Okay I have the 1st tier for Poems all pointed out. I'll do that now, but be patient with the rest of the points for the other 3 tiers, I am working on it. I think the first tier pretty much speaks for itself, they're all amazing.
Poem tiers
Tier 1
20s
The Iliad –
Divine Comedy - Dante Alighieri
Not much has to be said about either of these works, or the entire top tier, as they are all masterpieces.
19s
The Odyssey –
Paradise Lost - John Milton
Again, two masterpieces that will be preserved and studied forever that are very entertaining to this day. These aren’t 20s because I feel that the other two are slightly more entertaining.
18s
The Aeneid – Virgil
The Nibelungenlied
Both of these works represent national epics in the vein of the Iliad and the Odyssey, perhaps not as famous, but still excellent.
17s
Sonnet 18 - William Shakespeare
Beowulf
Sonnet 18 is generally agreed to be the best of the Bard’s sonnets and is beautifully written. Many believe it is written to a man rather than a woman, NTTAWT. Beowulf is something that perhaps everyone here has encountered in school, like it or not, but it’s pretty damn entertaining.
16s
The Bhagavad Gita
The Waste Land - T.S. Eliot
After reading some of the Gita, I realize I did have it too low initially. It’s a masterwork and it belongs in tier 1, no doubt.
The Waste Land is Eliot at his best. There are so many intricate allusions and meanings woven into a masterfully crafted poem. It’s definitely one of my favorites.