There is so much going on in our lives today but, nature has a special way of reminding us to take a break from our busy lives and appreciate the world around us. Its incredible to think all forms of writing from general to famous poems about nature help us slow down, reconnect, and notice the beauty we often overlook.
This collection of the top 10 best nature poems capture scenes we might see every day yet rarely pause to appreciate: flowers blowing gently in the wind, beautiful lakes reflecting in the sky, or silent woods inviting reflection. All these forms of nature have a special place in our hearts.
Famous poets like Wordsworth and Frost give meaning to nature’s quiet moments, turning simple observations into amazing experiences. Through their poetry, we’re invited to feel a deeper emotional and spiritual connection with the environment, viewing our appreciation for life’s quieter joys.
Whether you’re at home, in a busy city, or surrounded by wilderness, let these short poems about nature inspire you to stop what your doing, breathe deeply, and notice the natural world’s beauty waiting to be discovered in the form of poetry.
- “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” by William Wordsworth
“I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.”
- “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost
“Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.”
- “The Peace of Wild Things” by Wendell Berry
“When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.”
- “The Eagle” by Alfred Lord Tennyson
“He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ring’d with the azure world, he stands.
The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.”
- “Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost
“Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.”
- “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost
“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
- “Ode to Autumn” by John Keats
“Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;
To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core…”
- “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” by W.B. Yeats
“I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.”
- “Daffodils” by William Wordsworth (excerpt)
“I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils.”
- “Birches” by Robert Frost (excerpt)
“When I see birches bend to left and right
Across the lines of straighter darker trees,
I like to think some boy’s been swinging them.
But swinging doesn’t bend them down to stay
As ice-storms do.”
Its fascinating how many famous poems about nature opens our eyes and and cherish life’s simplest yet most profound moments. These poems regarding nature allow us to pause our busy routines and appreciate the incredible beauty around us. They highlight everything from vibrant daffodils dancing in the breeze to the serene calmness of snowy forests inviting thoughtful reflection. There is something for everyone to resonate with and share a deep meaning.
When we read famous poet, Wordsworth’s depiction of joyful daffodils or Frost’s introspective reflections about birch trees and quiet woods, we’re reminded of nature’s ability to inspire, relax, and rejuvenate us on a good or bad day. Each poem captures a unique piece of nature, providing our emotional and spiritual connection with the environment.
Next time you step outside or glance out your window, let these nature poems resonate within you, reminding you to view nature in a different way. Through poetry, we rediscover the joy and encounters we cross in our daily lives.