The Voice That Is Great Within Us: American Poetry of the Twentieth Century (Bantam Classics)

I travel a lot, flying mostly for business, not pleasure. This little book is something I keep in my carry-on bag. It is small, inexpensive to replace, and presents a range of voices. That it comprises the personal choices of one editor gives it a voice of its own, which a fully general anthology of American poetry is bound to lack. Once getting ready at the last minute for an overseas flight, I could not find my passport. I almost panicked, but this little book proved itself a special friend - I was making sure that it was in my bag, and found my passport left inside as a bookmark.

The book was in excellent condition. It was sent on time. Outstanding.

Hayden Carruth is a poet of distinction who has shown great generosity of spirit in reading and publishing the work of other writers. In this collection of modern American poetry he begins with Robert Frost and comes up until the 1970's including the work of a wide range of poets. My one reservation with the anthology is that for a number of poets who I particularly like, I am thinking of Wallace Stevens especially, the poems here are not the ones I would have chosen. Nonetheless anyone who wishes to get a real acquaintance with twentieth - century American poetry would not go wrong starting with this anthology.

I purchased this anthology because I love poetry and because I wanted a primer for some college American lit classes. I did get a good book out of the deal, but the latter expectation was never fully satisfied. If you're deciding whether to invest in a collection of "American Poetry of the Twentieth Century," there are some things to consider.First, it should more aptly be subtitled, "American Poetry of the Mid-Twentieth Century." This anthology was compiled in 1970 with the bulk of its poetry originally published in the 1950s and 1960s (some from a couple decades before). As a result, it's top heavy with Frost, Cummings, W.C. Williams, and Roethke, et al. Naturally this isn't a tremendous problem, but it did make me wonder, for example, why Langston Hughes enjoys a scant two pages of recognition out of more than 700 pages of poetry! Another thing I found was that though this anthology earns points for sheer volume of work, tens of American lit classes later, I have yet to run across many of the authors. While I admittedly was not alive for any of the original publications, clearly most of the writing, however unfortunate, has not survived the passing of time. Thus a twenty-first century reader may find the collection rather dated.All this said though, I still recommend this anthology because it is, simply, a collection of good poetry. Some of the more famous poems from some of the more famous authors are curiously absent, but again, this isn't a substitute for the Norton Anthology. In fact, I discovered a wealth of good twentieth century American writing that has escaped the Norton and Heath publishers. Most of the work is modern with a few pieces creeping into the shadow of post-modernity. Small biographies are provided for each author. An academic primer you won't end up with, but for all other purposes, this is a sound collection.

I recently purchased my second one of these, because I wore out the first one.Even if you are untrained in poetry, as I am, (even if you are an engineer, as I am), you will find poems in here that will move you, thrill you, and make you sigh.See how much language can transcend words. It opened my eyes.