Voices that endure
From the fragments of Sappho to the verses of Maya Angelou — meet the writers who shape our inner lives.
Sant Kabir
India
Doha, devotional, mystic Bhakti
Mirabai
India
Bhajan, Krishna-Bhakti, lyric devotion
Mirza Ghalib
India
Ghazal, philosophical, melancholic
Allama Iqbal
British India
Ghazal, nazm, philosophical
Rabindranath Tagore
India
Lyrical, spiritual, devotional
Sarojini Naidu
India
Lyric, romantic, nationalist
Goswami Tulsidas
India
Devotional epic, doha, chaupai
Jalaluddin Rumi
Persia
Sufi mystical poetry, ghazal, masnavi
William Shakespeare
England
Sonnets, iambic pentameter, dramatic verse
Emily Dickinson
United States
Short lyric, slant rhyme, dashes, introspective
Robert Frost
United States
Pastoral, blank verse, colloquial
Walt Whitman
United States
Free verse, transcendental, expansive
William Wordsworth
England
Romantic, nature poetry, blank verse
John Keats
England
Romantic, sensuous odes, sonnets
Pablo Neruda
Chile
Romantic, surrealist, political odes
Maya Angelou
United States
Confessional, rhythmic, resilient
.jpg?width=600)
Rahim (Abdur Rahim Khan-i-Khana)
India
Doha, philosophical, ethical
Surdas
India
Bhajan, vatsalya bhakti (parental devotion)
Bulleh Shah
Punjab
Kafi, Sufi mystic verse
Sappho
Greece
Lyric, fragmentary, intimate