The Poetry Reader

You have picked up this book because you are a poetry reader. Or you are about to be one. Because as soon as you read a poem that''s what you are.Filled with the profound the lyrical the consoling and the curious The Poetry Reader: An Anthology is the book you would hope to find if you washed up alone on a deserted island: this companionable collection shows how poetry itself is a discussion alive and flowing and how poems speak to with and sometimes over one another. If you are a teacher this is the anthology you wish you had as a student a text that doesn''t try to survey entire time periods or aesthetic areas but one that places side-by-side carefully selected poems that speak to each other over time as well as to today''s readers. - Section header notes provide critical commentary framing the poems within their given topic- Discussion and writing suggestions give interesting and actionable prompts- Works as a standalone book or can easily be used alongside Poetry: A Survivor''s Guide 2nd ed.Drawing on traditional poems and contemporary works this anthology offers globe-spanning stylistically diverse poetry ranging from canonical poems by the likes of Sappho and Shakespeare to those of new voices such as Layli Long Soldier and Mukoma wa Ngugi. As a compact eclectic and approachable collection based on specific aspects of poetry and poetic practices from identity and metaphor to sublimation and spirituality The Poetry Reader acts as a guide to understanding the essentials of both reading and writing poetry.