The Poetry Book

An accessible guide to the most important poems ever written – from the Epic of Gilgamesh to An Arundel Tomb – and the poets behind them

Discover the key themes and ideas behind the most important poems ever written, and the poetic geniuses who wrote them.

The perfect introduction to poetry, The Poetry Book takes you on a fascinating journey through time to explore more than 90 of the world’s greatest poetic works.

Discover poems in all their many guises, from the epics of the ancient world through Renaissance sonnets to modernist masterpieces such as The Waste Land, and the key works of the last 50 years – such as And Still I Rise by Maya Angelou and Derek Walcott’s Omeros.

Using the Big Ideas series’ trademark combination of clear explanation, witty infographics, and inspirational quotes, The Poetry Book unlocks the key ideas, themes, imagery, and structural techniques behind even the most complex of poems, in clear and simple terms, setting each work in its historical, social, cultural, and literary context.

Delve into the works of Dante, Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Dickinson, Eliot, and Neruda with in-depth literary analysis and fascinating biographies. Find out what odes, ballads, and allegories are. Trace recurring motifs, explore imagery, and discover how rhyme and rhythm work.

From The Iliad to Seamus Heaney’s Casualty, The Poetry Book is essential reading for lovers of poetry and aspiring poets alike.