This is the "Writing Basics" page on the Academy of American Poets website. There is much good writing and poetry of legendary American Poets on the website, but this is where you get the tools of writing that go beyond just the mechanics of writing.
And because they are a national organization, you look on the National Poetry Map page for writing resources near you.
Oftentimes, the closest many people get to poetry is reading or hearing one at a wedding or other life event. Here are links to poems for that purpose.
There are thousands of poems and hundreds of American poets on the Academy of American Poets website. It is, after all, THE Academy of American poetry, and it is stunning to consider it developed outside of academia.
"The Poet" by Ralph Waldo Emerson, below, is just one example of the library of poetry to be found at the site. Poetry is meant to be heard, and the site has many audio versions of poets in their own voices reading their work.
Like Edwin E. Aldrin, the pilot of the Gemini 12 spacecraft who explored outer space, dive into your inner space with a visit and read and hear a few poems.
The Poet
A moody child and wildly wise
Pursued the game with joyful eyes,
Which chose, like meteors, their way,
And rived the dark with private ray:
They overleapt the horizon's edge,
Searched with Apollo's privilege;
Through man, and woman, and sea, and star
Saw the dance of nature forward far;
Through worlds, and races, and terms, and times
Saw musical order, and pairing rhymes.
Olympian bards who sung
Divine ideas below,
Which always find us young,
And always keep us so.
A moody child and wildly wise
Pursued the game with joyful eyes,
Which chose, like meteors, their way,
And rived the dark with private ray:
They overleapt the horizon's edge,
Searched with Apollo's privilege;
Through man, and woman, and sea, and star
Saw the dance of nature forward far;
Through worlds, and races, and terms, and times
Saw musical order, and pairing rhymes.
Olympian bards who sung
Divine ideas below,
Which always find us young,
And always keep us so.
The Poet
A moody child and wildly wise
Pursued the game with joyful eyes,
Which chose, like meteors, their way,
And rived the dark with private ray:
They overleapt the horizon's edge,
Searched with Apollo's privilege;
Through man, and woman, and sea, and star
Saw the dance of nature forward far;
Through worlds, and races, and terms, and times
Saw musical order, and pairing rhymes.
Olympian bards who sung
Divine ideas below,
Which always find us young,
And always keep us so.A moody child and wildly wise
Pursued the game with joyful eyes,
Which chose, like meteors, their way,
And rived the dark with private ray:
They overleapt the horizon's edge,
Searched with Apollo's privilege;
Through man, and woman, and sea, and star
Saw the dance of nature forward far;
Through worlds, and races, and terms, and times
Saw musical order, and pairing rhymes.
Olympian bards who sung
Divine ideas below,
Which always find us young,
And always keep us so.
