15+ Significant Poems about Waiting

(15 to start, 19+ to explore)

Poems about waiting capture the emotions and anxieties intertwined with anticipation. These verses explore the passage of time, the restlessness of expectation, and the patience required during uncertain moments. Poems about waiting may reflect on the yearning for love, the longing for change, or the hope for a better tomorrow.

They evoke the feeling of being suspended between the past and the future, exploring the human capacity to endure and find strength in moments of waiting. Poems about waiting may also find beauty in the pauses, encouraging us to cherish the moments in between and appreciate the transformative power of patience.

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All the Tired Horses in the Sun

by Joy Harjo

‘All the Tired Horses in the Sun’ by Joy Harjo is a short but deeply somber poem that seeks to express an all too potent existential exhaustion felt by indigenous communities.

One of the few direct expressions of sentiment in Joy Harjo's poem comes with the speaker's confession that they are "Waiting and tired. / Tired of waiting." This feeling is juxtaposed by the poem's refrain, which seems to doom the speaker and everyone they know to a lifetime of waiting. Waiting for what? An escape.

And ever.

Vending machines and pop.

Chips, candy, and not enough clean water.

And ever, ever, ever.

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Visitor’s Room

by Lee Gurga

‘Visitor’s Room’ by Lee Gurga is a haiku that looks at the experience of someone waiting in a visitor’s room, conveying their emotions.

While the room is referred to as a visitor's room, rather than a waiting room, these two terms are interchangeable. The poem contrasts the two different manners of waiting that are taking place here. The room seems to have a restrained atmosphere to it, suggesting a certain kind of tension, while the brother is behaving in a different manner, with a lot of energy. This contrasts his reaction to waiting with that of the rest of the room.

Visitor's room-

Everything bolted down.

Except my brother.

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Loving Someone You Can't Have

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Mariana

by Alfred Lord Tennyson

‘Mariana’ by Alfred Lord Tennyson, drawing from a Shakespearean play, depicts the sorrow of a lonely woman abandoned by her lover.

Mariana is consumed by hopeless longing for her lover, who likely will never return. Her relentless waiting pushes her into the depths of despair, leaving her lifeless and emotionally drained. The ticking clock symbolizes this perpetual state of waiting. The recurring refrain, 'My life is dreary, He cometh not,' accentuates the sense of passing time while Mariana's life remains unchanged, capturing the essence and pain of her unfulfilled desires and waiting.

With blackest moss the flower-plots

Were thickly crusted, one and all:

The rusted nails fell from the knots

That held the pear to the gable-wall.

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The Jewel Stairs’ Grievance (translated by Ezra Pound)

by Li Bai

‘The Jewel Stairs’ Grievance’ by Li Bai captures the lovelorn yearning of a woman waiting for her lover late at night amidst scenic beauty.

Because the entirety of the poem finds the speaker waiting for someone who never shows up, it can be easy to overlook the actual length of time they have spent waiting. Small details insinuate that they've been outside for quite a long time already, and at night no less. As a result, waiting with no hope because of a crucial part of the poem's theme.

The jewelled steps are already quite white with dew,

It is so late that the dew soaks my gauze stockings,

And I let down the crystal curtain

And watch the moon through the clear autumn.

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What Work Is

by Philip Levine

‘What Work Is’ by Philip Levine attempts to reconcile the speaker’s perceptions of what work is versus the tormenting experience of waiting for it.

Waiting is the prevalent motif in the poem. The speaker says that work is essentially waiting, standing miserable and sad in the rain without much hope of a job offer when the waiting is done. This intense purgatory is endured by all the men in line with the speaker and is a powerfully poignant image of how laborers are treated.

We stand in the rain in a long line

waiting at Ford Highland Park. For work.

You know what work is—if you’re

old enough to read this you know what

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Exposure

by Wilfred Owen

‘Exposure’ offers an in-depth view of life in the frosted winter of Northern France, where soldiers on duty would be left exposed to the elements.

The title 'Exposure' fits because much of the poem is about being exposed to the cold and to long periods of waiting. Owen repeats the line “but nothing happens” to show how each day feels the same. This waiting becomes the real enemy. It causes the soldiers to feel numb and hopeless. The poem shows how hard it is to wait in silence, unsure if they will live, die, or just keep suffering without any clear end.

Watching, we hear the mad gusts tugging on the wire,

Like twitching agonies of men among its brambles.

Northward, incessantly, the flickering gunnery rumbles,

Far off, like a dull rumour of some other war.

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The Scholar-Gipsy

by Matthew Arnold

A quiet reflection on modern life and spiritual escape, ‘The Scholar-Gipsy’ follows a wandering figure who leaves the world behind in search of something deeper and lasting.

The scholar is not in a rush. He waits for truth to come, without forcing it. His waiting is not weak or passive. It is quiet strength. While others rush through life or jump from one thing to another, he stays steady. He believes in timing and trusts that what matters will reveal itself. The speaker admires this, because most people do not know how to wait without losing hope.

Go, for they call you, shepherd, from the hill;

Go, shepherd, and untie the wattled cotes!

No longer leave thy wistful flock unfed,

Nor let thy bawling fellows rack their throats,

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Getting Back Together

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Love Sonnet XI

by Pablo Neruda

‘Love Sonnet XI’ by Pablo Neruda presents passionate longing and consuming desire through sensual imagery and intense metaphors.

It is unclear in the poem if the speaker suffers from a breakup or a temporary separation. However, his inability to wait calmly is apparent due to his intense desire prompting him to look for her without any specific whereabouts. Lacking patience, he can't temper his overpowering emotions of longing and desire that drive him crazy as if he were a hungry and sniffing puma.

I crave your mouth, your voice, your hair.

Silent and starving, I prowl through the streets.

Bread does not nourish me, dawn disrupts me, all day

I hunt for the liquid measure of your steps.

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Please Hold

by Ciaran O’Driscoll

‘Please Hold’ by Ciaran O’Driscoll speaks to a general frustration about the automated nature of contemporary life and the horror of being “on hold.”

Waiting is part of nearly every moment in this poem. The speaker is told to “please hold,” and that becomes more than just a phone prompt—it becomes a way of life. He waits for help that never comes and feels stuck in place, just listening to music and robotic replies. The poem captures that feeling of being suspended, unable to move forward or get answers. The constant repetition of this idea makes the topic stand out clearly.

This is the future, my wife says.

We are already there, and it’s the same

as the present. Your future, here, she says.

And I’m talking to a robot on the phone.

#10

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The Peacock

by Sujata Bhatt

Bhatt’s ‘The Peacock’ explores longing for India through the vivid imagery of its national bird, blending beauty with diaspora.

The entire second stanza revolves around the act of waiting. The speaker is not just sitting idly. She is focused, reading with intention, following what she was told. The peacock does not appear right away. Its arrival depends on patience and silence. This slow moment of anticipation shapes the pace of the poem and gives it a meditative quality. Waiting becomes a way to connect with the past, nature, and the hidden beauty that arrives quietly.

His loud sharp call

seems to come from nowhere.

Then, a flash of turquoise

in the pipal tree

#11

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O friends, (translated by Jane Hirshfield)

by Mirabai

‘O friends,’ by Mirabai is a deeply poignant poem that wrestles exhaustingly with a yearning heartache.

The speaker expresses a profound level of faith and devotion that they never once question whether their love is reciprocated. Instead, they passionately await their beloved's return, enduring whatever pain they are faced with. What makes this poem so enduring is how accurately Mirabai articulates the agony of waiting for a loved one.

O friends, I am mad

with love, and no one sees.

#12

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My Mother Dreams Another Country

by Natasha Trethewey

‘My Mother Dreams Another Country’ looks at the worries that afflicted a woman in the 1960s pregnant with a mixed-race child.

The mother in the poem is waiting for the birth of her child. The waiting is causing her to think about what awaits her child, and she is clearly worried about this. She doesn't know how her child will be treated, but all she can do is wait to see what will happen.

Already the words are changing. She is changing

from colored to negro, black still years ahead

This is 1966 - she is married to a white man -

and there are more names for what grows inside her.

#13

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Perfection

by William Carlos Williams

‘Perfection’ by William Carlos Williams is a poem about finding exquisite appreciation for a decay as a natural part of life in the image of a rotting apple.

Waiting also plays a part in the poem, as the speaker describes waiting for a month for the apple to ripen to this point. It implies a certain patience and wonder to allow the piece of fruit, which is meant for eating, to just decay outside. But the speaker also seems to be waiting for someone else to appreciate the spectacle, which never happens.

O lovely apple!

beautifully and completely

rotten

hardly a contour marred--

#14

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Reservist

by Boey Kim Cheng

‘Reservist’ describes the repetitive nature of war and the preparations that go into arming reserve soldiers and preparing them for battle.

The mention of soldiers reporting for service and the image of being borne along on carousels they cannot escape from imply a state of waiting. The poem conveys a sense of suspended time and the soldiers' readiness to fulfill their duty.

Time again for the annual joust, the regular fanfare,

a call to arms, the imperative letters stern

as clarion notes, the king's command, upon

#15

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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.

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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15+ Significant Poems about Waiting

(15 to start, 19+ to explore)

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15+ Significant Poems about Waiting

(15 to start, 19+ to explore)

by Joy Harjo

by Lee Gurga

by Alfred Lord Tennyson

by Li Bai

by Philip Levine

by Wilfred Owen

by Matthew Arnold

by Pablo Neruda

by Ciaran O’Driscoll

by Sujata Bhatt

by Mirabai

by Natasha Trethewey

by William Carlos Williams

by Boey Kim Cheng

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