Michael Schmidt presents in this book the essential poems of the major poets of the 20th and 21st centuries. Included are 50 poets including Robert Frost, W,B. Yeats, Kipling, Pound, T.S Eliot, e.e. cummings, Langston Hughes, Elizabeth Bishop, Allen Ginsberg, Sylvia Plath, Auden, Dylan Thomas, D.H. Lawrence, and many others. His introduction provides a general historical backdrop of poetry through history; and leads the reader to an understanding of how explosive was the emergence of the late 1800's and early 1900's combustion between social, economic, revolutionary and industrial events. He speaks of the many groups who emerged to "create" what no one knew was "Modernism" at the time. As the "beat generation" of the 40's and 50's had no idea their howling pained readings was another movement.
What Schmidt does is examine poets beginning with Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) to offer insight into the themes and backgrounds of the poet's work. He presents examples of famous and not so famous examples of a poet's work. Each poet is discussed in relation to the time and circumstances of hi/her life. The anthology is a progressive telling of history beginning with World War I and continuing to the late 1960's. Many of those named are not famous. Yet, they are included due to their subtle refining or inventing new spectrums and departures from the old poets. In the back of this book is a tremendous Glossary of poetic terms, Movements, schools of thought including The Harlem Renaissance, The Imagists, The New York Poets, The Objectivists, The Black Mountain Poets; as well as poetic terms such as "prosody', "free verse" etc. The bonus to this anthology is the CD disc packaged with it. There the reader may hear the great poets reading their work. It is astounding to hear William Carlos Williams read "The Red Wheelbarrow" or Sylvia Plath's witty, sarcastic, bitter, poisonous rampage toward her father, "Daddy". Schmidt emphasizes that a poem is "sound" for the 20th century radicals, anger spit, screams tolling, even those softest readings of Robert Frost are as gentle and humanistic as the man himself.

Any person moved by reading, literature, history, social struggle; and to poets, smash poets, open mike performers, the next generation who will be fascinated by the history that paved their way.

The biographical background of each poet, learning that famous poets mentored those who later became famous. Also The backgrounds help the author examine what each poet was striving to become. The CD is phenomenal to hear, you don't need to read along.

loved it, and the book has been read and re-read often.

Be better in my writing, my poetry.

excited, some poems bored me, yet they made sense for the times. The brilliant poems I read and listen to over and often.

There is no background on the author, but his writing style and empathy for some of even the most notorious ill-tempered, ego-centric human beings who ever lived is a compliment to the author.

As so many now examine themselves, rap, sing the blues, and self examine their world and themselves, this oral spoken word CD and insight into the struggle of the pioneering first underclass screaming for change, will give new writers mentors, heroes to imitate and so continue the sound of word.

Excellent book; dynamic spoken word.

Terrific over-sided book to add to your poetry shelf.

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Created Feb 29, 2012 at 9:43am • Submit your own review...