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National Poetry Month
All Time Great Poets
From classical favorites to modern poets, this selection features great poets through the ages. Here are some of our favorite poets. We hope some of yours are here, too.Blake, William (1757-1827): Blake was one of the great lyric poets. His early work was in a classical style and his later work was marked by the romantic style made popular by Wordsworth and Coleridge.
Browning, Robert (1812-1889): Robert Browning was a English poet and dramatist, especially noted for perfecting the dramatic monologue. Although Although he did not enjoy huge popularity during his time, he is now regarded as one of the most creative poets of his time.
Burns, Robert (1756-1796): Robert Burns was born in Scotland. Sometimes referred to as a peasant poet, Burns worked with simple concepts, but applied them across a number of forms. He wrote and published satires, scenes of rustic life, epistles to friends, epigrams and nature poems, both in a composite poetic form made up of a number of Scottish dialects and in English.
Byron, George (1788-1824): Byron was a romantic and satirist. At the forefront of the Romantic Movement, he had a profound influence on English literature.
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor (1772-1834): English lyrical poet, critic, and philosopher, Coleridge, along with Wordsworth, was one of the founders of the Romantic Movement. The exquisite perfection of his meter, the subtle alliance of his thought and expression, and his anticipation of modern existentialism, has also gained him reputation as an authentic visionary
Dickinson, Emily (1830-1886): Dickinson's poetry reflected her loneliness and deep inner struggle as well as her recollection of inspirational moments. She and Walt Whitman, at opposite ends of the spectra of "poet" and "personality," are now regarded as the founders of a uniquely American poetic voices of the 19th century.
Eliot, T. S. (1888-1965): Elliot's poems stand out for their radical innovations in poetic technique and subject matter. His poems in many respects articulated the disillusion of a younger post-World-War-I generation with the values and convention of the Victorian era.
Keats, John (1795-1821): One of England's greatest poets, Keats was a key element in the Romantic Movement. Known especially for his love of the country and sensuous descriptions of the beauty of nature, his poetry also resonated with deep philosophic questions.
Longfellow, Henry W. (1807-1882): Longfellow, an American poet and linguist, was probably the best loved of all American poets. The attraction of his poetry is its melodic quality, its spirit of optimism and faith in the goodness of life.
Mare, Walter de la (1873-1956): English poet, novelist, anthologist, and writer for children, Mare's favorite themes include childhood, fantasy, mystery and dreams often with an undercurrent of melancholy.
Plath, Sylvia (1932-1963): An American poet, Plath's poetry is intensely personal, often based on everyday experiences. Most of her work had almost an ominous style of writing filled with passiveness and fatalism.
Shakespeare, William (1564-1616): Shakespeare, an English poet and dramatist, is regarded as the greatest of all dramatists. Shakespeare used poetic and dramatic means to create unified aesthetic effects. His ability to communicate the intricacies of human nature maintains a resonance and a power to evoke emotion of the readers of all time.
Shelley, Percy (1792-1822): Shelley, the English lyric poet and essayist, created masterpieces of Romantic poetry. His most characteristic image is of sky and weather, of lights and fires. His poetic stance invites the reader to respond with similar outgoing aspiration.
Whitman, Walt (1819-1892): American poet and journalist Whitman was the first American poet to achieve a truly international reputation. He invented free verse, a new kind of poetry, full of great personal and political feeling, making use of the vigorous rhythms of both everyday speech and Bible.
Wordsworth, William (1770-1850): Wordsworth was a defining member of the English Romantic Movement. The universal appeal of his poetry is perhaps best explained by his own words on the role of poetry what he called "the most philosophical of all writing" whose object is "truth... carried alive into the heart by passion".
Yeats, William Butler (1865-1939): Yeats, an Irish poet and dramatist, is one of the most widely read. Yeats's poetry has a unique musical quality and his verse a harbinger of modernism and a continuer of the great Romantic imaginative tradition.
Award Winners
There are many distinguished collections of awards for poetry in the United States. One of the most notable is the Pulitzer Prize established and endowed by Joseph Pulitzer to honor excellence in American literature, drama and music. Below is the list and description of recent winners.
1993: The Wild Iris by Louise Gluck: Gluck's sixth collection presents a series of spare, somber lyrics that has always invested his best work.
1994: Neon Vernacular by Yusef Komunyakaa: A collection of poems from the author's earlier books combined with a dozen new poems.
1995: The Simple Truth by Philip Levine: The controlled pathos of every poem in this volume is immense and gives one a new sense of the poet's strength.
1996: The Dream of the Unified Field by Jorie Graham: This selection of Graham's poems demonstrates the full range of her poetic gifts, from the analytical viewing of the physical world to the more fluid poems later on.
1997: Alive Together: New and Selected Poems by Lisel Mueller: The joy of living is celebrated in these poems. Mueller's marvelous and lyrical talent is revealed here.
1998: Black Zodiac by Charles Wright: An unusually perceptive anthology of poetic reflections on faith, religion and spirituality are reflected in this book.
1999: Blizzard of One by Mark Strand: Poet Laureate Mark Strand writes with particular detail and unexpected humor.
2000: Repair by C.K. Williams: In these 40 poems, award winner Williams talks about keeping the self in repair despite love, death and social disorder.
2001: Different Hours by Stephen Dunn: Stephen Dunn, in his startling and graceful 11th collection, often set in southern New Jersey where he makes his home, continues to find his subjects in the dailiness of life, at the same time expanding his vision to a darker emotional landscape.
2002: Practical Gods by Carl Dennis: Many of the poems in this book involve an attempt to enter into dialogue with pagan and biblical perspectives, to throw light on ordinary experience through metaphor borrowed from religious myth and to translate religious myth into secular terms.
2003: May Sand and Gravel by Paul Muldoon.
2004: Walking to Martha's Vineyard by Franz Wright: Wright shares his regard for life in all its forms and his belief in the promise of blessing and renewal.
2005: Delights & Shadows by Ted Kooser: Kooser lives in eastern Nebraska and is described by BookList as "a poet of place."
2006: Late Wife by Claudia Emerson
2007: Native Guard by Natasha Trethewey
2008: Time and Materials by Robert Haas and Failure by Philip Schultz
2009: The Shadow The Shadow of Sirius by W.S. merwin
Listen to Poems
You can listen to your favorite poems via tape and compact disc format. The poetry collection spans the centuries.
The BBC Collection of Humorous Poetry: Find yourself being captivated by some of the most humorous poetry of all time.
Classic Poetry: An Illustrated Collection selected by Michael Rosen: This handsome edition introduces major poets through works accessible to young people.
Emily Dickinson: Poems and Letters: Readings rendered by Julie Harris in brilliant form. Harris conveys a deep understanding of the poems and this insight gives the listeners a clear vision of the writer's inner vision.
The Maya Angelou Poetry Collection: Angelou reads the pieces in her velvety voice. This collection is a must for the author's many fans.
Timeless Poetry Collections
These timeless anthologies will touch your imagination and lead you down paths you never dreamed you would travel.
100 Best Poems of All Time edited by Leslie Pockell: Authors through the 1850s are each represented by one of his or her best known and best loved works. Each poem is introduced by a brief head note which details the poet's life history as well as the poem's significance.
An Anthology of World Poetry: Best poetry of the whole world, translated into English by well known authorites.
Best Loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis selected and introduced by Caroline Kennedy: Jaccqueline's daughter offers a selection of the former First Lady's favorite poems, plus a few of her mother's own verses.
The Hell with Love: Poems to Mend a Broken Heart edited by Mary Esselman: This collection of love poems is for anyone who has ever suffered the pain of breaking up and everyone who believes in the unique power of poetry to console and transform.
My Song Is Beautiful: Poems and Pictures in Many Voices selected by Mary Ann Hoberman: Fourteen poems celebrate the power of childhood from the perspective of a rich variety of cultures.
Poems for the Millennium (Volume Two) edited by Jerome Rothenberg: International in its coverage, this volume brings together the poets and poetry movements that radically altered the ways that art and language express the human condition.
World Poetry: An Anthology of Verse from Antiquity to Our Time edited by Katharine Washburn.
Websites
National Poetry Month: This is the official site of "National Poetry Month," prepared by the Academy of American Poets.
International Library of Poetry: Great web site for searching for poetry contests.
Poems to Make, Watch and Hear: This BBC resource gives valuable tips on writing and publishing your work.
Electronic Poetry Center: Useful for budding poets interested in electronic poetry magazines.
