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
time.
Twenty-five poems, ranked.
25 of the finest public-domain poems about time, 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
Lines for a Sun-Dial
Alfred Noyes · 1922
“A sun-dial has its own way of communicating, sharing that its shadow-hand is continuously writing a subtle, hopeful message about light and time. This brief poe…”
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02
A Thousand Years
Christina Rossetti
“Christina Rossetti's "A Thousand Years" reflects on the immense expanse of time in contrast to the fleeting nature of a single human life and its affections. Th…”
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03
Chimes
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“A speaker lying awake at night listens to the clock chimes marking the hour, and those sounds set his imagination free, envisioning the constellations swirling…”
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The complete index
- 04
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…
- 05
Fern Hill
Dylan Thomas
Fern Hill is Dylan Thomas's ode to the carefree summers of his childhood on his aunt's farm in Wales, where life felt enchanting, eternal, and unrestricted. The poem takes us throu…
- 06
Four Quartets
T. S. Eliot
*Four Quartets* is T. S. Eliot's longest and most personal poem, consisting of four interconnected sections — "Burnt Norton," "East Coker," "The Dry Salvages," and "Little Gidding"…
- 07
January
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
In this short poem, Longfellow personifies January as Janus, the two-faced Roman god of doorways and new beginnings. January presents itself as a strong presence that gazes into bo…
- 08
Long Ago
Eugene Field
A grown man reflects on his childhood and recalls how intimately he understood the natural world around him — the birds, the plants, the fish, the crows. Now, as he revisits those…
- 09
Mezzo Cammin
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
At the halfway point of his life, Longfellow reflects on how he hasn't created the great poetry he envisioned in his youth — not due to laziness or recklessness, but because grief…
- 10
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…
- 11
New-Year's Eve, 1850
James Russell Lowell
Written on the last night of 1850, this poem sees midnight as a turning point: the darkest moment of the century has passed, and now the world begins its journey toward light. Lowe…
- 12
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…
- 13
Poem for the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Class of 1825
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Longfellow wrote this poem for the 50th reunion of his Bowdoin College graduating class, a gathering marked by the absence of many classmates who had passed away. The poem navigate…
- 14
Sonnet 12
William Shakespeare
Shakespeare observes time erasing all that is beautiful—clocks ticking, flowers wilting, trees shedding their leaves, harvests being gathered—and fears that the same fate awaits th…
- 15
Sonnet 19
William Shakespeare
Shakespeare warns Time that it can ruin everything — lions, tigers, and even the legendary phoenix — but it better not lay a finger on his beloved's face. In the last two lines, he…
- 16
Sonnet 2
William Shakespeare
Shakespeare's Sonnet 2 conveys a message to a young, beautiful individual: time will eventually diminish your looks, so the wisest choice is to have a child to carry on your beauty…
- 17
Sonnet 60
William Shakespeare
Sonnet 60 reflects Shakespeare's thoughts on the relentless nature of time and its power to erode everything — youth, beauty, and even life itself — much like ocean waves crashing…
- 18
Sonnet 65
William Shakespeare
Sonnet 65 poses a straightforward yet daunting question: if even brass, stone, and the ocean eventually deteriorate, what hope does something as fragile as beauty have against time…
- 19
Sonnet 73
William Shakespeare
Sonnet 73 is Shakespeare's reflection on aging, as he invites his beloved to see him as someone in the twilight of life. He layers three vivid images — a bare winter tree, a dimmin…
- 20
The Old Clock on the Stairs
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
An old grandfather clock in a country house keeps repeating two words — "Forever" and "Never" — as life unfolds around it: children play, couples marry, people die, and eventually…
- 21
The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
A traveler strolls along the beach at dusk, vanishes into the night, and never returns — yet the tide continues its endless rhythm of rising and falling. The sea washes away the tr…
- 22
Time Long Past
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Time Long Past is a short poem reflecting on how memories of happier times haunt us like a ghost — lovely yet forever out of reach. Shelley navigates three stages: the things we've…
- 23
To Daffodils
Robert Herrick
A concise lyric by Robert Herrick observes daffodils as they bloom and fade in just one day, transforming this moment into a reflection on human existence: we, too, are here for a…
- 24
To His Coy Mistress
Andrew Marvell
A man is trying to persuade a woman to stop playing hard to get and sleep with him—right now, before they both grow old and pass away. He tells her that if they had all the time in…
- 25
To-Morrow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
A restless Longfellow lies awake at night while his children sleep, listening to the ticking clocks and crowing roosters, sensing tomorrow creeping in like an unexpected visitor. T…
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