National Poetry Month: April 3rd

April 3, 2010

Very Like a Whale by Ogden Nash One thing that literature would be greatly the better for Would be a more restricted employment by the authors of simile and metaphor. Authors of all races, be they Greeks, Romans, Teutons or Celts, Can’t seem just to say that anything is the thing it is but have […]


National Poetry Month: April 2nd

April 2, 2010

Novel by Arthur Rimbaud You’re not serious, at seventeen. – A fine evening, beer glasses and lemonade Rowdy cafes lit with brilliant chandeliers! – You stroll beneath the lime trees along the promenade. How good the lime trees smell on fine June evenings! Sometimes the air is so sweet, you close your eyes The wind, full of sounds – the town  not […]


National Poetry Month: April 1st

April 1, 2010

Litany by Billy Collins You are the bread and the knife, The crystal goblet and the wine… -Jacques Crickillon You are the bread and the knife, the crystal goblet and the wine. You are the dew on the morning grass, and the burning wheel of the sun. You are the white apron of the baker […]


April is National Poetry Month

April 1, 2010

April is National Poetry Month and here at EPL we’ll be celebrating by posting a different poem (selected by our very own EPL staff) for each day of the month. And if you’ve got a favorite poem or two of your own, be sure to leave us a comment and let us know! So stay […]


Did you know poet Gwendolyn Brooks also wrote a novel?

February 18, 2010

Gwendolyn Brooks was known for poetry, but she wrote a novel, too Gwendolyn Brooks is known as a great poet. Poet Laureate of Illinois from 1968 until her death in 2000, she won the Pulitzer Prize for “Annie Allen” in 1950. She was the first African-American to win the prize and continued to collect accolades […]


“Howl” at the Movies

February 3, 2010

As the 2010 Sundance Film Festival wrapped up last weekend, word about one film in particular came echoing down the Utah mountainside to catch the ear of the literary community.  With a Grand Jury Prize nomination to its credit, the experimental biopic “Howl” has the book world buzzing.  Based on the life of poet Allen Ginsberg and the 1957 […]


Poetry that Sucks . . . BLOOD!!!

October 30, 2009

It’s that time of year again. Time to slap on a multicolored wig, a pair of fangs, and maybe a poorly ventilated rubber mask  and head on out into the night with the rest of the world’s sugar hungry ghouls for an evening of spooktacular candy retrieval. And when you’re done binging on your loot and through gouging […]


Shark Poetry: Not Just for Sharks Anymore

August 24, 2009

In honor of Shark Week, the Discovery Channel’s annual weeklong series of television programs devoted to sharks, Poets.org has compiled 35 Poems about Sharks, and examined how the animals have been represented in classic and contemporary poetry.


Talking Poetry

April 17, 2009

In honor of National Poetry Month we asked one of our favorite poets, Dobby Gibson, author of two volumes of poetry (Polar and Skirmish) to tell us about five poems or poets that have disturbed his universe. He spoke with us via email. __________________________________________________ Dobby Gibson:  What are the five poets or poems that have “most […]


Poetry Copyright Notice

April 1, 2009

All poems featured on Off the Shelf are the property of their respective owners. All information has been reproduced here for educational and informational purposes to benefit site visitors and is provided at no charge. Poems are posted on this site purely for educational reasons, for the purpose of information and with good intentions. If […]


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