The Wadsworth Anthology of Poetry [With CDROM]

by Jay Parini

Book Overview

Whether you are teaching a traditional or an online course, or just exploring a new interest, Poetry21 provides everything you'll need-from over 400 poems with background information on the poets, to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1413004733
• ISBN13: 9781413004731
• Release Date: April 2005
• Publisher: Cengage Learning
• Length: 1760 Pages
• Weight: 3.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.9" x 6.5" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

the best anthology

The Norton or the Wadsworth: that is the question. Actually, it's not a question at all - the Wadsworth is the better choice by far. For many years now the Norton has been the major poetry anthology in many colleges and universities throughout the country, as ubiquitous as Wal-Mart and Wendy's. No doubt it has certain virtues, but its numerous vices, I think, tip the scales in the opposite direction. Basically, the Norton is just a chronological roster of famous poets and famous blurbs, a who's who directory rather than a real textbook; it treats individual artists separately, as if they wrote in total isolation of each other. A few pages on Milton, a few pages on Wordsworth, but it doesn't say (or show) how, for example, the former influenced the latter. The Wadsworth Anthology of Poetry (ed., Jay Parini) is a different matter altogether, totally worth its small wad of cash. Instead of enumerating poets simply because they happen to be famous, the Wadsworth focuses on the relationships between various texts and the continuity of poetic traditions. Parini takes us on a wild ride through the history of the elegy, the sonnet, blank verse - you name it. Texts talk to each other, chatter, argue, scream. Each and every section is prefaced by an informative and easy to understand introduction, so that the whole book makes a wonderful teaching tool for intro level English courses; it is also an indispensable companion for every serious poet. Footnotes are clear, concise, and kept to a minimum. My personal favorite is the last section, "Poets in Dialogue", where you can read, for example, Andrew Marvell's "Picture of Little T.C. in a Prospect of Flowers" together with Ashbery's "Picture of Little J.A. in a Prospect of Flowers." Awesome! The CD is also a small treasure. It includes short biographical sketches, some great video from slam poetry contests, and mp3s of poets reading their own poems (Yeats, Heaney, Frost, Williams, etc.) Definitely the best anthology out there.

Much stronger than any other anthology.

The folks at Wadsworth have crafted an impressive anthology. Parini's selections are broadly representative of the history of poetry -- without being reductive or limiting. The anthology's structure is perhaps its strongest point. The poems are organized thematically. All love poems in one chapter. All poems about loss and longing in another chapter. And every chapter is also chronological. Curious about the development of the sonnet from 1600 to 2005? That information is easy to find. Wadsworth will undoubtedly become the frontrunner in the poetry anthology marketplace with this well-planned, compelling book.

Seeing Poetry Steadily and Seeing It Whole

Parini's anthology is a teaching book and should turn silent classroom hours into moments quick with thought and interest. Unlike so many anthologies broken by the constraints of time periods, this book is organized along lines of influence. As a result students can trace the evolution or non-evolution of form and techinique, for example, the sonnet and free verse. The possibilities of lively jutapositions should make classes hum. Additionally, the selections are right up to date. For example Heaney's fine BEOWULF appears. Introductions to the sections are concise and bright. In short this is a book that students and teachers will enjoy and from which both will learn.

A very welcome arrangement

This is, without a doubt, the best anthology of poetry available. Students, teachers, general readers and poets themselves will benefit from this collection's arrangement. I believe it is the only one avaliable that presents poems by genre, theme and tradition. And the range of poems Parini included is quite unusual in its breadth. This instructive and entertaining anthology belongs not only in classrooms but also in the libraries of all who value the finest in poetry and scholarship.

A remarkable new anthology

I used this book for a class, and found it extremely entertaining and informative. Most anthologies are arranged in mere chronological order, by date of birth of the poet -- as in the Norton Anthology. Parini has arranged these poems by their tradition, by their form, by subject matter, often including poems not in any other anthologies. The introductory matter is concise and immensely helpful for students. The footnotes are kept to a minumum, except in case such as Chaucer, where a great deal of annotation is required. The footnotes are generally apt and accurate. This is a welcome addition to the shelf of poetry anthologies, and one I would recommend to teachers.