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Rating:  Summary: The book that got me reading and enjoying poetry Review: A book that will not gather dust on the bookshelf, but one that you will want keep close for impromptu readings. Particularly useful for me are the biographical/historical background as well as the usefull notes that frame the poet and poems and make many decipherable and most enjoyable, as for example Browning's "My Last Duchess" as well as Keats "La Belle Dame Sans Merci". John Donne stands out but I have only started reading and no doubt will have many more favorites, renewed appreciation for Dickinson, particularly, "Because I could not stop for death"
Rating:  Summary: To Strive, to Seek, to Find, and not to Yield Review: Hallelujah! I found an anthology of poetry that is actually helpful to the high school student! Nearly every poem an English teacher has ever mentioned is in this book, making it easy to get to know these poems. I have an older copy (1990 I think) and it is indispensable. Yes, I don't necessarily like all the poems, but it's a fantastic resource. Frost, Shakespeare, Tennyson, Byron, Dickinson, Eliot-- all the biggies are here. The brief explanations of the poems are helpful as well; much less verbose than my Ph.D. British Lit teacher. I recommend "Jabberwocky" as the first poem to read. It'll loosen you up a bit.
Rating:  Summary: Useful Anthology Review: Most small anthologies only contain a couple of poems you would want to look up. This one is full of poems that are frequently refered to, which makes this a good reference work. The short commentary with each poem provides some historical context or helpful information that is educational. His book of the Top 500 Poems is my favorite collection, but lacks the commentaries found in the Classic 100 book.
Rating:  Summary: Great collection of favorites Review: This was an enlightening look at some classic poems that I was already familiar with, and a number of new ones. The editor's notes about the poet and poem were very helpful. I also like another poetry anthology, "Poetry for a Lifetime", which has a much larger selection of old favorites to which the editor has added comments and illustrations. And it also has a beautiful Maxfield Parrish painting on the cover.
Rating:  Summary: The worst poetry anthology ever printed Review: Usually, an anthology reflects the taste of the editor.A good example of a good anthology might be Kingsley Amis' edition of the Oxford Book of Light Verse. In this case, William Harmon has simply evaded any question of taste and submitted world poetry to the American popular vote. The result very predicably is a useless compendium of chestnuts all the way down to "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." This is very close indeed to being a M-BOOK.
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