Nineteenth-Century American Poetry

There are many nineteenth-century American poetry anthologies, but this is an excellent one for those wanting a relatively concise, inexpensive volume. With 17 poets, nearly 300 poems, and about 450 pages, it is quite generous. The span is truly comprehensive. The first poet is Joel Barlow, born in 1754, whose first poem here was published in 1807 and strongly recalls Pope. The last poet is Edwin Arlington Robinson, born in 1869, whose last poem here was published in 1897 and who clearly points to twentieth-century Modernism. Editors William C. Spengemann and Jessica F. Roberts wisely focus on poets still widely read, which means that Whitman, Dickinson, and Melville make up about half the anthology. However, they correctly note that we cannot gauge their full impact or greatness without comparing them to contemporaries, and we thus get a strong selection of continuously read ones like William Cullen Bryant, Emerson, Longfellow, John Greenleaf Whittier, Poe, Holmes, Thoreau, and Lowell. Most of these were incredibly popular in their day - far more so than the trio dominating the book. This collection shows that their greatness still shines through, but many will think them well below the trinity or the greatest later writers, which makes this very valuable comparative reading. There are also several lesser-known writers - Jones Very, Frederick Goddard Tuckerman, Sarah Morgan Bryan Piatt, and Sidney Lanier - who are at least as good as the ostensible second tier. Tuckerman and Piatt, the latter of whom is especially obscure, were major finds for me. I was entranced by their poetry and look forward to reading more; I am very grateful to this book for introducing them to me, as many others will surely be. This edition's substantial supplemental material is also very valuable. The Introduction is one of the most thoughtful, measured, and helpful I have ever read. It is a useful overview from several angles, most interestingly the concept of nineteenth-century American poetry itself. For poetry enthusiasts, especially those keen on the era or critical theory, the book is worth buying for the Introduction alone. Each poet is also preceded by a short biography; these are quite helpful, especially for lesser-known writers, but they are not as good as the Introduction, often leaving out valuable information and sometimes containing errors. We also get several hundred very brief endnotes, which are again helpful but probably inadequate for absolute beginners, plus a very short bibliography. All told, anyone wanting a nineteenth-century American poetry introduction would do well to get this.

I love poetry and this Book on nineteenth century american classics is must have for any one who reads books. This is a keeper and a collectors must have book. M coleman

This anthology contains a varied selection of close to twenty American nineteenth century poets. It gives the greatest amount of space to Whitman, Dickinson, and Melville. It also contains poems by Emerson, Thoreau, Longfellow, Bryant, Crane, Whittier and others less well- known. My own feeling about nineteenth century poetry is that however interesting individual poems by a number of these poets may be there are two giants, who have their place, among the giants of world - poetry. Whitman who truly defined the American voice and soul in poetry, and Dickinson whose unique language and voice are so metaphorically distinct contain together the true greatness of nineteenth century American poetry. And this anthology does wisely in presenting such a generous sample of both of their works.