The Best American Erotic Poems: From 1800 to the Present

This is a great volume of erotic poetry for lover of the genre. I could not recommend it highly enough. Befitting the subject matter some of the poems are very funny too.

If you are looking for titillation this is not the place. If you are looking for an historical review of the genre then here it is. The poems are arranged chronologically by authors' birth date so the history is of the development of erotic thought. You can see not only development of eroticism but you get a good feeling for what was allowable at changing times. Here are all types of poems; sonnets, prose poems, rhymes, free verse, some very short, some several pages. They are uniformly good, some really excellent. And they all have the central erotic theme in common. Most delve the relationships and deep feelings of men and women but there is a reasonable sampling of men and men and women and women, as well as one or two fantasies. The historical perspective is important and the development of erotic poetry is well displayed. As usual Lehman's selection seems very good. You are sure to find some favorites. If you are interested in intellectual and artistic eroticism you will something of interest here.

I am normally not a big fan of poetry anthologies, as I much prefer poet specific work, but in this case I will have to make an exception and very much recommend this little offering. This volume contains over 130 works, and includes such poets/authors as Frances Scot Key (love his "On a Young Lady's Going into a Shower Bath"), Poe, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson (you cannot beat the eight lines in "Come slowly - Eden!" #211), Gertrude Stein, William Carlos Williams, E.E. Cummings, Millay, Tennessee Williams, Sylvia Plath and many, many other well known writers, as well as many, many not so well known. The introduction by David Lehman, is a work within itself and if it were longer, would be worth reading as a separate volume. Some of these poems are good, some not so good and few....! Now that being said, I am a very strong believer that poetry is completely a matter of taste. If I do not like a specific work, that does not make it bad in any way or form. Likewise, if I find a poem that I think is the beginning and end of all great poetic work that does not mean that the man or women setting next to me will roll their eyes back in complete despair and never read another line of that particular author again. As I said, I very much feel that poetry, like art, is a selfish thing and to each his own. But you're talking to a guy here that likes the poems of Kipling, Browning, Thackeray, Longfellow Yeats, Servant, and yes, even Rod McKuen...no snob here! This is not a book filled with a bunch of dirty ditties, nor is it a collection of work that you would find on just about every wall of every truck stop restroom in the country. This is not a book filled with nasty, but funny, limericks nor is it filled with poems that are so vague that most readers would have problems figuring just what the poet or poetess was talking about. What this work is, is a collection of erotic poem dating back to 1980 and working through the present. Quite a number of styles and forms are used here, from the formal, to the ode, to the sonnet, and to free verse (the more modern offerings are more free verse than the rest; big surprise, huh?) and the subject matter covers the entire gambit from illicit love, to gay, lesbian, marital, casual encounter, and unending and enduring love and lust. I liked and enjoyed the variety. I did note, and I think this is why an anthology works so well here, that women are in general better at this genre than are men; more sensitive, and indeed, more graphic. I also noted that the minds of the man or woman of over 100 years ago was just as erotic as that of those today, actually even more so in many ways, to my way of thinking. Anyone interested in this sort of work could do worse than this volume. I am glad I have this one on my shelf. Don Blankenship The Ozarks

I checked this book out from the library and after renewing it twice, I figured I ought to break down and buy it. And I did because, happily, it's out in paperback. Readers, this book was/is NOT a waste of money, no sireeee. It's loaded with passion, veiled hot passages, steamy yearnings, wit, angst, lust/love and even a funny poem that made me laugh out loud. My copy is hilighted and dog-eared and indispensable. I even sent a spanking new copy to a good friend for her upcoming birthday in July. (Don't buy this book if you're a reviewing friend of mine who loves poetry....you know who you are! LOL!) It's winging its way to you even as I write this review. Anthologies are the way to go. This one is like a ten course meal with the finest wine and deserts. Buy it, read it, praise it to every poetry lover you know.

This book is indeed a feast between the book covers, and reading the poems will make you want to dive under the covers with your beloved! My copy has been in my hand only a month, and already the pages are becoming dog-earred and the highlighting is prominent. Many anthologies of erotic/love poems contain so much similar material, but this one introduces the reader to many fine but often too little considered erotic poems and poets. Therein lies its greatest value, at least to me. The enthuiastic introduction by editor David Lehman is alone worth the price of the book. I am confident that readers will join me in eagerly looking for a second volume in the near future. In summary, I have the very highest praise for this good anthology, as it has helped me to write better erotic poems. I give this book 5 stars, with a cherry on top!