100 Best-Loved Poems

I read this in one afternoon. I smiled, I cried, I was enlightened. It’s raining outside, I have a cup of tea and this book. A perfect afternoon.

i love u for what u are when i am with u

Philip Smith has assembled a very good sampling of the best poetry in the English language. We read Marlowe, Shakespeare, Donne, Jonson, Herrick, Milton, Gray, Blake, Burns, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley, Keats, both Brownings, Longfellow, Poe, Whitman, Dickinson, Hardy, Housman, Yeats, Frost, Pound, Millay, Cummings, Auden, Dylan Thomas, and many others. This inexpensive Dover edition is an excellent buy. The collection is as advertised: these are the best-loved poems in the English language. These are familiar poems, poems that are accessible to casual readers of poetry, poems that continue to resonate today. Smith's compilation is fun to read and to reread. Any teacher would find it ideal for introductory English literature classes, honors high school or college. What is missing? This collection excludes translations of classical poetry, poetry of the non-English speaking world, and contemporary English-speaking poets. But this little book contains enough gems to satisfy any treasure hunter. Looking for a more eclectic anthology? See 100 Poems by 100 Poets compiled by Harold Pinter, Geoffrey Godbert, and Anthony Astbury. They present what they consider (by unanimous decision, often after heated argument) to be the best poem by each of the 100 best poets in the English language. Their choices only occasionally overlap with the better known selections in Philip Smith's Dover edition. Another good choice is One Hundred and One Famous Poems, compiled by Roy J. Cook in 1927, that has long been a favorite anthology of British and American poets. It is an interesting collection, as it includes many poets that are now less familiar or even forgotten, but who were popular in the early part of the twentieth century. Take a look at this anthology. You will be pleasantly surprised. It has been reprinted many times and it is not difficult to find.

Beautiful works. Major bargain. I read them to my baby.

This is a great collection of classic rhyming poems. I found many of my favorite poems, including "If" and "The Raven". And the price is right. If you want a more durable collection, you might try another favorite of mine, "Poetry for a Lifetime". This beautiful volume includes many of these poems and is illustrated and has comments from the editor. I highly recommend both books.

Dover has always been known for making fascinating books available for a song - here's one you can have for even less than a song! For a mere 80 cents, you get, as the title promises, 100 poems, best-loved poems at that. A volume to cherish, or to give as gifts - suitable for anybody, of any age, whether they love poems or need a place to start.