Publisher Description

Here in one volume are the top one hundred poems, as determined by a survey of more than 1,000 anthologies-the poems in English most frequently anthologized, the poems with the broadest, most enduring appeal. From Shakespeare to Dickinson to Frost, from sonnets to odes to villanelles, William Harmon's Classic Hundred Poems offers a feast for poetry lovers.

This book updates the first edition by presenting the new top one hundred poems, nineteen of which were not in the first edition. The revised edition is arranged chronologically, and features new commentary and notes on verse form, as well as an index of the poems in order of popularity, notes on words and proper names, and a bibliography for each poet and each poem. A glossary of terms, author index, and index of titles and first lines are also included.

From Keats' "To Autumn," now ranked as the number-one poem in this collection, to George Herbert's "Virtue," in the hundredth spot, every poem is illuminated by Harmon's informative notes. With insights into the historical period in which each poem was written, the verse form used, and connections among poems, this is the ideal introduction to poetry, as well as a treasury for the dedicated reader.

Author Biography

William Harmon is the James Gordon Hanes Professor of English at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He is the editor of The Top 500 Poems (Columbia), The Oxford Book of American Light Verse, and recent editions of A Handbook to Literature, and the author of several volumes of poetry, including winners of the Lamont Award and the William Carlos Williams Award.

Table of Contents

Preface Anonymous Sir Thomas Wyatt Sir Walter Ralegh Sir Philip Sidney Christopher Marlowe William Shakespeare John Donne Ben Jonson Robert Herrick George Herbert Thomas Carew Edmund Waller John Milton Sir John Suckling Richard Lovelace Andrew Marvell Henry Vaughan Thomas Gray William Blake Robert Burns William Wordsworth Samuel Taylor Coleridge George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron Percy Bysshe Shelley John Keats Elizabeth Barrett Browning Edgar Allan Poe Alfred, Lord Tennyson Robert Browning Arthur Hugh Clough Julia Ward Howe Matthew Arnold Emily Dickinson Lewis Carroll Thomas Hardy Gerard Manley Hopkins William Butler Yeats Ernest Dowson Edwin Arlington Robinson Walter de la Mare Robert Frost T.S. Elliot Wilfred Owen W. H. Auden Theodore Roethke Randall Jarrell Dylan Thomas Notes on the Poems Glossary of Technical Terms Further Reading The Poems in Order of Popularity Index of Poets Index of Titles and First Lines Acknowledgments

Review

" The Classic Hundred is fascinating, and I have much enjoyed just turning pages... [The poems are] charmingly presented by a very perspicacious host and poet, William Harmon." -- Robert Creeley "It's fascinating to open this book and discover which... poems have been favored over the years... William Harmon's comments on the poems are just right: bright, brief, and appreciative." -- Richard Wilbur

Promotional

Now in its second edition, The Classic Hundred Poems presents the most anthologized poems in the English language in chronological order. Complete with detailed, informative notes; bibliographic information on poems and poets; a glossary of terms; and author, title, and first line indexes, The Classic Hundred Poems is a treasured resource for students, teachers, and poetry enthusiasts.

Review Quote

"Why did no one think of this before? The 100 English and American poems in this juicy anthology were chosen not by the error-prone mind of some fastidious critic but by a simple, objective appeal to vox populi." -- New York Times Book Review (of the 1st edition)

Promotional "Headline"

Now in its second edition, The Classic Hundred Poems presents the most anthologized poems in the English language in chronological order. Complete with detailed, informative notes; bibliographic information on poems and poets; a glossary of terms; and author, title, and first line indexes, The Classic Hundred Poems is a treasured resource for students, teachers, and poetry enthusiasts.

Details