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
Star.
Twenty-five poems, ranked.
25 of the finest public-domain poems about star, 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
Astrophil and Stella
Sir Philip Sidney
“*Astrophil and Stella* is a collection of 108 sonnets (along with 11 songs) by Sir Philip Sidney, narrating the tale of Astrophil — a lover of the stars — who i…”
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02
Star of the East
Eugene Field
“This poem serves as a Christmas prayer directed at the Star of Bethlehem, the very star that led the Wise Men to the baby Jesus. Field calls on the star to cont…”
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03
The Evening Star
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“Longfellow observes the evening star (Venus) descending behind the pine trees at dusk and uses this image to speak to someone dear to him, likening the star's n…”
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The complete index
- 04
The Son of the Evening Star
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
This poem is a chapter from Longfellow's epic *The Song of Hiawatha*, presented as a story told during Hiawatha's wedding feast. The storyteller Iagoo shares the legend of Osseo, a…
- 05
To a Star
Percy Bysshe Shelley
A young Shelley speaks to a solitary evening star, wondering if its gentle glow does more than lull weary, money-driven folks to sleep. He trails off mid-thought, yearning to gaze…
- 06
To the Evening Star
William Blake
Blake speaks to Venus as it shines at dusk, asking it to safeguard the natural world — the flocks, fields, and wandering lovers — during the perilous night. This brief lyric portra…
- 07
Star-Splitter
Robert Frost · 1923
A New England farmer, Brad McLaughlin, decides to burn down his house to cash in on the insurance, allowing him to buy a telescope—he's far more fascinated by the stars than by far…
- 08
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…
- 09
For the Sunday-School Children of the Church of the Disciples
James Russell Lowell
This poem is a Christmas hymn made for children in Sunday school, telling the story of the Magi and the Shepherds at Jesus' birth. Lowell takes this story and turns it into a lesso…
- 10
From the Greek of Plato
Percy Bysshe Shelley
This brief poem is Shelley's translation of a Greek epigram, credited to Plato, honoring someone who has passed away. While they lived, this person shone like the morning star; in…
- 11
Hymn of Apollo
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Apollo, the Greek god of the sun, light, music, and prophecy, shares his daily journey across the sky and the immense power he wields over the world. He describes waking at dawn, p…
- 12
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Sappho
This brief three-line fragment by Sappho speaks to Hesperus, the evening star, as the one who "brings all things" — wine, the goat, and the child back to its mother. In just a few…
- 13
The Galaxy
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Longfellow gazes up at the Milky Way and recalls two ancient tales that people once told to make sense of it — a Spanish legend about Saint James and the Greek myth of Phaeton's ru…
- 14
The Occultation of Orion
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
In a dream-like vision, the speaker observes the night sky come alive: the stars and constellations assume mythic roles, the music of the spheres resonates in the air, and the moon…
- 15
The Three Kings
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
This poem recounts the biblical tale of the Three Wise Men — Melchior, Gaspar, and Baltasar — who journey from the East, guided by a bright star, to find the newborn Jesus in Bethl…
- 16
Died June 11, 1875
James Russell Lowell
Lowell pens a memorial sonnet for a humble and devoted astronomer who unexpectedly passed away in June 1875. This man dedicated his life to studying the stars, absorbing their less…
- 17
A Lullaby
Eugene Field
A mother sings her baby to sleep, finding solace in the thought of the moon serenading a star. Yet, in the final stanza, we discover she is mourning a child who has passed away. Th…
- 18
Anael
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
This short poem is dedicated to Anael, the angel linked with Venus, the Evening Star, known for watching over lovers, cozy homes, and joyful families. The speaker in Longfellow's p…
- 19
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…
- 20
A Rhyme
Algernon Charles Swinburne
A poet gazes at a baby and acknowledges that no rhyme, no word, and no cleverness can fully express how incredible the child is. Language just falls short. Ultimately, only Love —…
- 21
Chrysaor
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
A single evening star glimmers over the ocean, reflecting the figure of Chrysaor, the golden-sworded character from Greek mythology who emerged from the sea. The poem shifts betwee…
- 22
Dutch Lullaby
Eugene Field
A parent sings a child to sleep by telling the story of three little figures — Wynken, Blynken, and Nod — who sail through the night sky in a wooden shoe, fishing for stars. As the…
- 23
Endymion
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Longfellow draws on the Greek myth of the moon goddess Diana falling for the sleeping shepherd Endymion to convey a reassuring message: love will find you, regardless of whether yo…
- 24
Enter Three Archangels
Percy Bysshe Shelley
This is Shelley's translation of the well-known "Prologue in Heaven" from Goethe's *Faust*, where three archangels celebrate God's creation until Mephistopheles (the Devil) arrives…
- 25
Magi
Sylvia Plath
Written from the perspective of a new mother gazing at her infant, "Magi" envisions a visit from abstract philosophical figures — the Magi reinterpreted as detached, intellectual f…
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