Although we think of a poem as something read from a book, poet Allen Ginsberg knew that poetry's power did not depend upon print, and he drew on the traditions of religious and ritual communities in writing verse that would elevate the spirit and knit together community. Joined by rock star Bono and US Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera, host Elisa New reads and explores Allen Ginsberg's anti-war chant "Hum Bom!" in this video excerpted from Poetry in America.

Robert Hayden's sonnet "Those Winter Sundays" offers a meditation on the fraught love between fathers and sons. Conjuring Depression-era industrial Detroit and the struggles of early 20th-century African Americans, the poem's universality makes it one of the most beloved poems in the American canon. In this video [7:51] excerpted from Poetry in America, Vice President Joe Biden, Inaugural poet Elizabeth Alexander, psychologist Angela Duckworth, and host Elisa New join a chorus of working fathers and sons to reflect on Hayden's moving poem.

This collection uses primary sources to explore the poetry of Emily Dickinson. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.

This introduction to a new collection of John Haines' poetry by poet and critic Dana Gioia surveys Haines' work and includes the poem, "The Flight."

This collection uses primary sources to explore the poetry of Maya Angelou. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.

Poets achieve popular acclaim only when they express clear and widely shared emotions with a forceful, distinctive, and memorable voice. But what is meant by voice in poetry, and what qualities have made the voice of Langston Hughes a favorite for so many people?

Concise explanation of the term "concrete poetry." It's mainly a discussion of the 1960s poetic movement, but it also includes the history of the term before and after.

This article features activity books and polar-themed children's literature for use in the elementary classroom.

Students deepen and refine their understanding of prepositions by reading Ruth Heller's Behind the Mask. They write preposition poetry and create a study guide using an online tool.

In this lesson, athletics, aesthetics, and poetics intersect in new ways as developing literacy learners experiment together with the forms of language.

Nevermore, Lenore! Learn about the story behind Poe's famous poem, "The Raven," in this video [3:55] from the American Masters film Edgar Allan Poe: Buried Alive. Check out the support materials for discussion questions, teaching tips, and handouts that provide a variety of fun ways to share the poem with students. Through an analysis of mood, alliteration, diction, and imagery, students unpack the meaning of Poe's poem and learn more about one of the most elusive writers in American literature.

This collection uses primary sources to explore Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven." Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.

REACH is a self-paced interactive reading program to engage parents and children as at-home reading partners. Designed by classroom reading specialists and aligned with kindergarten through third grade standards, these self-paced interactive lessons are enjoyable for all ages.

This site offers extensive resources for teaching poetry. Find interviews with poets, ideas for poetry lessons, book lists, and ways to use poetry across the curriculum. There are also resources specifically for National Poetry Month. Includes video. [4:58]

The Undefeated is an illustrated poem written to commemorate the birth of the author's daughter and the inauguration of President Barack Obama. The book remembers unforgettable, unafraid, unbowed, famous and overlooked figures from Black history. The poem

This lesson plan deals with the process of analyzing a variety of literary texts from poetry and letters to diary entries and works of fiction. Included in the lesson plan is an overview, practice, objectives, resources, preparation, and more.

This lesson plan is the ninth in the "Incredible Bridges: Poets Creating Community" series. It provides a video recording of the poet, Joy Harjo, reading the poem "Remember." The companion lesson contains a sequence of activities for use with secondary students before, during, and after reading to help them enter and experience the poem.

Enter a word and get a list of rhyming words, synonyms, antonyms, definitions, homophones and related words. Also available on this page, the texts of Shakespeare's plays, quotes by notable authors, games and quizzes, texts of famous documnents and more.

This is the perfect site for the student of Richard Lovelace. It contains famous lines from several of his poems, a brief biography, a list of many of his poems which can be read on-line from this site, critical essays written on his work, links to other Lovelace sites, and a list of books of his collected works.