A historic anthology that rediscovers—and redefines—America's poetic heritage. "The scale here is unprecedented, and the spectrum broad, inclusive and generous. The effect is breathtaking: it brilliantly illuminates the shifting substance of American Poetry." --Publishers Weekly
Between 1900 and the end of World War II, American poetry was entirely transformed, producing a body of work of worldwide influence. The first half of a projected four-volume series, American Poetry: Twentieth, Volumes I and II, gathers nearly 1,500 poems by over 200 poets.
Presented in full are some of the most influential works of this century: T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land and Hart Crane's The Bridge. In addition to generous selections from Robert Frost, Gertrude Stein, Wallace Stevens, William Carlos Williams, Marianne Moore, Langston Hughes, H.D., and Elizabeth Bishop, there are undervalued poets like Mina Loy, Witter Bynner and Louis Zukofsky, the wit of Dorothy Parker and Ogden Nash, the blues poetry of Ma Rainey and Robert Johnson, the stark classicism of Yvor Winters.
Both volumes include newly-researched biographical sketches of each poet, extensive notes, and an essay on textual selection. Headed by Geoffrey O'Brien, Editor-in-Chief of The Library of America, the advisory board for American Poetry included the distinguished poets and scholars Robert Hass, John Hollander, Carolyn Kizer, Nathaniel Mackey, and Marjorie Perloff.
Library of America, Hardcover