Presenting a broad range of fully annotated selections from the long history of poetry in English, this anthology provides a rich and extensive resource for teaching traditional canons and forms as well as experimental and alternate trajectories (such as Language poetry and prose poetry). In addition to a chronological table of contents suited to a literary-historical course framework, the volume offers a list of conceptual and thematic teaching units called “Poems in Conversation.” Instructors will find the Conversations helpful for lesson plans; students will find them equally helpful as a resource for presentation and paper topics. Headnotes to each poet are designed to be useful to both instructors and students in the classroom: for instructors new to particular poets, the headnotes will provide helpful grounding in the most current scholarship; for students, they will provide frameworks and explanations to help them approach unfamiliar texts.

As a unique feature in the current market, this anthology also incorporates contemporary song lyrics from alternative, indie, rap, and hip-hop songs, fully integrated into the Conversations as rich material for teaching in the under­graduate classroom.