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
mortality.
Twenty-five poems, ranked.
25 of the finest public-domain poems about mortality, 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
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…”
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02
Buffalo Bill's Defunct
E. E. Cummings · 1920
“Buffalo Bill's Defunct is a brief, impactful elegy for the renowned Wild West showman William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody. Cummings employs his signature jumbled typ…”
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03
Death by Water
T. S. Eliot · 1922
“A dead sailor named Phlebas floats through the ocean, his body stripped bare by the sea, and all his worldly worries — money, ambition, life itself — vanish ent…”
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The complete index
- 04
Adonais
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Adonais is Shelley's lengthy elegy for the poet John Keats, who passed away in Rome in 1821 at the young age of twenty-five. Shelley holds hostile critics responsible for shortenin…
- 05
And Death Shall Have No Dominion
Dylan Thomas
Dylan Thomas's poem "And Death Shall Have No Dominion" is a bold declaration that the human spirit endures beyond death in some way — while bones may break and flesh may decay, som…
- 06
An Elegy on the Death of John Keats,
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Adonais is Shelley’s lengthy elegy expressing sorrow for the death of fellow poet John Keats, who passed away in Rome in 1821 at the young age of 25. Shelley envisions Keats as a m…
- 07
Atropos
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
In this brief poem, the speaker calls out to Atropos — one of the three Fates in Greek mythology — urging her to stop luring a serious, forward-thinking individual and instead dire…
- 08
Azrael
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
A visiting Indian prince notices the Angel of Death standing outside King Solomon's palace and pleads with Solomon to use his famed control over the wind to carry him to safety. So…
- 09
Because I Could Not Stop for Death
Emily Dickinson
A woman, caught up in the busyness of her life, is gently picked up by Death, who appears as a courteous gentleman offering her a carriage ride. They pass by moments from her life…
- 10
Coplas De Manrique
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Longfellow's "Coplas de Manrique" translates and adapts the 15th-century Spanish elegy by Jorge Manrique, which honors his father, Rodrigo Manrique, after his passing. The poem shi…
- 11
Crossing the Bar
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Written near the end of Tennyson's life, "Crossing the Bar" is a brief, serene poem about death — particularly the speaker's wish for death to resemble a ship gliding out to sea, b…
- 12
Death of Queen Mercedes
James Russell Lowell
A young queen has all that life can provide — beauty, love, a crown, and a bright future — yet she passes away just five months after her wedding. Lowell tells her story to pose a…
- 13
Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night
Dylan Thomas
Dylan Thomas urges his dying father to hold on to life and fight until the end. The poem asserts that regardless of your identity or past actions, death deserves to be faced with a…
- 14
Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard
Thomas Gray
Thomas Gray sits in a rural churchyard at dusk, reflecting on the everyday lives of the people buried there — farmers and villagers whose lives went quietly unnoticed. He contempla…
- 15
Epitaphium
Percy Bysshe Shelley
This Latin poem was penned by a young Shelley, translating the well-known epitaph from Thomas Gray's *Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard*. It portrays a young man who passed awa…
- 16
Extreme Unction
James Russell Lowell
A dying man dismisses a priest and instead confronts two much harsher judges: the ghost of his Youth and the ghost of his Ideal — the person he might have become. He reflects on hi…
- 17
Felix Randal
Gerard Manley Hopkins
Felix Randal is a sonnet by Gerard Manley Hopkins that tells the story of a blacksmith named Felix Randal, who has passed away after a prolonged illness. The priest-speaker express…
- 18
For the Fallen
Laurence Binyon
Written in the early days of World War One, "For the Fallen" is Laurence Binyon's heartfelt tribute to the soldiers who lost their lives in battle. It reminds us that the fallen wi…
- 19
I Have a Rendezvous with Death
Alan Seeger
A young American soldier understands that he is likely to die in battle, and instead of fearing this fate, he views it as a romantic appointment — a "rendezvous" — that he feels co…
- 20
I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died
Emily Dickinson
A dying person reflects on their last moments: the room is quiet, surrounded by loved ones, all anticipating something profound and sacred. Instead, a lone fly buzzes in and obscur…
- 21
Keats
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Longfellow's sonnet expresses sorrow over the death of John Keats, the young Romantic poet who passed away at just 25, leaving his talent unrealized. Drawing on images from Keats's…
- 22
Lycidas
John Milton
Lycidas is John Milton's elegy for Edward King, a friend and fellow student at Cambridge who drowned in 1637. Milton employs the traditional format of the pastoral elegy—where poet…
- 23
Midnight Mass for the Dying Year
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Longfellow envisions the dying year as an old man—weak, briefly teased by a warm day, and ultimately swept away by a fierce winter storm. The poem transitions from a sense of quiet…
- 24
Ozymandias
Percy Bysshe Shelley
A traveler shares with the speaker a story about a ruined statue in the desert: a shattered king with a proud inscription, standing alone amidst endless sand. The king believed his…
- 25
Sir Humphrey Gilbert
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
This poem narrates the tale of Sir Humphrey Gilbert, an actual English explorer who vanished at sea in 1583 while returning from Newfoundland. Longfellow gives Death the character…
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