15+ Significant Paean Poems

(15 to start, 19+ to explore)

A paean, in its earliest form, was a hymn sung in ancient Greece to thank or appeal to Apollo, the god of music, poetry, and healing.

Over time, it has broadened to mean any song or poem that expresses great joy, triumph, or praise. A paean can be dedicated to anyone or anything that the poet feels deserves celebration, from a person to a concept, a moment, or even an inanimate object.

It is characterized by its positive emotion and adulatory tone, often making use of heightened, exuberant language to convey its message of praise and joy.

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A Pæan

by Edgar Allan Poe

‘A Pæan’ describes the feelings experienced by a husband as he views his dead wife and his desire to sing a “pæan” rather than a “requiem.”

In this poem, the speaker refuses to sing a funeral dirge or lament. Instead, he writes up a paean, using the celebratory form to rejoice in his deceased wife's memory and her eventful, praiseworthy life.

How shall the burial rite be read?

The solemn song be sung ?

The requiem for the loveliest dead,

That ever died so young?

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The Sea and the Hills

by Rudyard Kipling

‘The Sea and the Hills’ by Rudyard Kipling depicts the ocean, its heaving waves, incredible winds, and ever-present danger. It has evoked longing in men throughout time and will continue to do so, just as one longs to return home.

'The Sea and the Hills' can also be seen as a paean. A paean is a song or poem that praises something. In this poem, Kipling praises the sea. He admires its beauty, power, and mystery. Despite its dangers, he celebrates the sea's majesty and the strong bond sailors have with it. The poem is a tribute to the ocean's timeless allure.

Who hath desired the Sea? - the sight of salt water unbounded -

The heave and the halt and the hurl and the crash of the comber wind-hounded?

The sleek-barrelled swell before storm, grey, foamless, enormous, and growing

Stark calm on the lap of the Line or the crazy-eyed hurricane blowing -

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39

by Henry Lawson

’39’ is a poem in which the narrator looks back on his life while eagerly awaiting his fortieth birthday and the years that will follow.

Overall, this poem feels as though it is a paean through its triumphant tone. The narrator is praising the life that he has lived up to this point while also praising the decade that awaits him, and that is about to start. The language of the poem is filled with a sense of triumph, even when discussing the ways in which he has suffered. He sees this suffering as something that he has endured successfully, and he is about to move into a better time in his life.

I only woke this morning

To find the world is fair —

I'm going on for forty,

With scarcely one grey hair;

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A Watery City

by Jean Bleakney

‘A Watery City’ engages with themes of friendship and journeying, significantly how they are affected by the passage of time.

The poem can be read as a celebration of the beauty of the everyday, even though it mourns the loss of that beauty to the past.

Well if I’d known how many bridges there were in that city

I’d have worried for your soul and I’d never have written

Hope the prose is flowing as effortlessly as the Lee if

I’d considered the sea. I hadn’t reckoned on reversible rivers.

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Fifty Years

by James Weldon Johnson

In ‘Fifty Years’ James Weldon Johnson celebrates the anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. The prose is filled with a sense of excitement and joy at this momentous occasion.

This poem works well as an example of paean. The poem is filled with praise for the people who have come before and for the achievements of Johnson's people. The poet sees great triumph in how far they have come and what they have managed to do despite the adversity they faced.

O brothers mine, today we stand

Where half a century sweeps our ken.

Since God, through Lincoln’s ready hand.

Struck off our bonds and made us men.

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Mannahatta

by Walt Whitman

‘Mannahatta’ by Walt Whitman is a stunning poem that marvels over a city deeply admired by the poet, encompassing all the wondrous elements of its populace.

In modern times, a paean serves as an ode or exultation of something. Whitman's poem might not resemble the typical structure or style of this form of ancient Greek poetry. Yet, the poem is very much a passionate praise of the city and all its composite parts. One that celebrates and spectacularly envisions what makes the city so special to Whitman.

I was asking for something specific and perfect for my city,

Whereupon lo! upsprang the aboriginal name.

Now I see what there is in a name, a word, liquid, sane, unruly, musical, self-sufficient,

I see that the word of my city is that word from of old,

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Beauty Beyond Words

by Gabriel Okara

‘Beauty Beyond Words’ by Gabriel Okara describes the end of a day boating in the river, observing the beauty of the sunset.

'Beauty Beyond Words' is a fairly good example of paean poetry. Gabriel Okara uses this poem to praise the natural world and the beauty that he sees there while also commenting on his own impact on this scene. The tone of this poem seems to be one of awe as he is so impressed with the sights that he sees.

The sun is sinking slowly in chanting colors!

And into yielding river of red and orange

I move my despoiling paddle

Like defacing brush on beautiful painting in oil,

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Complex Matter

by Gabriel Okara

‘Complex Matter’ by Gabriel Okara is a poem that delves into the poet’s personal sense of identity and self.

This poem could be seen as a paean due to the way that the poet seems to praise himself, celebrating the many different sides of his personality. There is a note of triumph as he reveals the way that he views himself and his understanding of the different ways that others see him.

I am not one person, I am many things, many persons

I am what you see and think you know;

I am what I see and think I know of me-

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Babydom Wisdom

by Gabriel Okara

‘Babydom Wisdom’ by Gabriel Okara is a poem that looks at different cultural attitudes toward women around the world.

'Babydom Wisdom' only really shows itself to be a paean in the latter parts of the poem. From the negativity of the early parts, the poet goes on to look at the strength and wisdom which he believes women have within them, and how they can use this to gain true equality.

In India, 800 million Indians-

Men and women, walk in Indian file,

Men in front with hands clasped behind,

And women follow, meek and docile.

#10

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Salt of the Earth

by Gabriel Okara

‘Salt of the Earth’ is a poem that looks at the loves of women working in India, praising them for their spirit and resilience.

This poem could be seen as a paean. The poem shows that the women have a hard life but overall it praises them, and their attitude shows a positivity and triumph which the poet seems to want to highlight, rather than focusing wholly on the more negative aspects of their lives.

They wore the mark of recognition-

The weight-folds and care-lines

On foreheads, fingers hard

And rough like the twisted roots

#11

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The Journeyman Paul Cezanne on Mont Sainte Victoire

by Liz Lochhead

‘The Journeyman Paul Cezanne on Mont Sainte Victoire’ by Liz Lochhead discusses the lasting impression of Paul Cezanne’s art.

The praise in this poem for Paul Cezanne can be seen as a paean to him, with the author showing their appreciation for the artist and his work. It is unusual that the poet writes as the painter in order to praise the painter, but it shows creativity on the part of the author.

What do I paint when I paint the blue

vase, the hanged man's house,

the still life of Hortense's hands

arranged on the still life of her lap,

#12

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A Wider View

by Seni Seneviratne

‘A Wider View’ by Seni Seneviratne looks at the life of the poet’s ancestor while showing the poet’s own connection to this shared heritage.

In some ways, this poem could be seen as a paean. The poet is praising the hard work of their ancestor and the love that they had for their family. However, it is hard to say that it is a poem of triumph, as it is not clear that they managed to achieve their dreams. The way that the city has survived and thrived following the Industrial Revolution could be seen as something of a triumph, however, and the poet seems to be praising the city itself as well.

From the back yard of his back-to-back,

my great-great-granddad searched for spaces

in the smoke-filled sky to stack his dreams,

#13

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Holy Sonnet 18: Show Me Dear Christ…

by John Donne

In Holy Sonnet XVIII, Donne asks Christ to reveal His Church-as-Bride, probing her truth, form, and role through metaphysical conceits and spiritual doubt.

This poem could be seen as a paean. It is written in praise of Jesus and the nature of the Church. The reverence that the poet feels for Jesus, and for the Church, runs through the poem.

Show me dear Christ, thy spouse so bright and clear.

What! is it she which on the other shore

Goes richly painted? or which, robb'd and tore,

Laments and mourns in Germany and here?

#14

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One’s-Self I Sing

by Walt Whitman

‘One’s-Self I Sing’ by Walt Whitman is a short poem that explores a few of the themes Whitman is going to use in Inscriptions. The poem celebrates the beauty and wonder of the common and separate identities of humanity.

As an example of a paean, this poem works fairly well. Within the short poem, the author gives praise to the idea of individuals, as well as looking at humanity as a whole. A sense of positivity is expressed through his praise for people.

One’s-Self I sing, a simple separate person,

Yet utter the word Democratic, the word En-Masse.

#15

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Milano-Bruxelles

by Lawrence Ferlinghetti

‘Milano-Bruxelles’ by Lawrence Ferlinghetti is a poem that vividly describes the landscapes that pass by as a train travels across Western Europe.

This poem is a paean in praise of Europe and the landscape that the poet passes. It could also be seen as a paean to the ease with which one can traverse these different landscapes.

Lost train shunted

through the Simplon Tunnel

as through a telescope

and out through the white peaks

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15+ Significant Paean Poems

(15 to start, 19+ to explore)

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15+ Significant Paean Poems

(15 to start, 19+ to explore)

by Edgar Allan Poe

by Rudyard Kipling

by Henry Lawson

by Jean Bleakney

by James Weldon Johnson

by Walt Whitman

by Gabriel Okara

by Gabriel Okara

by Gabriel Okara

by Gabriel Okara

by Liz Lochhead

by Seni Seneviratne

by John Donne

by Walt Whitman

by Lawrence Ferlinghetti

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