The Norton Anthology of Poetry

I began reading this book as a detour to fill in some missing breadth between volumes of Jerome Rothenberg's Poems for the Millennium. I was waiting tables and apartment living with my girlfriend and two cats in Seattle. That was seven years ago. Today I finished the final page in my house while my wife, the same girlfriend from before, held our baby daughter and watched Beetlejuice with our son and two dogs. The cats are around but less interested in television than the aquarium. I'm not saying seven years of Milton and Auden and Hart Crane caused a life compounded with living beings but I'm not saying it didn't. This procreant era of my life happened with these poems and without them. Long stretches of not reading were as significant show more as the moments I would dive back in, remembering myself when I had forgotten crucial goals.

My copy is worn - reinforced with packing tape along the spine and cloudy white on the front and back pages where my hands held while I soaked in a bath; I do my best reading in water. So I lived through all these poems and I hardly remember them now but I didn't read them to have read them. My only takeaway is that I chose to live with poetry and I still like the choice. What I loved about this volume was how it generated a great to-read list of poets. show less

I began reading this book as a detour to fill in some missing breadth between volumes of Jerome Rothenberg's Poems for the Millennium. I was waiting tables and apartment living with my girlfriend and two cats in Seattle. That was seven years ago. Today I finished the final page in my house while my wife, the same girlfriend from before, held our baby daughter and watched Beetlejuice with our son and two dogs. The cats are around but less interested in television than the aquarium. I'm not saying seven years of Milton and Auden and Hart Crane caused a life compounded with living beings but I'm not saying it didn't. This procreant era of my life happened with these poems and without them. Long stretches of not reading were as significant show more as the moments I would dive back in, remembering myself when I had forgotten crucial goals.

My copy is worn - reinforced with packing tape along the spine and cloudy white on the front and back pages where my hands held while I soaked in a bath; I do my best reading in water. So I lived through all these poems and I hardly remember them now but I didn't read them to have read them. My only takeaway is that I chose to live with poetry and I still like the choice. What I loved about this volume was how it generated a great to-read list of poets. show less

At the end of the end of the 1960 film, The Time Machine, the hero, George Wells, returns to the future taking three books from his library with him. Viewers are left to ponder which three books he takes - it's never revealed. If it had been me, this would be one of the books.

The Norton Anthology is a part of who I am. It opened - and continues to open - doors into some of the great literary minds of our culture. A starting point from which you can go on and learn more (i.e., don't stop with this book!).

If there is any doubt about its greatness, let me show you that it contains as much of both the sacred and the profane as the Bible:

Alexander Pope:

"Know then thyself, presume not God to scan,

The proper study of mankind is show more Man.

Placed on this isthmus of a middle state,

A being darkly wise and rudely great:

With too much knowledge for the Sceptic side,

With too much weakness for the Stoic’s pride,

He hangs between, in doubt to act or rest;

In doubt to deem himself a God or Beast;

In doubt his mind or body to prefer;

Born but to die, and reas’ning but to err;

Alike in ignorance, his reason such,

Whether he thinks too little or too much;

Chaos of thought and passion, all confused;

Still by himself abused or disabused;

Created half to rise, and half to fall:

Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all;

Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurl’d;

The glory, jest, and riddle of the world!"


Ogden Nash:

"The cow is of the bovine ilk;
One end is moo, the other, milk."

Genius, sheer genius. show less

Lots of poems of course. I still don't "get" poetry, but this certainly broadened by exposure and deepened my appreciate.
Predominant themes/recurring terms: the classics, other great poets (especially Donne, Jonson, and Shakespeare), heros, flowers, beauty, religion, death, childhood, love, sex, war, grass, spiders, and owls. Reading in chronological order forces one to wonder whether we have become that much more cynical over time or whether every age sees more inspiring poems as better in retrospect.

This poetry anthology is among the most extensive that I have come across. It contains all of the best lyrical poems along with many more to enlighten and amuse poetry enthusiasts, spanning several centuries of poetry. Any fan of literature would find it to be an invaluable resource and companion, and because of its chronological arrangement, perusing the collection is a breeze. Some of your favorite poems are in this book, but even more, you will discover new favorites, broaden your horizons in poetry, and gain knowledge of various poetic styles. I read this as part of the Basic Program of Liberal Education at the University of Chicago and will continue to enjoy the poems selected for this anthology.

This book contains an excellent selection of poems spanning the entire history of poetry in English. Many old favourites are present, along with a good range of less well known material giving a broad overview of the subject matter. The only criticism I would level is that the editorial viewpoint is somewhat traditional and occasionally narrow. Editorial material aside however, this remains a quintessential collection for anybody interested in broadening their exposure to poetry.

A nice overview, but I found the editor's formalist views a bit tiresome. Ms. Mary Jo Salter honestly believes that a poem is not a poem unless it is strapped with form.