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All right. Yes, it is I, who for so many years confessed to abhor poetry (all except Shakespeare, Wigglesworth, T.S. Eliot, Keats, and, eventually, Dylan Thomas). It is with chagrin and shamefacedness that I now allow that there is quite a bit of good poetry in the world, both published and amatueur, much of it, due to God's impressive sense of humor, I now teach to seventh-grade literature students. I am nonetheless still bitter and opinionated on most poetic subjects, so this page remains:
There is no help for it; I simply must begin with the greatest of them all, Master Willam Shakespeare (1564-1616). Suggested Reading:
Sonnet 29
1599. Not a poet but a poem, by Christopher Marlowe (1564-1693), replied to by Sir Walter Raleigh (1552-1618) and John Donne (1572-1631), plus half a score of their less-well-known contemporaries.
The Passionate Shepherd to His Love
The Nymph's reply to the Shepherd
The Bait
Michael Wigglesworth (1631-1705) may be the only American poet from before about 1800 that I can stand. I fell enraptured by the only poem I've ever read of his,
The Day of Doom
Another poet from the English Isles whom I especially adore is John Keats (1795-1821). I once memorized a sonnet of his, which was incredible fun:
When I have fears that I may cease to be
And I never thought I'd say this, but W. B. Yeats (1865-1939) has done some really fun stuff as well, which I learned in my Yeats, Joyce, and Beckett class.
Aedh Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven
Okay, yes, T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) is considered by some to be an American poet (he was born there), but I, along with quite a few critics, believe him to be British. I think I like him mainly for the cat poems. And his other poems.
Growltiger's Last Stand
Old Gumbie Cat
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
Dylan Thomas, Irish poet, (1914-1953) may be one of my all-time favorite poets, probably because he, for a time, wrote quite a bit on death. My favorite?
And Death Shall Have No Dominion
Recently, after reading Seamus Heaney's (1939-) version of Beowulf, I've gained a much greater apreciation for his abilities. He has some nice original stuff as well.