Hello forum. I've been browsing the forums recently and have taken an interest in poetry. I'd like to read some more besides what's posted here for critique, but I'm not really sure where to look. Any suggestions for someone who has never really read poetry before? Cheers, Eric
Anthologies are the best place to start in my opinion. Reading the collections of individual poets can be intimidating because of the sheer volume of good poets and poetry collections. By reading an anthology, you'll get a good sample of various poets and styles. I highly recommend the Norton Anthology of Poetry, which is a little more than 2000 pages long (so you'll always have something to read).
I really enjoy Emily Dickinson, I read mainly classic poetry so I don't know many modern day poets. But, to me, she was the most relatable and touching. So, if the anthology intimidates you try Miss Dickinson, you won't be disappointed. TDS
Have you tried Google? If you are looking for particular authors, I can list some of my favorites: Formal: Robert Frost W. B. Yeats Robert Burns John Keats Emily Dickinson Thomas Dekker Theodore Roethke Robert Graves Maya Angelou Free Verse: William Carlos Williams Anne Sexton Robert Creeley Wallace Stevens Frederico Garcia Lorca Todd Moore Stanley Kunitz Sharon Olds Langston Hughes Michael Ondaatje Sylvia Plath
^ That's a good list, though some of the poets are harder than others. For example, Wallace Stevens' poems are philosophical in nature and thus very difficult. I don't recommend starting with him.
Gotta get some Walt Whitman in there. I've never heard a more original voice in poetry. Eric, I see you're from Canada. Try Earle Birney. He was a powerful poet, and his "David" is a Canadian classic.
Hello Eric, Try Poem Hunter (www.poemhunter.com) It lists hundreds of poets, classic and modern. If you've no idea of what kind of poetry or which poet you're looking for, it's an ideal place to browse. Lots of articles and ideas on there too.
Any list is going to reflect the lister's personal tastes. There is no real way of knowing who to suggest definitively. An anthology of different poets from different areas and eras might be the best place to start. It's a very very good place to start anyway. Something like one of those huge, bulky collections of English poetry throughout the ages. Something like The Penguin Book of English Verse, or the Norton anthology that thirdwind suggested. I'm a huge admirer of the Penguin books of poetry, and Penguin Classics in general. Most of the time anyway. There is a lot of it out there though, from over 2,000 years of human history. But the thing you need to keep in mind is that you really do need to read our contemporaries. It's amazing how many people are almost completely ignorant of the poetry written during this century, and it's not only a shame it's kind of sickening. There is a lot of really good stuff out there that needs to be seen. The other thing I would suggest, as much as you can, is read the classics. Not the classics like, say, Shakespeare, Pope and Dryden (though it's a good idea to know them too) but the real classics. Pastoral, lyric and epic poetry. The Greek and Roman poets: Virgil, Horace, Ovid, Homer, Catullus, and Theognis. Trust me, these are important. A good translator here is key.
Thanks for the advice everyone! An anthology does sound like a good place to start as I have no idea what kind of poetry I would enjoy. I'll have to grab myself a book this weekend and settle in. I will have to take a look at Earle Birney though. 'Classic Canadian poetry' is something that never came to mind. Cheers, Eric
It is a very good idea to read modern poets. I don't know how easy it is to get Faber & Faber books in Canada but if you can they print all of the really really good modern poets, from Eliot to newer poets like Julia Copus and Richard Tallinghast and everyone in between. They are also very fine, well made books that last an age and are a really great addition to any collection of poetry.
