Life is a tapestry of experiences, woven together with joy, sorrow, and everything in between.
It’s fascinating how short poems can encapsulate the essence of life’s fleeting moments and profound lessons in just a few lines.
Here are 10 beautiful short poems about life that celebrate its beauty and complexity.
Let’s get started!
My favorite beautiful short poem about life
#1 “If I Can Stop One Heart From Breaking” by Emily Dickinson
If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.
9 more beautiful short poem about life
#2 “Good Life, Long Life” by Ben Jonson
It is not growing like a tree
In bulk, doth make man better be;
Or standing long an oak, three hundred year,
To fall a log at last, dry, bald, and sear:
A lily of a day
Is fairer far in May,
Although it fall and die that night,—
It was the plant and flower of Light.
In small proportions we just beauties see,
And in short measures life may perfect be.
#3 “The Four Ages of Man” by William Butler Yeats
He with body waged a fight,
But body won; it walks upright.
Then he struggled with the heart;
Innocence and peace depart.
Then he struggled with the mind;
His proud heart he left behind.
Now his wars on God begin;
At stroke of midnight God shall win.
#4 “The Life of Man” by J. Mayne
Like to the falling of a star,
Or as the flights of eagles are,
Or like the fresh Spring’s gaudy hue,
Or silver drops of morning dew,
Or like a wind that chafes the flood,
Or bubbles which on water stood, —
E’en such is man, whose borrowed light
Is straight called in and paid to-night.
The wind blows out, the bubble dies,
The Spring entombed in Autumn lies,
The dew’s dried up, the star is shot,
The flight is past, —and man forgot.
#5 “Psyche” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
The butterfly the ancient Grecians made
The soul’s fair emblem, and its only name–
But of the soul, escaped the slavish trade
Of mortal life! — For in this earthly frame
Ours is the reptile’s lot, much toil, much blame,
Manifold motions making little speed,
And to deform and kill the things whereon we feed.
#6 “Now Is the Time” by Sarah K. Bolton
Now is the time to love, and, better still,
To serve our loved ones, over passing ill
To rise triumphant ; thus the perfect flower
Of life shall come to fruitage: wealth amass
For grandest giving ere the time be gone.
Be glad to-day, to-morrow may bring tears;
Be brave to-day, the darkest night will pass,
And golden rays will usher in the dawn:
Who conquers now shall rule the coming years.
#7 “Some Men” by Will Carleton
Some men were born for great things,
Some were born for small.
Some, it is not recorded
Why they were born at all.
#8 “Today” by Mary Frances Butts
Build a little fence of trust
Around to-day ;
Fill the space with loving deeds
And therein stay.
Look not through the sheltering bars
Upon to-morrow,
God will help thee bear what comes,
Of joy or sorrow.
#9 “I Took My Power in My Hand” by Emily Dickinson
I took my Power in my Hand—
And went against the World—
‘Twas not so much as David—had—
But I—was twice as bold—
I aimed by Pebble—but Myself
Was all the one that fell—
Was it Goliath—was too large—
Or was myself—too small?
#10 “My Heart Leaps Up” by William Wordsworth
My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
The Child is father of the Man;
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.