1. “Bad Day at the Beauty Salon” by Maggie Estep
Read the text here.
2. “Beauty” by Elinor Wylie
Excerpt: Say not of beauty she is good,
3. “Beauty in Nature” by Arti Chopra
Exerpt: Theres a poem in every flower,
4. “Beauty is brief and violent” by Snehal Vadher
Excerpt: Beauty is brief and violent like the white thunderbolt of Nilgiri slow and sudden braided like her hair
5. “The Beauty of Black” by Margaret Burroughs
Excerpt: (May 22, 1965) When we look at ourselves We see ourselves through eyes Which have been schooled To see comely only the opaque, Comely to us skin that is fair, Comely to us eyes that are light, Comely to us hair that is straight, Comely to us lips that are thin,
6. “The Beauty of a Woman” by Audrey Hepburn
Excerpt: The beauty of a woman isn’t in the clothes she wears, The figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair.
7. “A Brown Girl’s Guide to Beauty” by Aranya Johar
8. “Haiku” by Fukuda Chiyo-Ni
9. “I Died for Beauty—but was scarce” by Emily Dickinson
Excerpt: I died for beauty, but was scarce Adjusted in the tomb, When one who died for truth was lain In an adjoining room.
10. “My People” by Langston Hughes
Excerpt: The night is beautiful, So the faces of my people.
11. “On Beauty” by Khalil Gibran
Excerpt: And a poet said, Speak to us of Beauty. And he answered: Where shall you seek beauty, and how shall you find her unless she herself be your way and your guide? And how shall you speak of her except she be the weaver of your speech?
12. “Pretty” by Katie Makkai
13. “Rondel of Merciless Beauty” by Geoffrey Chaucer
Excerpt: Your two great eyes will slay me suddenly; Their beauty shakes me who was once serene; Straight through my heart the wound is quick and keen.
14. “She Walks in Beauty” by Lord Byron (George Gordon)
Excerpt: She walks in beauty, like the night Of cloudless climes and starry skies; And all that’s best of dark and bright Meet in her aspect and her eyes; Thus mellowed to that tender light Which heaven to gaudy day denies.
15. “Sonnet 54: O, how much more doth beauty beauteous seem” by William Shakespeare
Excerpt: O, how much more doth beauty beauteous seem By that sweet ornament which truth doth give! The rose looks fair, but fairer we it deem For that sweet odour which doth in it live.
16. “Sonnet: To Tartar, a Terrier Beauty” by Thomas Lovell Beddoes
Excerpt: Snowdrop of dogs, with ear of brownest dye, Like the last orphan leaf of naked tree Which shudders in black autumn; though by thee, Of hearing careless and untutored eye,
17. “Still will I harvest beauty where it grows” by Edna St. Vincent Millay
Excerpt: Still will I harvest beauty where it grows: In coloured fungus and the spotted fog Surprised on foods forgotten; in ditch and bog Filmed brilliant with irregular rainbows Of rust and oil, where half a city throws Its empty tins; and in some spongy log
18. “A Thing of Beauty (Endymion)” by John Keats
Excerpt: A thing of beauty is a joy for ever: Its lovliness increases; it will never Pass into nothingness; but still will keep A bower quiet for us, and a sleep Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
19. “Untitled: We Are All Born so Beautiful” by Rupi Kaur
20. “Youth and Beauty” by William Carlos Williams
Excerpt: I bought a dishmop— having no daughter— for they had twisted fine ribbons of shining copper For more great poetry collections curated by Book Riot, check out:
“58 Beautiful Love Poems to Read Right Now” “15 Poems About Happiness to Reset Your Day” “33 Poems on Nature That Honor the Beauty and Brutality of the Natural World” “25 Feminist Poems to Provoke and Inspire Nasty Women”
