Sunset Poems
Sunset poems, and poetry about sunsets in general, can vary wildly in content. The beauty of poetry lies in the poet’s ability to make the reader see the world in a brand new way. Sunset poems by various authors give us a peek into how those poets see the world. Their sunset poetry is always beautiful, but uniquely theirs.
Poetry About Sunsets
Sunsets have to be one of the single most photographed things in the world. For good reason, too. They happen every day with astounding beauty. Here is a small collection of sunset poetry that is just as memorable as the sunset itself. We hope you enjoy reading these poems about the sunset!
Sunset by Rumi
Does sunset sometimes look like the sun’s coming up?
Do you know what a faithful love is like?
You’re crying. You say you’ve burned yourself.
But can you think of anyone who’s not
hazy with smoke?
Sunset After Rain by W.S. Merwin
Old cloud passes mourning her daughter
can’t hear what anyone tells her
every minute is one of the doors that never opened
Little cold stream wherever I go
you touch the heart
night follows
The darkness is cold
because the stars do not believe in each other.
Sunlight Through Trees by C.W. Bryan
The thin howl of dusk
asserts itself.
The tone of it sets the
branches to rarify.
A sliver of pink sunset
peers down through the canopy.
For a moment, brief and
hopeful, I can see the
sunrise of another day,
until the howl settles
into its bones, and resumes
a rapid lope into night.
In the Twilight Rain by Basho
In the twilight rain
these brilliant-hued hibiscus . . .
A lovely sunset
Song at Sunset by Walt Whitman
Splendor of ended day, floating and filling me!
Hour prophetic–hour resuming the past!
Inflating my throat–you, divine average!
You, Earth and Life, till the last ray gleams, I sing.
Open mouth of my Soul, uttering gladness,
Eyes of my Soul, seeing perfection,
Natural life of me, faithfully praising things;
Corroborating forever the triumph of things.
Illustrious every one!
Illustrious what we name space–sphere of unnumber’d spirits;
Illustrious the mystery of motion, in all beings, even the tiniest
insect;
Illustrious the attribute of speech–the senses–the body;
Illustrious the passing light! Illustrious the pale reflection on the
new moon in the western sky!
Illustrious whatever I see, or hear, or touch, to the last.
Good in all,
In the satisfaction and aplomb of animals,
In the annual return of the seasons,
In the hilarity of youth,
In the strength and flush of manhood,
In the grandeur and exquisiteness of old age,
In the superb vistas of Death.
Wonderful to depart;
Wonderful to be here!
The heart, to jet the all-alike and innocent blood!
To breathe the air, how delicious!
To speak! to walk! to seize something by the hand!
To prepare for sleep, for bed–to look on my rose-color’d flesh;
To be conscious of my body, so satisfied, so large;
To be this incredible God I am;
To have gone forth among other Gods–these men and women I love.
Read the full poem here.
Sunset by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
I saw the day lean o’er the world’s sharp edge,
And peer into night’s chasm, dark and damp.
High in his hand he held a blazing lamp,
Then dropped it, and plunged headlong down the ledge.
With lurid splendor that swift paled to gray,
I saw the dim skies suddenly flush bright.
‘Twas but the expiring glory of the light
Flung from the hand of the adventurous day.
The Golden Sunset by Samuel Longfellow
The golden sea its mirror spreads
Beneath the golden skies,
And but a narrow strip between
Of earth and shadow lies.
The cloud-like cliffs, the cliff-like clouds,
Dissolved in glory, float,
And midway of the radiant floods
Hangs silently the boat.
The sea is but another sky,
The sky a sea as well,
And which is earth and which the heavens
The eye can scarcely tell.
So when for me life’s latest hour
Soft passes to its end,
May glory, born of earth and heaven,
The earth and heaven blend.
Flooded with light the spirits float,
With silent rapture glow,
Till where earth ends and heaven begins
The soul shall scarcely know.
The Juggler of Day by Emily Dickinson
Blazing in gold and quenching in purple,
Leaping like leopards to the sky,
Then at the feet of the old horizon
Laying her spotted face, to die;
Stooping as low as the otter’s window,
Touching the roof and tinting the barn,
Kissing her bonnet to the meadow, —
And the juggler of day is gone!
Watching the Sunset Together with a Bird by Ramandeep Johal
When most of them are heading
to their havens
before the darkness sucks
into their paths
atop a high wire—
this lonesome bird
is watching the crimson sky.
It hops
from one to the next—
higher
and higher
as if to fulfill a desire
echoing in my heart too—
to get a longer and longer view
of the setting sun
—as long as it is true.
Sunset Poetry
Sunset poems are incredibly fun to read because we all experience the sunset, but these poets have such a unique way of describing it. If you want to start writing more poetry, I would recommend taking the sunset as your subject. Lend your voice to the dozens of wonderful poems that exist on this subject! We’d love to see them. Thank you for reading this collection of sunset poems.
