A Huge List of Common Poetry Themes (Poem Theme, Topics, Ideas & Examples)

The theme of a poem delivers the reader an underlying message that the writer wishes to convey through their work of poetry.

A poem can contain a single or multiple themes based on the story of the poem that it tells. The theme is an important part of any work of poetry or literature as it provides meaning to the story.

Follow the below list to learn different type of themes found in poetry or use them as poem theme ideas or topics for your next poetry.

Poetry Themes Examples

Most of the themes in poetry are often similar to themes of literature but yet some themes fit well only for poetry.

Below are the examples of common themes found in poetry.

#1 Love

#2 War

#3 Death

#4 Nature

#5 Beauty

#6 Aging

#7 Desire

#8 Dreams

#9 Coming of age

#10 Destiny

#11 Depression

#12 Courage

#13 Spirituality

#14 Happiness

#15 God

#16 Friendship

#17 Heartbreak

#18 Imagination

#19 Loss/tragedy

#20 Memories

#21 Mortality

#22 Immortality

#23 Marriage

#24 Rebirth

#25 Seasons

#26 Sexuality

#27 Religion

#28 Secrets

#29 Man and nature

#30 Peace

list of common poetry themes, poem topics ideas and examples

#31 Pain

#32 Isolation

#33 Eternity

#34 Earth

#35 Emotions

#36 Faith

#37 Fear

#38 Grief

#39 Forgiveness

#40 Hatred

#41 Afterlife

#42 Myth

#43 Art

#44 Anxiety

#45 Defeat

#46 Heaven

#47 Suffering

#48 Joy

#49 Life

#50 Disappointment

#51 Stars

#52 Trust

#53 Gender

#54 History

#55 Identity

#56 Purpose

#57 Regret

#58 Encouraging

#59 Opportunity

#60 Music

#61 Roses

#62 Innocence

#63 Moon

#64 Mountains

#65 Jealousy

#66 Duty and responsibility

#67 Supernatural

#68 Circle of life

#69 Man and masculinity

#70 Sunshine

#71 Change

#72 Flowers

Examples of Themes in Poetry

Below are examples of themes in poetry from popular poems of all time.

#1 The Waste Land

By T. S Eliot

Major themes- Love, death, rebirth, history, lust/sexuality, water, religion, seasons.
Read the poem here

#2 Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

By Robert Frost

stopping the woods on a snowy evening poem themes

Major themes- Beauty, man and nature, desire, obligation, secrets, duty and responsibility, isolation.
Read the poem here

#3 Daddy

By Sylvia Plath

Major themes- Death, gender, oppression, power, history, myth, hatred.
Read the poem here

#4 The Raven

By Edgar Allan Poe

Major themes- Death, afterlife, memory, loss, supernatural, grief, madness, despair.
Read the poem here

#5 The Second Coming

By W.B Yeats

Major Themes- Violence, prophecy, meaninglessness, christianity, cyclicality.
Read the poem here

#6 Because I could not Stop for Death

By Emily Dickinson

because i could not stop for death poem themes

Major Themes- Life and death, mortality, immortality, eternity.
Read the poem here

#7 The Road not Taken

By Robert Frost

Major Themes- Choices, uncertainty, man and nature, indecision, individualism and nonconformity.
Read the poem here

#8 The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

By T.S Eliot

the love song of j alfred prufrock poem themes

Major themes- Love, anxiety, indecision, alienation, isolation, desire, modernity, disappointment, manipulation, time, aging, appearances.
Read the poem here