The Norton Anthology of Modern & Contemporary Poetry, Vol 2: Contemporary Poetry

by Jahan Ramazani (Editor), Richard Ellmann (Editor), Robert O'Clair (Editor)

Thirty years later, this innovative, cover-to-cover revision renders with fresh eyes and meticulous care the remarkable range of styles, subjects, and voices in English-language poetry. The newly titled Norton Anthology of Modern and Contemporary Poetry now available in two paperback volumes includes 1,596 poems by 195 poets (half of the poems are new), from Walt Whitman and Thomas Hardy in the late nineteenth century to Anne Carson and Sherman Alexie in the twenty-first. The Norton Anthology of Modern and Contemporary Poetry continues to be the most comprehensive collection of twentieth-century poetry in English. It richly represents the major figures, while also giving full voice to ethnic American poetries, experimental traditions, postcolonial poetry, and the long poem, eclipsing all other anthologies in scope, clarity, and balance."

Genres: Poetry, Anthologies, School, Literature

1280 pages, Paperback

First published March 2, 2003

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Should you read this book? A helpful list of Pros and Cons.
Pros:
-You get an excellent overview of ground-breaking, influential poetry written from 1940 to the new
millennium.
-Huge range of poetic styles; if you don't like what you're reading it will be different in at most 5
pages
-Includes bios of each poet at the beginning of their section so you can learn a little about their
lives, what influenced their writing, and how many awards they won.
-Good range of diversity in ethnicity and sexuality
-Copious footnotes explaining terms and historical events

Cons
-over 1000 pages of poetry followed by 100 pages of essays
-footnotes can be inconsistent: repeatedly explaining a basic definition that is used by multiple
authors in multiple poems but not explaining a much more obscure word that is only used once
-I feel the fact that this is over 1000 pages of poems bears repeating

In short: If you've got lots of time on your hands and want to get a really solid idea of who the current poets are and the works of the last half-century this could be the book for you. Find it at your local library and be prepared to renew it at least twice. Maybe read just two poems per poet, and do all the submissions for the ones you especially enjoyed. Because this is a lot of poetry.

[E · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started this on February 10, 2010 and pledged to have read every line of poetry by the year's end. With twenty-four hours to spare, I made it and am feeling rather giddy. Rarely should poetry feel like work, but this thing is the phonebook of lyricism.

As I had hoped, I discovered many great voices that managed to elude my college education (Marge Piercy, Charles Bernstein, Yusef Komunyakaa, Medbh McGuckian). But I was truly surprised to see the book live up to its name as a compendium of post-WII language arts by NOT being filled with just the white guys of England and America. Male, female and LGBT writers from Africa, the Carribbean, Ireland and the American Indian nations are in abundance, and while I cannot judge if their numbers are in any way representative, I know they have never before been afforded so much space alongside the household names of anglophony. Even more pleasing was the nearly equal attention given to both the People's Poets and the Intellectuals. In my college experience, these two poetic approaches were often at odds, with one side screaming, "OUT-OF-TOUCH!" and the other sighing, "FLAKY..." Camus said, "True artists scorn nothing," and while I hated his books, I have to agree with the sentiment, if nothing to get the snobs who boycott to admit they're missing out on half the fun. As much work as it was, this volume was fun.

Please don't ask me if I've read the other volume.

[Miguel Vega · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually really liked this anthology and as a student, that is something to say. Really liked this class as a whole (ENG 443, Contemporary-American Poetry) and I have to say this introduced me to many new favorites such as Anne Sexton, Frank O' Hara, Gary Soto, Lorna Dee Cervantes, Amiri Baraka, etc. Recommend if you like poetry.

[Dalton Akos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ever been so down bad that you read an entire volume of poetry? Yeah, me neither.

Favorite poems included. The Fish by Elizabeth Bishop, A Young Girl With A Pitcher of Water by David Wagoner, Crow’s First Lesson by Ted Hughes, and Meditation are Lagunitas by Robert Hass.

[G.D. Master · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The Norton Anthology of Modern and Contemporary Poetry” is a two volume set: Volume 1, modern poetry; and Volume 2, contemporary poetry. The volumes are demarcated by the end of World War II: modern poetry being pre-war poets and contemporary poetry being post-war poets. The volumes are divided into chapters containing chosen works from a single poet. Chapters appear in chronological order of authorial birth dates. Each chapter begins with an introduction containing a short biography of a poet and ending with a brief summary of the poet’s most prominent poetic techniques. At the end of each volume of the anthology are sections dedicated to essays on poetic technique written by some of the volume’s poets. For academics and recreational readers, these volumes contain poetry that is not too difficult to read, but like any academic works, the poems in this anthology will challenge readers and offer endless material for criticism and literary dialogue. To read the entire anthology takes a great amount of time. They exceed 1,000 pages each. For poets and other writers, returning to these volumes is a productive way of initiating intellectual creativity and discovering various ways of approaching literature and poetry. Some owners of this anthology may habitually return to it for inspiration and to jog their memories about obscure material and creative ideas.

Some of the most well-known authors in volume 2 are: Robert Lowell, Gwendolyn Brooks, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Louise Bennett, Philip Larkin, A. R. Ammons, Allen Ginsberg, Anne Sexton, Adrienne Rich, Derek Walcott, Gary Snyder, Kamau Brathwaite, Sylvia Plath, Mark Strand, and Seamus Heaney. Two of the most interesting works on poetic inspiration in the essay section at the end of volume 2 are Philip Larkin’s abridged introduction from “All What Jazz,” and a transcript from a radio interview with Louise Bennett titled “Jamaica Language.”

It is not uncommon to find “The Norton Anthology of Modern and Contemporary Poetry” in college poetry courses or on the shelves of instructors and published or aspiring poets. To say that this anthology is a must have for writers may be a stretch, but it has definitely become a fixture in modern academics and having it on your shelf or at arm’s length can be a greater help than sorting through all the works of all the authors that it contains. Like other anthologies, its comprehensive function is limited, but its general information and ease of reference is habit forming and more constructive than searching for material in such a vast art form as poetry.

[Serena Baker · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was OK. It explains the poets that are being talked about and I did only read part of it for school, but I went through and read other parts. The poems are a little dry for my taste of poetry but again older Text sometimes are a bit bland in my personal opinion.

[Rachel]

Oh man, do I hate anthologies.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I figured it would be good to catch up.