“Crossing the Bar” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1889)

“Crossing the Bar” is a lyric poem that explores the transition from life to the afterlife. Tennyson uses the metaphor of crossing a sandbar into the sea to illustrate death, with the Pilot representing the divine driving force of life. “Crossing the Bar” is one of Tennyson’s most well-known poems, and Ky recites a stanza of it to honor a dead boy in Chapter 1.

• “Crossing the Bar” on SuperSummary

“Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas (1952)

Dylan Thomas was a Welsh Romantic poet who enjoyed popular acclaim in his lifetime, particularly in America, and was famous for giving theatrical, sometimes rowdy readings. “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” is his most famous poem. The doomed, defiant tone of the refrains captures Thomas’s poetry career. This poem is one of the factors that inspires Cassia to rebel in both Matched and Crossed.

• “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” on SuperSummary

“They Dropped Like Flakes” by Emily Dickinson (1863)

The blog White Heat catalogues Emily Dickinson’s poetry in the context of her life.