America's Favorite Poem

Renowned poetry anthologist David Lehman has selected 10 poems from The Oxford Book of American Poetry that he feels represent the most popular American poems ever written. We asked America to cast their vote for their favorite poem.

With more than 23% of the votes, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T. S. Eliot wins the distinction of being called “America’s Favorite Poem!” Following very close behind were Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” and Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” with 19.8% and 19.1% of the votes, respectively.

Thanks to everyone who voted! The final results are below – see how your favorite poem fared in our competition:

  1. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T. S. Eliot: 23.3%
  2. Song of Myself by Walt Whitman: 19.8%
  3. Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost: 19.1%
  4. Sunday Morning by Wallace Stevens: 9.2%
  5. The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe: 8.2%
  6. My Life had stood --a Loaded Gun-- by Emily Dickenson: 7.1%
  7. Harlem / Montage of a Dream Deferred by Langston Hughes: 6.7%
  8. To Elsie by William Carlos Williams: 3.0%
  9. The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus: 2.2%
  10. What Are Years? by Marianne Moore: 1.4%