Poetry about greediness often explores the corrosive impact of excessive desire and materialistic tendencies. The poet uses stark, vivid imagery to portray the insatiable nature of greed, capturing the destructive path it often leaves in its wake.
These verses can be unsettling, reflecting on the hollow emptiness that greed often leads to. Such poems serve as a stark warning to the reader, cautioning against the perils of unchecked desire.
‘Velocity Of Money’ by Allen Ginsberg uses irony and satire to make a powerful critique on the forces of capitalism.
Greediness is perhaps the most powerful emotion expressed and felt throughout the poem. The speaker satirizes this feeling to the point of money worship, exalting inflation as a beautiful and necessary thing. Of course, the poem does not advocate for such greed. Instead, it simply reveals just how dismaying and illogical it is to be guided solely by such narcism.
I’m delighted by the velocity of money as it whistles through the windows
of Lower East Side
Delighted by skyscrapers rising the old grungy apartments falling on
This section of ‘The Merchant’s Tale’ by Geoffrey Chaucer revisits the counsel of January’s friends and introduces his new wife.
This section of Chaucer's poem heavily foreshadows the consequences of January's greed. Despite receiving warnings that he could not fully satisfy a young wife, January chooses to ignore the advice of his friends and marry a young woman regardless. Throughout this section, Chaucer uses foreshadowing in combination with dramatic irony and the fabliau format to demonstrate January's fate of becoming a cuckold is already sealed.
‘Children of Light’ unveils America’s colonial legacy, weaving guilt, hypocrisy, and violence into a a searing portrait of self-reflection.
The poem also notes how the colonizers wanted to own the territories, which could be considered as greed. Phrases such as “fenced their gardens” show that they wanted to own and control things even beyond their basic needs. The colonists’ actions, such as kicking the Native Americans out of their homelands, could be attributed to greed in a way that the colonists wanted more resources and land.
Our fathers wrung their bread from stocks and stones
‘Cahoots’ by Carl Sandburg delves into the dark underbelly of a corrupt city, exposing the collusion and exploitation that thrive within its power structures.
This poem expresses the emotion of greediness through its depiction of individuals involved in illicit activities and their pursuit of personal gain. The references to stealing, fixating on financial gains, and the language of exploitation and deception convey a sense of greed and selfishness. The repeated emphasis on the idea of "going fifty-fifty" and the desire to not let anything stick to one's fingers further emphasize the theme of greediness and avarice.
This section of ‘The Merchant’s Tale’ by Geoffrey Chaucer introduces January’s squire and provides details of the wedding night.
The main character, January, is overwhelmingly greedy in throughout this poem. However, this is particularly apparent in this section of the text as January succumbs to his greed as he seeks to increase his desire. He becomes intent on fulfilling his desires regardless of the religious repercussions or the damage done to his wife. Despite his earlier superficial worries that he would fall into sin, January fully embraces his greed and lust.
This section of ‘The Merchant’s Tale’ by Geoffrey Chaucer establishes January’s impossible expectations of a wife and his own shortcomings.
The main character's pursuit of a wife is revealed to be shaped by immeasurable greed. January is an old and now sexually undesirable man, yet he is unsatisfied with the prospect of any wife. Instead, he establishes strict and unreasonable expectations of a wife - the characteristics of which contradict his own. At age sixty, he will only be satisfied by a wife who is beautiful, easily shaped to his will, and under the age of twenty. Ultimately, his own greed will be his downfall.
Christina Rossetti’s ‘Goblin Market,’ narrates the fantastical tale of Laura and Lizzie, delving into sin, redemption, and sisterhood.
The poem shows the consequences of greediness and uncontrolled desire through Laura's suffering. Eating the goblin fruits is depicted as a sin or transgressing a certain moral code, which brings a curse that could result in death. When Lizzie, the Christ-like figure in the poem, warns Laura against the greed for the alluring goblin calls and their luscious fruits, it is evident that they are associated with something evil that is superficially or deceptively beautiful. However, Laura can't resist the temptation of the forbidden succulent fruits and eats them, reminiscent of Eve's transgression and the original sin.
Carol Ann Duffy’s ‘Money Talks’ gives money a bold and unapologetic voice, revealing how deeply it shapes people’s lives, decisions, and beliefs.
This poem clearly shows how greedy people can become when money is involved. Money knows exactly how much people want it, and it uses that to its advantage. It promises pleasure, power, and comfort, knowing that people will keep chasing it no matter what it costs them. The voice of money feels smug, like it has seen people give up everything just for more of it. That constant need for more is what makes the greed in this poem feel so real.
I am the authentic language of suffering. My cold, gold eye
does not blink. Mister, you want nice time? No problem.
I say, Screw You. I buy and sell the world. I got
Midas touch, turn bread to hard cash. My million tills
‘Thrushes’ by Ted Hughes depicts predatory birds with precision likened to steel, embodying primal instinct and efficiency in their actions.
The poem evokes greediness by painting the thrushes' relentless pursuit of prey, suggesting an insatiable hunger for sustenance. Through vivid imagery of the birds overtaking and consuming their writhing prey, the poem highlights a primal desire for more, tapping into human tendencies toward excess and self-interest, eliciting a sense of voracious greediness in the reader.
Terrifying are the attent sleek thrushes on the lawn, More coiled steel than living - a poised Dark deadly eye, those delicate legs Triggered to stirrings beyond sense - with a start, a bounce,
In Sheenagh Pugh’s ‘Sweet 18’, an older woman expresses her desire to regain youth as she battles the temptation to take it from others.
Although the speaker initially feels inclined to protect the youth of a young man, she ultimately becomes consumed by greed. She is willing to corrupt the young man if it allows her to taste youth once again. The theme of greediness is particularly apparent through a metaphor in which the speaker compares the young man to a meal. She expresses her intention to leave no part of the meal behind, becoming gluttonous as she describes eating it. This theme is reinforced as the speaker describes herself as a 'parasite', greedily consuming the young man's life force for herself.
You move before me with all the unknown ease
of your age; your face clear of the awareness
that clouds mine. Your only scars; where you tried
The legend of Faust is retold from the perspective of his wife, who helplessly watches as her husband descends into sin and greed after making a deal with a demon for power.
'Mrs Faust' and the legend from which it is derived heavily feature the theme of greed throughout. In this poem, Mrs Faust watches as her husband is consumed by his greed, corrupting him before he is relegated to Hell for his sin. Even when he has achieved everything, nothing is enough for Faust as his greed cannot be satiated.
‘Poet for Our Times’ by Carol Ann Duffy is a sharp and satirical monologue that exposes the toxic power of tabloid journalism and the way language can be misused for attention.
At the heart of the speaker’s ambition is greed—not for money, but for attention and recognition. He wants to be noticed, remembered, and celebrated for his headlines. The way he talks shows a hunger for more readers, more sales, and more impact, no matter what the cost. Duffy uses this greed to show how the media often values popularity over truth. The more shocking the headline, the better it sells, and that becomes the only thing that matters.
I write the headlines for a Daily Paper.
It’s just a knack one's born with all-right-Squire.
You do not have to be an educator,
just bang the words down like they're screaming Fire!
Henry Lawson’s ‘The Water’ captures Australia’s battle against drought and corporate greed, blending hope for irrigation’s potential with a call to protect communal resources.
'The Water' addresses greed of the outsiders seeking control over Australia’s important resources, particularly water. Lawson warns that corporations and opportunists will rush in to take advantage of the land's potential, manipulating it for profit. The lines “The Trust would own the water” and “They want the land, the gold-reefed sand, and now they’ll want the water” reflect this concern, showing how greed threatens to undermine the nation’s well-being.
‘Thistles’ by Ted Hughes is a visceral poem that likens one of nature’s more persistent plants to human conquests throughout history.
One of the implicit emotions expressed in this poem by Hughes is greediness. Both the thistles and men depicted as waging a small-scale war against one another do so in the hopes of acquiring the land by force that the other desires. This need to possess land and a willingness to do so through violence stems from a deeply rooted greed.
Against the rubber tongues of cows and the hoeing hands of men
‘Portrait of Zimri’ by John Dryden is a political satire that showcases how people in power can be consumed by hollow and pretentious self interest.
If readers can deduce one emotion from this poem that the poet is trying to convey, it has to be greed. The greediness of the Duke of Buckingham and his allies is brought to the fore, where they try to revolt against the king due to their hunger/greed for power. Though there are much better poems that bring out this emotion but 'Portrait of Zimri' also has its undercurrents.
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