The Norton Anthology of Poetry
Product Description
Long the classic anthology of poetry in English, The Norton Anthology of Poetry, Fifth Edition, adds to its wealth of known and loved poems a rich gathering of new poetry. Beginning with Beowulf, newly represented by selections from Seamus Heaney’s dazzling translation, and continuing to the present day, The Norton Anthology of Poetry includes 1,100 poems by 250 poets in the Shorter Edition. Many major figures—from Chaucer and Shakespeare to Ashbery and Walcott—have expanded sections, and a range of outstanding younger voices have been newly added. Concise annotations, biographical sketches, an Essay on Versification by Jon Stallworthy, and, new to this edition, an Essay on Poetic Syntax by Margaret Ferguson help readers understand and enjoy the poems.
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Reading the new (5th edition) Norton Anthology of Poetry is like embarking on a voyage around the world: there is much that is familiar and much that is new and exotic. This a a mammoth book, one that a person can dive into and swim around in for ages and never come up. It is a vault of the best of humankind’s poetic writings waiting to be unlocked and appreciated.
This text is improved over the fourth edition with the addition of an excellent essay on poetic syntax in addition to the essay on versification. The short biographies of each poet are welcome also.
It is the sheer volume of glorious poety that sets this book apart, however. There is something for everyone and every poetical taste. From Milton to Marianne Moore and even more contemporary authors, this book is a compendium like no other. It is not just a grouping of the “best” or “prettiest” poems, but rather a voluminous selection of what is most worthy of praise in our English literary heritage. I cannot recommend this book enough.
Rating: 5 / 5
The Norton Anthology of Poetry
The third edition, with a black cover, made the best of its slightly shorter space available by honing the reprinted poets and poetry down to the essentials. The fourth edition still includes most of that material, but the fourth edition is beginning to include too much chaff with the wheat, digging up obscure seventeenth and eighteenth century poets and placing them side by side with Donne, Milton, and Pope. The obscure figures are only going to suffer by comparison; there is not going to be any sudden Eliot-like revaluation of these obscure poets’ reputations. It’s even worse in the contemporary period — dozens of second-rate poets, sampled with one or two poems apiece, which only takes away from the space that could have been granted to Wilbur, Ashbery, Geoffrey Hill, Derek Walcott, etc. — not to mention Auden, who is still given too few poems to grasp his entire achievement. It’s too bad the third edition isn’t available any longer.
Rating: 4 / 5
The Norton Anthology of Poetry
I got this anthology as a gift a few years ago, just after its release, I believe, and it has been with me ever since. This book is one of the few items that I must have with me no matter what my location, whether at college or at home.
Norton anthologies are great. As is the case with the ones I used in college, this book includes both footnotes and glossing in the margins, both of which help immensely when the reader is inexperienced or new to a certain period of literature (Norton is particularly helpful to students new to Spenser). The huge number of poets represented here makes the book indispensable to lovers of poetry.
Rating: 5 / 5
The Norton Anthology of Poetry
Given the fact that the anthology is nearly 2000 pages long, it is quite difficult to quibble over substance in this wonderful anthology. Almost every poet of any significance and their seminal work is represented in the anthology.
There are two quarrels I do have over style. Though the anthology has biographical sketches of the authors, those do not appear with the authors’ work but rather at the end. The other thing I would change would be the index. The index is one combined index rather than a spearate index of first lines and authors.
All in all, a great find and great buy.
Rating: 5 / 5
The Norton Anthology of Poetry
The fourth edition is an excellent compendium, although the third edition was better even if it was shorter. The fourth edition errs in including too many fringe poets (from what Harold Bloom calls the School of Resentment) from the past and from the present. One would prefer to see more material from authors who must be read in quantity, such as Whitman, Pound, and Auden, rather than bits and pieces from a hundred recent poets. However, there are some welcome additions to the selection of contemporary British poets such as Peter Porter and R. S. Thomas.
Rating: 4 / 5
The Norton Anthology of Poetry