14 Must-Read Poems about Hell

Poems about hell venture into the realm of darkness and explore the concept of spiritual suffering, punishment, or the existential dread associated with the idea of a hellish realm.

These poems often depict the anguish, torment, and despair experienced in such a place. They may delve into guilt, remorse, or the consequences of one’s actions. Poems about hell may use vivid imagery, metaphor, and symbolism to evoke a sense of terror and a confrontation with one’s deepest fears.

They can be contemplative, cautionary, or philosophical, prompting reflection on morality, redemption, and the human condition.

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Amor Mundi

by Christina Rossetti

‘Amor Mundi’ by Christina Rossetti is a poem about how easy it is to get trapped in a cycle of sin and find oneself on a path toward hell.

The two travelers in this poem are on their way to Hell. While they don't realize it at first, after seeing a meteor and a dead body, they realize that their easy, downhill path is taking them to Hell.

“Oh where are you going with your love-locks flowing

On the west wind blowing along this valley track?”

“The downhill path is easy, come with me an it please ye,

We shall escape the uphill by never turning back.”

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The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

by William Blake

William Blake’s ‘The Marriage of Heaven and Hell’ explores the transformative power of embracing contradiction and defying societal norms.

The topic of hell is explored as a necessary counterpart to heaven, representing the dualities of human experience. The poem challenges the conventional notion of hell as a place of punishment, suggesting that it contains transformative potential and creativity. It invites readers to reconsider their perceptions of hell and perceive it as an essential part of the human journey, providing opportunities for growth and enlightenment.

Rintrah roars and shakes his fires in the burdened air;

Hungry clouds swag on the deep.

Once meek, and in a perilous path,

The just man kept his course along

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Nationality: Irish

Themes: Aging, Death, Dreams, Wellness

Emotions: Abandonment, Anger, Anxiety, Confusion, Depression, Empathy, Fear, Frustration, Grief, Hopelessness, Missing Someone, Remorse, Resilience, Stress, Terror

Form: Free Verse

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Amethyst Beads

by Eavan Boland

‘Amethyst Beads’ by Eavan Boland alludes to Greek mythology and the suffering of a child, Persephone, after she was separated from her mother, Demeter.

While the poem takes place in the ancient Greek version of the underworld, it is not a reflection of the Judeo-Christian conception of Hell. However, the poem does touch upon themes of despair and regret which are equally applicable to Hell.

A child crying out in her sleep

Wait for me. Don’t leave me here.

Who will never remember this.

Who will never remember this.

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London

by William Blake

‘London’ by William Blake exposes the dreadful realities of the poor who call the city home, placing particular blame upon the religious and political institutions that have seemingly turned a blind eye to the horror.

Blake's descriptions of London evoke a hellish cityscape where the voices of "every Man" and "every [Infant]" carry an overwhelming understanding of their misery. Add to this the haunting symbolic imagery of "blood [running] down Palace walls" and it's clear that the poet wanted to reveal the nightmarish realities of the city's populace.

I wander thro' each charter'd street,

Near where the charter'd Thames does flow.

And mark in every face I meet

Marks of weakness, marks of woe.

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Spring Offensive

by Wilfred Owen

‘Spring Offensive’ by Wilfred Owen portrays the harrowing realities of World War I and the ensuing trauma endured by soldiers.

The poem symbolically equates war with hell, emphasizing its nightmarish and infernal nature. Phrases such as 'hot blast and fury of hell's upsurge' and 'enter hell' present the battlefield as a place of intense suffering and inhumanity. Soldiers confront the ruthless brutality akin to the torment that could be of only hell.

Halted against the shade of a last hill,

They fed, and, lying easy, were at ease

And, finding comfortable chests and knees

Carelessly slept. But many there stood still

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Nationality: American

Theme: Death

Emotion: Anxiety

Topics:

Hell

Afterlife, Death of a Loved One, Heartbreak, Heaven, Humanity, Loss, Mortality, Suffering

Form: Ballad

Genre: Elegy

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My Life Closed Twice Before Its Close

by Emily Dickinson

‘My life closed twice before its close’ by Emily Dickinson uses heartbreak as a metaphor for death. She also experiments with the meaning of “closure.”

Dickinson uses the juxtaposition between Heaven and Hell in order to mirror the highs and lows of life. The binary opposites which are evoked through this Biblical imagery serve to remind the reader that our lives are capable of being enriched and joyful, as well as being painful and full of suffering.

My life closed twice before its close—

It yet remains to see

If Immortality unveil

A third event to me

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The Hollow Men

by T.S. Eliot

‘The Hollow Men’ presents the hollow, degenerated, and disillusioned people dealing with their meaningless existence amidst the ruins of the postwar world.

Eliot refers to the river place where souls wait to be ferried either to hell or heaven while alluding to the first and second books of Divine Comedy. "Hollow Men" of the modern world are not even taken into hell and are condemned to stay eternally by the river without any hope for redemption.

We are the hollow men

We are the stuffed men

Leaning together

Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!

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The Clod and the Pebble

by William Blake

In the three-stanza poem, ‘The Clod and the Pebble,’ William Blake takes on the subject of love and its meaning for two separate things, one being a “Clod” and another being a “Pebble.”

The pebble, on the other hand, sees love as something that can turn even happiness into suffering, almost like creating a personal hell. It believes love is about controlling others and getting what it wants, even if it hurts someone else. This view of love shows how selfishness and greed can turn relationships into something painful, where one person benefits at the expense of another’s happiness.

"Love seeketh not itself to please,

Nor for itself hath any care,

But for another gives its ease,

And builds a Heaven in Hell's despair."

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Nationality: English

Themes: Dreams, Journey, Recovery, Religion, Spirituality

Emotions: Anxiety, Confusion, Depression, Faith, Fear, Grief, Guilt, Hope, Regret, Remorse, Stress, Worry

Topics:

Hell

Adversity, Afterlife, Allusion, Christianity, Future, God, Heaven, Life Struggles, Light, Mistakes, Overcoming Adversity, Past, Rebirth, Sin, Starting Over, Struggling

Form: Sonnet

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Holy Sonnet II

by John Donne

‘Holy Sonnet II’ by John Donne is the second in a series of religious sonnets that Donne is well-known for. This poem is directed to God and explores a speaker’s concerns about their fate.

Donne's poem showcases the speaker's apprehension at the prospect of being taken to Hell when he dies, as he knows he has lived a sinful life. In typical Donne fashion, the poem reiterates the fact that faith in God can rescue the man from that horrific fate, if he can only repent for his sins.

As due by many titles I resign

Myself to thee, O God. First I was made

By Thee; and for Thee, and when I was decay’d

Thy blood bought that, the which before was Thine.

#10

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1968

by Frederick Seidel

‘1968’ describes the aftermath of a raucous Hollywood party. Seidel works into this context a broader critique of sociopolitical realities.

While the mansion is called a “Paradise”, the appellation is, without a doubt, heavily sarcastic, and when one looks carefully at the stanza in question, one finds elements one would more readily associate with hell – the subtropical clamminess, the foggy vision, and of course the faceless victims of murder. Indeed the belief one is in paradise, which some of the participants in the part presumably share, may be part of the setting’s hellish quality.

A football spirals through the oyster glow

Of dawn dope and fog in L.A.’s

Bel Air, punted perfectly. The foot

That punted it is absolutely stoned.

#11

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‘Twas the old — road — through pain—

by Emily Dickinson

‘Twas the old — road — through pain—’ by Emily Dickinson describes a woman’s path from life to death and her entrance into Heaven.

The poet's main character in this poem implies that she doesn't want to have displeased God throughout her life and end up in Hell.

In Chambers bright —

Too out of sight — though —

For our hoarse Good Night —

To touch her Head!

#12

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Holy Sonnet IX

by John Donne

‘Holy Sonnet IX’ by John Donne, also known by its first line ‘If poisonous minerals, and if that tree’ is one of several “Holy Sonnets” the poet composed during his lifetime. This particular poem focuses on a dispute between the speaker and God.

If poisonous minerals, and if that tree,

Whose fruit threw death on (else immortal) us,

If lecherous goats, if serpents envious

Cannot be damn'd, alas ! why should I be ?

#13

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I did not reach Thee

by Emily Dickinson

‘I did not reach Thee’ by Emily Dickinson is a complex poem about a speaker’s journey through life. She expresses both optimism and hesitation in the face of her death and attempts to reach God.

I did not reach Thee

But my feet slip nearer every day

Three Rivers and a Hill to cross

#14

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Mad Girl’s Love Song

by Sylvia Plath

‘Mad Girl’s Love Song’ by Sylvia Plath explores the truth of a relationship. The speaker wonders how deep and meaningful it really was.

"I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead;

I lift my lids and all is born again.

(I think I made you up inside my head.)

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14 Must-Read Poems about Hell

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14 Must-Read Poems about Hell

by Christina Rossetti

by William Blake

by Eavan Boland

by William Blake

by Wilfred Owen

by Emily Dickinson

by T.S. Eliot

by William Blake

by John Donne

by Frederick Seidel

by Emily Dickinson

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