What is a good, explanatory poetry anthology for literature beginners?
I’m a high school student who loves literature and poetry, but I’m disappointed with how little poetry we read in school. Do you know of any good poetry books which have a variety of classical and famous poetry also with some background information about the poets, time period, etc. Not something too expensive, and not a textbook, but something for reading on my own time.
The hands-down best is the Norton Anthology of Poetry. This book is used in college-level English courses and is EXCELLENT. It’s not a textbook – it doesn’t have questions or activities or exercises. It’s a comprehensive volume of the most important poetry ever written. It covers all the important periods and movements in poetry; footnoted references for obscure words or concepts; and each section includes author biographies and historical context. It’s about $40 but I promise it’s worth it, and you could probably find it for less on half.com or ecampus.com.
http://www.amazon.com/Norton-Anthology-Poetry-Margaret-Ferguson/dp/0393979210/ref=pd_bbs_sr_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219021289&sr=8-4
This was a standard for a long time…
http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Poetry-Cleanth-Brooks/dp/0030769809/ref=reg_hu-rd_add_1_dp