April Is National Poetry Month
In 1996, The Academy of American Poets established April as National Poetry Month. They’ve suggested thirty ways to celebrate, one for each day of the month. Today’s suggestion is to read a book of poetry. Here are some great places to start:
Anthologies:
- Committed to Memory: 100 Best Poems to Memorize edited by John Hollander – One of the greatest selections of poetry ever. Divided into Sonnets, Songs, Counsels, Tales, and Meditations.
- Good Poems edited by Garrison Keillor – A diverse collection of almost 300 poems read by Keillor on “The Writer’s Almanac.”
- The Premiere Book of Major Poets edited by Anita Dore – Essential collection of poems “from the Middle Ages to the Modern day.”
- Joyce Kilmer’s Anthology of Catholic Poets – An older collection, but worth reading.
Specific Authors:
- The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson – Over 1700 poems. Read a poem a day for four and a half years, then start over again.
- Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman – Includes “Song of Myself,” “I Hear American Singing,” “O Captain! My Captain!” Perhaps my favorite poet.
- Collected Poems, 1909-1962 by T.S. Eliot – Features “The Waste Land,” “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” “Ash Wednesday,” “The Hollow Men,” “Journey of the Magi.” I could study a line a day, and still there would be more for me to learn from Eliot.
- Poems and Prose by Gerard Manley Hopkins – Includes “God’s Grandeur,” “Inversnaid,” “The Windhover,” “Pied Beauty.”
- The Poetry of Robert Frost, Complete and Unabridged – “Mending Wall,” “The Road Not Taken,” “Nothing Gold Can Stay,” and others.
