15+ Must-Read Sad Poems

Q: What poems make you cry?

Some poems that might make readers cry include ‘ Stanzas Written in Dejection, near Naples ‘ by Percy Bysshe Shelley, ‘ Desert Places ‘ by Robert Frost , and ‘ Life’s Tragedy ‘ by Paul Laurence Dunbar . All three of these poems delve into subject matter that is dark and fearful.

(15 to start, 500+ to explore)

Poems that evoke sadness often explore themes of loss, loneliness, and despair. They can create an intense emotional connection by portraying universal experiences of grief or isolation.

The language used in these poems is often poignant and melancholic, with imagery that resonates with the heavy heart. Through careful crafting of words and emotions, these poems offer a space for reflection and empathy, allowing readers to connect with their own feelings of sadness, and perhaps find comfort in knowing they are not alone.

Poems about Sadness Visual Representation

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Home

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Home is so Sad

by Philip Larkin

‘Home is so Sad’ by Philip Larkin is a thoughtful poem about the importance of home. The poet explores what happens to a home when people leave it.

Larkin delves into the emotions and events that come along with leaving home and uses personification. One’s home is a comforting space that suffers in the absence of those it cared for.

Home is so sad. It stays as it was left,

Shaped in the comfort of the last to go

As if to win them back. Instead, bereft

Of anyone to please, it withers so,

PDF Guide

Nationality: English

Themes: Death, Disappointment, Identity, Immortality

Emotions:

Sadness

Empathy, Grief, Hopelessness

Topics: Creativity, Humanity, Life Lessons, Life Struggles, Writing

Form: Quatrain

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They Say My Verse is Sad

by A. E. Housman

‘They Say My Verse is Sad’ by A.E. Housman is a direct, two stanza poem. In it, Housman describes why he writes poetry and who he writes for.

This short poem is about the poet’s understanding of his own writing. Housman uses the stanzas (two quatrains) in order to assert that his verse is not implicitly sad. It has a limited scope, he notes, in its assessment of universal themes important to all of humanity. He writes in order to give comfort to those who need it, he says.

They say my verse is sad: no wonder.

Its narrow measure spans

Rue for eternity, and sorrow

Not mine, but man's

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Sad and Alone

by Maurice Manning

Manning’s ‘Sad and Alone’ paints a picture of isolation, threading together memories that underscore the poet’s enduring loneliness.

This contemporary poem discusses feelings of loneliness and solitude. The speaker sits alone, thinking about his past. This includes a series of disconnected images, such as the leaking roof of his house and the burial of a woman.

Well, this is nothing new, nothing to rattle the rafters in the noggin,

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Rowing

by Anne Sexton

‘Rowing’ by Anne Sexton is a moving and unforgettable poem about depression. It was written two years before Sexton took her life in 1974.

This well-known Sexton poem was written two years before the poet took her life in 1974. It is the first piece in her final collection, The Awful Rowing Toward God. It is also considered a companion piece to the final poem in the collection, ‘The Rowing Endeth’

A story, a story!

(Let it go. Let it come.)

I was stamped out like a Plymouth fender

into this world.

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Topic:

Nightmares

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Dream-Land

by Edgar Allan Poe

‘Dream-Land’ by Edgar Allan Poe presents a traveler’s experiences in an eerie and desolate landscape inhabited by dark angels.

This well-known Poe poem describes a traveler’s experiences in an alternative world in which ghosts and ghouls haunt a cold and terrifying landscape. Throughout, the main character shares the many woes he has to contend with and how in this “dream-land” he’s able to address them.

By a route obscure and lonely,

Haunted by ill angels only,

Where an Eidolon, named NIGHT,

On a black throne reigns upright,

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Loving Someone You Can't Have

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Tears, Idle Tears

by Alfred Lord Tennyson

‘Tears, Idle Tears’ is an emotional exploration of time, life, and death, told through the eyes of a court maiden and filled with vivid imagery.

This thoughtful poem presents the emotional turbulence of the poet’s mind after seeing the beautiful natural setting of Tintern Abbey. It returns the poet to memories of a lost loved one, a theme that’s likely to be highly relatable.

Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean,

Tears from the depth of some divine despair

Rise in the heart, and gather to the eyes,

In looking on the happy autumn-fields,

PDF Guide

Nationality: English

Themes: Death, Nature

Emotion:

Sadness

Topics:

Life

Life Lessons, Rain

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Song: When I am dead, my dearest

by Christina Rossetti

The speaker in the poem requests no sorrowful tributes after her passing, as she enters a state of oblivious rest.

This piece was first published in 1862 in her first volume of poetry, Goblin Market and Other Poems. The piece is incredibly moving and is addressed to a lover, telling them what she hopes will happen after her death.

When I am dead, my dearest,

Sing no sad songs for me;

Plant thou no roses at my head,

Nor shady cypress tree:

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Nationality: American

Themes: Death, Love, Nature

Emotion:

Sadness

Topics: Peace, Rivers, Trees, Wind

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Dirge Over a Nameless Grave

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

‘Dirge Over a Nameless Grave’ mourns a woman’s forced loveless marriage and death, contrasting serene nature with sorrow.

This poem was composed with the intention of honoring the death of someone buried in a nameless grave. The poet also uses the text to speak about death and loss more generally. The poet describes a single tree sitting above the nameless grave that moves with the sadness of the scene.

By yon still river, where the wave

Is winding slow at evening's close,

The beech, upon a nameless grave,

Its sadly-moving shadow throws.

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Solitude

by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

‘Solitude’ by Ella Wheeler Wilcox describes the connection between one’s outlook on life and the friends and community one attracts.

The speaker in this sad poem notes that someone who is depressed will attract the same energy in their life.

Laugh, and the world laughs with you;

Weep, and you weep alone;

For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth,

But has trouble enough of its own.

#10

PDF Guide

Nationality: American

Emotions:

Topics:

Darkness, Life, Life Struggles, Night

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Acquainted with the Night

by Robert Frost

‘Acquainted with the Night’ by Robert Frost portrays profound despair as the speaker wanders the city streets at night, wrestling with inner demons.

This is a personal poem that deals with themes of depression. The speaker describes walking through the night and even in the rain. He passes people, but never meets their gaze. Some have suggested that the poem is delivered from the poet’s own perspective.

I have been one acquainted with the night.

I have walked out in rain—and back in rain.

I have outwalked the furthest city light.

#11

PDF Guide

Nationality: American

Themes: Desire, Disappointment, Failure, Love

Emotions:

Sadness

Frustration, Hopelessness

Topics: Life, Singing, Sorrow, Suffering

Form: Quatrain

Genre: Tragedy

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Life’s Tragedy

by Paul Laurence Dunbar

‘Life’s Tragedy’ by Paul Laurence Dunbar considers the elements of life that create tragedy and suffering. The speaker asserts that missing out on perfect love and the perfect song leads to an “accursed” life.

In this poem there are some things, he notes, that are undoubtedly painful. But, the speaker asserts that missing out on perfect love and the perfect song leads to a truly “accursed” life.

It may be misery not to sing at all,

And to go silent through the brimming day;

It may be misery never to be loved,

But deeper griefs than these beset the way.

#12

PDF Guide

Nationality: American

Themes: Dark, Disappointment

Emotions:

Sadness

Anxiety, Depression, Grief

Topics: Life Struggles, Sorrow, Suffering

Form: Sestet

Genre: Lyric

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Sorrow

by Edna St. Vincent Millay

‘Sorrow’ by Edna St. Vincent Millay is a lyric poem written about a speaker’s depression. The short piece is filled with evocative depictions of what feeling all-encompassing sorrow is like.

This short lyric poem addresses a speaker’s depressive feelings. She describes all-encompassing sorrow and what it feels like. Throughout, readers can enjoy Millay’s skillful use of imagery.

Sorrow like a ceaseless rain

Beats upon my heart.

People twist and scream in pain, —

Dawn will find them still again;

#13

PDF Guide

Nationality: English

Emotions:

Sadness

Depression, Grief, Hopelessness, Pain

Topic: Life Lessons

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No worst, there is none

by Gerard Manley Hopkins

‘No worst, there is none’ by Gerard Manley Hopkins describes the nature of a speaker’s depression and its highs and lows.

When the poem begins, the speaker says he is in a mental place that’s so bad and painful it would be almost impossible to tell if it worsened.

No worst, there is none. Pitched past pitch of grief,

More pangs will, schooled at forepangs, wilder wring.

Comforter, where, where is your comforting?

Mary, mother of us, where is your relief?

#14

PDF Guide

Nationality: American

Themes: Aging, Beauty, Coming of Age

Emotions:

Sadness

Amusement, Joyfulness

Form: Free Verse

Genre: Confessional

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Balloons

by Sylvia Plath

Sylvia Plath’s ‘Balloons’ narrates her experience and perspectives of having the balloons around like a pet at home. She contrasts childhood with adulthood through the colorful balloons. The balloon when pops, takes the observer from the dream-like state of childhood to the harsh reality of adulthood.

This unique poem compares balloons to childhood and, when they pop, to the intrusion of reality. Adulthood and all its complexities are contrasted with the light-hearted nature of childhood.

Since Christmas they have lived with us,

Guileless and clear,

Oval soul-animals,

Taking up half the space,

#15

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Be Not Sad

by James Joyce

‘Be Not Sad’ is a short poem that explores the strength a relationship can achieve if they block out the noises from the outside.

The poem 'Be Not Sad' expertly explores sadness and reminds the reader that other people's perceptions of someone or their relationship do not define them or that relationship. Ultimately, a person's sadness or happiness should be dictated by their own sense of themselves and those close to them.

Be not sad because all men

Prefer a lying clamour before you:

Sweetheart, be at peace again — -

Can they dishonour you?

Poems about Sadness FAQs

Some poems that might make readers cry include ‘Stanzas Written in Dejection, near Naples‘ by Percy Bysshe Shelley, ‘Desert Places‘ by Robert Frost, and ‘Life’s Tragedy‘ by Paul Laurence Dunbar. All three of these poems delve into subject matter that is dark and fearful.

It depends on the format that the poem takes. It could be a sonnet, dirge, elegy, ode, epitaph, or several other forms. Sad poems also tap into themes like depression, solitude, the inevitability of death, losing a loved one, and sickness.

The best way to write a sad poem is to begin by jotting down a few things that make one “sad” in their everyday life. Perhaps that is the loss of a pet, the death of a loved one, an illness, general depression, etc. Next, writers need to collect images associated with their chosen topic and combine them in a way that creates an interesting overall experience.

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