Many poets died leaving their work unfinished. Here are four famous ones who left behind incomplete poems:
John Keats: The Fall of Hyperion
This epic poem was left incomplete at the time of Keats’ death in 1821. It explores themes of dreams, reality, and the nature of poetry.
Percy Bysshe Shelley: The Triumph of Life
Shelley was working on this ambitious poem when he drowned in 1822. It delves into philosophical themes and the human condition but remains fragmentary.
Edgar Allan Poe: Annabel Lee
While Annabel Lee is often considered complete, Poe had plans to revise and possibly extend it before his death in 1849. He also left other fragments and drafts of poems unfinished.
Geoffrey Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales
Chaucer’s seminal work, begun in 1387, was left incomplete at the time of his death in 1400. The collection was intended to include 120 stories, but only 24 were completed.
These poets left significant marks on literature despite their untimely deaths, and their unfinished works continue to be studied and admired.
By Anam Afzaal
Along the Milky Way,
Her soul roams.
With each connected dot,
She drew her dreams.
Beneath the sky,
The emotions lie,
Naked and untouched
But barely stirred.
She sails,
Through the river,
With drowning tears
And a heart yet to be spared.
By Zahra Zafar
We are going round and round
Tongue-tied, never made a sound
Running in circles
Waiting for miracles
Dancing on the broken record,
Wishing that tune would drop,
But it never does,
They said it never did.
Our lungs on fire, heart aghast
But we aren’t allowed to stop
Patterns the same, who is to blame?
Oh you can never say the names.
By Anam Abid
My heart aches to see those kids
Burning alive in the middle of the streets.
My pain could not be 1 percent of what they experience,
Seeing their loved ones murdered in silence.
How could I laugh more and cry less,
Seeing those innocent faces losing their sparkles?
My heart desires to hide you in my arms,
For the rest of our lives, to kiss your palms.
This world will never be a happy place now,
Even if it ends, the damage is profound.
Israel, what you did will haunt you forever,
Your place is in hell to burn there forever.
You think you are powerful while snatching their land,
You are the most hated nation that the whole world should ban.
O brave people of Palestine, you are the true warriors
You are the ones who set true examples for us all.
You have suffered the most, yet still stand tall,
Showing us how strong faith should be, after all.