Edgar Allen Poe

William Shakespeare

Copyright © GW 2007 Poems

Love is a universal denominator, one that can bring everyone together or tear them apart. Sadness is equally universal (and with love on the line, inevitable), making it all that much more powerful. Of course, even with the kind of eerie power sadness has over us, why is it that sad poems are so compelling, bringing an awkward sense of joy at the same time as they evoke images of pain and longing?



Everyone has a different answer and though the scientific community will likely not be agreeing with the poets and writers of those sad poems any time soon, they can come to a consensus on one thing – sad poems are very popular. However, for the budding poetry fan, sad poems happen to be some of the best poems ever written and can surely serve to make for enjoyable reading, if only you take the right approach to them from the start.



The first step to enjoying a sad poem is to recognize that it is a sad poem. Everyone feels sadness, despair and weakness at some time or another and handles it in their own way. For the poet, it is best expressed in words. Thus, the sad poem is a diary of sorts, relaying the kind of emotions that have plagued a poet for some time.

Sad poems also offer people a chance to connect with each other on a much more personal level and share an emotional closeness. A sad poem is often best read when you are either in a retrospective or down mood of your own. They allow a certain amount of reflection on a topic that has been bothersome of late. That sad