The Concise Columbia Book of Poetry: The Top 100 Poems in English

by William Harmon (Editor)

Gathers the greatest short poems in English, including works by Shakespeare, Blake, Keats, Frost, Donne, Wordsworth, Browning, Yeats, Eliot, Dickinson, Poe, Tennyson, Auden, Emerson, and Milton

Genres: Poetry, Classics

250 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1990

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not typically a fan of poetry. That said, the author / compiler of this collection provided helpful introductions to each poem. Some I really enjoyed - my favorite was The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, which, interestingly, was also the longest poem in the collection. Many I didn't understand at all - no need to name them. I'm better off for having struggled my way through this book.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this anthology. The clever Edwin Arlington Robinson poem "Mr. Floods Party", the chilling "My Last Duchess" by Robert Browning and Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Ode to the West Wind" were all very good. My favorites were the amazing "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and the somber "Anthem for Doomed Youth" by Wilfred Owen.

[SaraKat · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is called "The Top 100 Poems" as a subtitle. I'm not sure what they are the top of. Some of the poems were familiar and some weren't. There were long introductions to each poem that didn't say much about the actual poem but instead focused on historical influences and how the poem relates to others.

[Prayerpilgrim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is definitely one of the finest collections of poems in English I have read. So many of the most important, most quoted, most anthologized and most loved poems are contained herein. This volume is a must for students. I cannot understand why it is out of print!

[Jackie Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do not typically like poetry but there were so many good poems in this compilation. It was truly enjoyable