08.06.2026
Armenian Poetry, Right on Your Screen
Some lines we learn by heart as children, long before we grasp their full depth. Armenian poetry is like that - it grows with us. This short reading list gathers four poets whose work you can open right now, free of charge, on the pages of ELIB.
Begin with Yeghishe Charents, the most electric voice of twentieth-century Armenian verse. You can read online his collection Banasteghtsutyunner (Poems), page by page. And if you want to start with his most beloved lines, Es im anush Hayastani is the confession of love and longing that an entire nation has taken to heart.
Paruyr Sevak is a poet of both thought and feeling. The collection Pearls from the Treasury of Paruyr Sevak's Mind is a string of short, sharp reflections you can read online in a single sitting - yet they stay with you far longer.
From the Western Armenian classics, we offer Grigor Zohrap and his Poems (Grigor Zohrap) - tender, humane, timeless verse you can read online. And the book by Hovhannes Shiraz, Poems and Poemas: Selected Works, speaks of motherhood, homeland and light in a language that is plain and warm.
Together these four open an entire world of Armenian poetry - from rebellion to tenderness. To find more, browse the library and build your own reading list.
Pick one book, open the first page, and let the lines carry you. The best time to start is right now.