Customer Reviews

Six American Poets: An Anthology

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"Six American Poets," edited by Joel Conarroe, represents an interesting concept in a poetry anthology. Rather than cover a large number of poets who are represented by just a few poems each, Conarroe decided to focus on six pivotal United States poets and to offer a healthy sampling of some of their most compelling work. Happily, Conarroe succeeds in compiling an excellent volume.

The anthology starts off with the lusty humanism of Walt Whitman and the passionate wit of Emily Dickinson, and then presents some of the choicest fruits from the work of four 20th century greats: Wallace Stevens, William Carlos Williams, Robert Frost, and Langston Hughes. Along the way are some real masterpieces: Stevens' "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird," WCW's poem about the "red wheel / barrow," Frost's "Mending Wall," Hughes' "Mother to Son," and many more.

As a whole, a wonderful variety of poetic forms and themes are represented. The concise but substantial author bios are another strong point of this volume. This book is a wonderful choice both for classroom use and for general reading. You also might want to check out this book's companion volume, "Eight American Poets," also edited by Conarroe.

This volume of six major American poets should be considered a must-have for anyone with even a vague interest in American poetry. These are the giants in the American pantheon, and Conarroe knows just how to introduce them to the casual reader.

Unlike most anthologies, the number of poets is limited but a generous representation of their work is included along with an informative biography of each poet. This was the first book of poetry I ever owned. I now own a bookshelf full thanks to the introduction to poetry this little book provided to me.

Jeremy W. Forstadt

This is a really wonderful anthology, gathering together many distinct voices from American poetry and putting them together in one great book. American poets of the 19th century and the 20th century are represented, including such major voices as Dickinson, Whitman, Frost, Hughes, and Williams. Before each of their poetry, there is a brief and welcome introduction with important facts on each poet. Being an American currently in Japan, it was nice to be able to read this book! It reminded me of my sorely missed land! I am glad I came across this treasure.

Item arrived much earlier than the "delivery estimate" date and in condition described by seller. I'm very satisfied.

I was assingned this book for a college class expecting it to be extremely boring, but i found once i opened the first page my prior expectations were wrong. Its very informational in the sense that it tells a little about the poet's life. The poems are very stimulating and interesting

This contains the entire works of six influential and distinctly American poets. A compilation of the works of Langston Hughes, Whitman, Frost, Stevens, William Carlos Williams, and Dickinson. This anthology was the result of the efforts of Joel Conarroe, who provides a great down-to-earth introduction as to why he put this together, and what influence poetry has had in his life. While a freshman in college decades ago, a classmate and mentor gave him some off the cuff advice that Conarroe would follow for the rest of his life. Before each author's segment there is a biography describing their life, motivations, and outlook. The book's size is smaller than most hardbacks, making it easy to take on trips both short and long.