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
Mercy.
Twenty-five poems, ranked.
25 of the finest public-domain poems about mercy, 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
To a Mouse
Robert Burns · 1785
“A Scottish farmer unintentionally destroys a mouse's nest while ploughing a field. Instead of simply moving on, he takes a moment to apologise to the mouse and…”
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02
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 Stat…”
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03
The Death of the Hired Man
Robert Frost · 1914
“A weary old farmhand named Silas has arrived unexpectedly and in a daze at the farm where he once worked. While he sleeps inside, the farmer Warren and his wife…”
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The complete index
- 04
Orchard
H. D. · 1916
A speaker is so struck by the beauty of a harvest-season orchard that she collapses to the ground and pleads with a god to intervene — the beauty feels nearly unbearable. She then…
- 05
Slave and Emperor
Alfred Noyes · 1918
Alfred Noyes wrote this poem in reaction to World War I, highlighting a military emperor's arrogant rejection of Christianity alongside the eventual downfall of his power in battle…
- 06
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…
- 07
Compensations
Alfred Noyes · 1922
Alfred Noyes's "Compensations" explores the subtle, often unnoticed ways that justice, mercy, and goodness manifest in the world — not with dramatic displays, but gradually and ste…
- 08
The Chimney-Sweeps of Cheltenham
Alfred Noyes · 1922
Every spring in Cheltenham, chimney sweeps — many of whom are young boys who were once made to crawl up dark flues — don bright may-flower colors and dance through the streets. A m…
- 09
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…
- 10
Acon
H. D. · 1924
A speaker rushes to gather healing herbs and invokes the spirits of the woods and sea to provide gifts and medicines for a woman named Hyella, who is seriously ill. The poem reads…
- 11
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.…
- 12
Prisoners
H. D. · 1924
A prisoner awaiting execution writes a heartfelt final letter to a cherished fellow captive, pleading for one last sight of their face before facing death. The writer feels drained…
- 13
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 Anglican Christianity in 1…
- 14
Abu Midjan
Eugene Field
Abu Midjan is a brief narrative poem centered on a Saracen warrior whose passion for wine leads him to request burial beneath a vine. Though he's judged for this desire, a Christia…
- 15
Acadia and the Acadians
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
This is a prose introduction by Longfellow, not a poem, but rather the historical preface he created to set the stage for his epic poem *Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie*. It recounts…
- 16
A Contrast
James Russell Lowell
A speaker admits that for years they overlooked God's love because it came in the form of the poor, the outcast, and the enslaved — individuals they were too proud to acknowledge.…
- 17
A Hall of the Prison
Percy Bysshe Shelley
This is the final scene from Shelley's verse drama *The Cenci*, set in a prison where Beatrice Cenci and her family await execution for killing their abusive father. Beatrice shift…
- 18
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…
- 19
Ailsie, My Bairn
Eugene Field
A parent welcomes home their daughter Ailsie, who has obviously been hurt by someone—a "fause lord"—and is now on the brink of death. The parent doesn’t ask questions or pass judgm…
- 20
All-Saints
James Russell Lowell
Lowell's "All-Saints" honors the quiet, everyday heroes who make the world a better place without asking for praise or acknowledgment. He suggests that real saints aren’t only hist…
- 21
A March in the Ranks Hard-Prest, and the Road Unknown
Walt Whitman
A soldier marching at night accidentally enters a makeshift Civil War hospital set up in an old church. He sees the chaos and pain of the wounded and dying before he has to leave a…
- 22
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…
- 23
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…
- 24
Angel
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
A speaker observes a woman quietly serving food to tired harvest workers, doing so without any prompting. The poem contrasts the sweetness of wheat and scattered grain with the eve…
- 25
Another Judge
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
This brief poem features one speaker who refuses to accept a decision, pointing out that exiled men—those who faced death if they returned—are now living back home without issue. T…
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