Best poems for college students

Best poems for college students

Aug 16, 2019 Updated on Aug 16, 2019

With the rising popularity of spoken word poetry and modern poets like Rupi Kapur and Lang Leav and Instagram poets like Atticus, it is appropriate to say that poetry is making a comeback—rising from the ashes, if we consider its long sleep in the previous decades. More and more college students are dipping their toes into the ocean of poetry. Yes, there is an ocean of poetry—it is only the oldest literary form, after all. There is more than enough to read and explore for a lifetime and another. 

If you’re a budding poetry buff looking to establish your knowledge and taste in poetry, here are the best poems for college students. These are deemed the best poems for college students as it has helped cultivate older generations of college students’ love for poetry. These are poems that tackle universal themes and experiences of college students, while some simply play on language. We also added some poems tackling contemporary issues that are bound to be classics in a few years.

Poems about life

These are some of the most famous poems about life. College life can be a confusing and trying time for many. The existential dread comes down in the most inopportune times—the night before the deadline of a paper or during finals week—and is carried over to the next months. Poets have also wrestled with existential dread, some even came out with life lessons. 

To Those of You Alive in the Future by Dean Young

Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note by Amiri Baraka

Starfish by Eleanor Lerman

The Rolling Saint by Aimee Nezhukumatathil

Making a Fist by Naomi Shihab Nye

To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time by Robert Herrick

Dust by Dorianne LauxNeed help with your term paper or essay?

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Poems about hope

The best professors embolden their students to look at every thing that is happening in the world around them. It is an overwhelming endeavor, and it risks killing the idealistic fire inside every student, but it is necessary. For times when hopelessness abounds, get inspiration from these poets. 

The Journey by Mary Oliver 

Making Peace by Denise Levertov

When I Have Fears that I May Cease to Be by John Keats

Work Without Hope by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

A Dream Within A Dream by Edgar Allan Poe

Song of Myself by Walt Whitman

Do not go gentle into that good night by Dylan Thomas

Social justice poems

Politics affects everyone. If you ask these poets, it is every one’s duty to be aware of what is happening in their country and in the world, and to try and change it. History and politics are intertwined, and together they shaped the present we live in. College students can benefit from reading about the experiences of people who lived through the history they only read about in class. Although, unfortunately, many will likely forget the specific historical events, these social justice poems can provide a perspective that will leave a lasting imprint on anyone.

A Dream Deferred by Langston Hughes

The Second Coming by William Butler Yeats

The Diameter of the Bomb by Yehuda Amichai

Who Said It Was Simple by Audre Lorde

America by Allen Ginsberg

10-Year-Old Shot Three Times, But She’s Fine by Patricia Smith

Feminist poetry

The women’s movement has been ongoing even before the first wave of the feminist movement. The fight for equality among sexes continues to this day, and has even expanded to include the fight of all minorities. It is worth a while to listen to the voices of some of the pioneers of the women’s movement, as well as to the voices of those who continue the fight, such as poems by Maya Angelou and Audre Lorde.

No, Thank You, John by Christina Rossetti

Still I Rise by Maya Angelou

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (poems by Maya Angelou)

Diving into the wreck by Adrienne Rich

Loose Woman by Sandra Cisneros

For Women Who Are Difficult to Love by Warsan Shire

A Litany for Survival by Audre Lorde 

Love poems

The college experience is not quite complete without falling in love and a few heartaches. Fall in love with these poets—you might even find a poem to read to your date—or soothe a broken heart.

First Memory by Louise Glück

Tonight I Can Write the Saddest Lines by Pablo Neruda

Having a Coke With You by Frank O’Hara

This is Just to Say by William Carlos Williams

You are tired, (I think) by E. E. Cummings

Movement Song by Audre Lorde

Annabel Lee by Edgar Allan Poe

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot

Postcard from the Heartbreak Hotel by John Brehm

These poems are truly wonderful to read for pleasure. Explore worlds and language. Maybe you might even be inspired to write a poem of your own or analyze one (even if it’s for class). Reading poetry is not just for pleasure. It can even improve your writing style without you noticing and help you get A+ essays. So, keep reading!

TABLE OF CONTENTSPoems about lifePoems about hopeSocial justice poemsFeminist poetryLove poems

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