kids away from their games with his whist…”
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The complete index
- 04
The New Duckling
Alfred Noyes · 1922
A young duckling chooses to be completely different from what he was born as — he doesn’t want webbed feet, waddling, or quacking — and disregards all warnings about a fox lurking…
- 05
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…
- 06
Walking Away
Cecil Day-Lewis · 1962
Written for his son Sean, "Walking Away" captures the moment a father watches his child head off on his own for the first time—specifically, the memory of dropping him off at schoo…
- 07
Follower
Seamus Heaney · 1966
In "Follower," Seamus Heaney reflects on his memories of watching his father work the fields as a master ploughman, a man so skilled and strong that young Heaney could only trail b…
- 08
Mother, any distance
Simon Armitage · 1993
A son asks his mother to hold one end of a measuring tape while he explores the rooms of his new home. This image subtly captures the invisible bond between parent and child. As he…
- 09
A Chaucerian Paraphrase of Horace
Eugene Field
This poem playfully imitates Chaucer's medieval English and is written by Eugene Field. It retells a classic idea from the Roman poet Horace about a young woman named Chloe who hol…
- 10
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…
- 11
A Familiar Epistle to a Friend
James Russell Lowell
A middle-aged poet pens a lengthy, conversational letter to a friend, expressing his frustrations about how aging seems to have dulled his creative edge. He playfully argues that t…
- 12
Aladdin
James Russell Lowell
A poor boy, armed only with his imagination, creates magnificent dream-worlds in his mind, and that inner richness feels more than sufficient. Years later, he finds himself wealthy…
- 13
A Priest
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
An elderly priest, who has dedicated fifty years to his synagogue, watches in amazement as a young man takes the Teacher's seat. In just four lines, Longfellow beautifully captures…
- 14
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…
- 15
Argument
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
This isn't a traditional poem — it's a teacher's preface that explains how to help students navigate Longfellow's epic poem *Evangeline* in the classroom. It outlines a two-step re…
- 16
Autumn, 1863
James Russell Lowell
A troubadour named Blondel shares two contrasting tales: at first, he is consumed by loyalty to his exiled king, dreaming of bringing him back to power. Years later, however, he fi…
- 17
Brother and Sister
D. H. Lawrence
A brother and sister are mourning the loss of their mother, and Lawrence uses the image of the moon fading in the night sky to illustrate how grief leaves you exposed and pushes yo…
- 18
By Charles Coran
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
A speaker returns to a wine he cherished in his youth, only to discover it tastes sour. The wine itself hasn't changed; he has. This short, bittersweet poem captures how time robs…
- 19
Calidore
John Keats
Calidore is a young knight who rows across a lake at sunset, taking in the stunning beauty of the landscape before hurrying to a castle to meet his beloved friends. The poem is a f…
- 20
Collegisse juvat: The full sentence, in the first ode of
James Russell Lowell
This is a clever and concise piece by James Russell Lowell that plays on a Latin pun. Lowell reinterprets a line from Horace about the pride of competing in the Olympic Games, twis…
- 21
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…
- 22
Education
James Russell Lowell
This piece is a biographical prose passage about James Russell Lowell's early education, starting from his first lessons at a dame school and continuing through his time at Harvard…
- 23
Epistles
John Keats
Keats's "Epistles" consists of verse letters written to friends and fellow poets, joyfully celebrating the pleasures of reading, writing, and imagination. These poems have a warm,…
- 24
Father
Walt Whitman
A parent lifts a baby’s gaze to the sky, but the child looks away, instead gesturing sarcastically at the shiny world of commerce and money. Whitman critiques a society that instil…
- 25
For a Bell at Cornell University
James Russell Lowell
A bell at Cornell University sounds a warning and a challenge: each hour that ticks away is lost forever, and how you spend those hours can turn your life into something delicate o…
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