A Treasury of Poems: A Collection of the World's Most Famous and Familiar Verse

by Sarah Anne Stuart (Editor)

More than 400 great poets in one value-priced volume.

With nearly 440 poems by such greats as Plato, Shakespeare, Bryon, Keats, Christina Rossetti, Wilde, Dickinson, Emily Bronte, Sandburg, and more, this invaluable compendium captures the full breadth of human experience and emotions. The well-loved verses that fill these pages cover such universal topics as Aging, Beauty, Bereavement, Brotherhood, Celebration, Courage, Greed, Faith, Farewells, Friendship, Fun, and of course, Love. Here are such favorites as Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” and Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” T.S. Eliot’s “The Hollow Men,” with its haunting verbal images, captures the emptiness of disillusionment, while Alexander Pope’s “Epigram” (“You beat your pate, and fancy wit will / Knock as you please, there’s nobody at home”) offers pure, wry amusement. Everyone who appreciates the power of words to reaffirm the soul and express the deepest and most intimate of feelings will treasure these masterpieces.




Growing old / Ella Wheeler Wilcox --
The Oak / Alfred, Lord Tennyson --
The old familiar faces / Charles Lamb --
'Tis the last rose of summer / Thomas Moore --
The old song / Charles Kingsley --
When you are old / William Butler Yeats --
Terminus / Ralph Waldo Emerson --
She walks in beauty / George Gordon, Lord Byron --
Beauty is not bound / Thomas Campion --
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? / William Shakespeare --
Ode on a Grecian urn / John Keats --
Death, be not proud / John Donne --
Requiescat / Matthew Arnold --
The stone / Wilfrid Wilson Gibson --
Requiescat / Oscar Wilde --
I am / John Clare --
Then hate me when thou wilt / William Shakespeare --
The human touch / Spencer Michael Free --
The house by the side of the road / Sam Walter Foss --
What was his creed? / H. N. Fifer --
The voice of God / Louis I. Newman --
Plea for tolerance / Margaret E. Bruner --
Outwitted / Edwin Markham --
Who are my people? / Rosa Zagnoni Marinoni --
Ring out, wild bells / Alfred, Lord Tennyson --
Trees / Joyce Kilmer --
The daffodils / William Wordsworth --
Holidays / Henry Wadsworth Longfellow --
A thing of beauty / John Keats --
Leisure / William Henry Davies --
Sea-fever / John Masefield / There is no death / John Luckey McCreery --
The village blacksmith / Henry Wadsworth Longfellow --
Chicago / Carl Sandburg --
The inner man / Plato --
The noble nature / Ben Jonson --
My mind to me a kingdom is / Sir Edward Dyer --
In men whom men condemn as ill / Joaquin Miller --
We will speak out / James Russell Lowell --
We never know now high we are / Emily Dickinson --
A psalm of life / Henry Wadsworth Longfellow --
If I can stop one heart from breaking / Emily Dickinson --
Prayer for shut-ins / Ruth Winant Wheeler --
Life lesson / James Whitcomb Riley --
Song of the shirt / Thomas Hood --
Charity / Author unknown --
Fleurette / Robert Service --
The rime of the Ancient Mariner / Samuel Taylor Coleridge --
The road not taken / Robert Frost --
You never can tell / Ella Wheeler Wilcox It can be done / Author unknown --
Invictus / William Ernest Henley --
Defeat / Edgar Guest --
You musn't quit / Author unknown --
If- / Rudyard Kipling --
Curfew must not ring tonight / Rose Hartwick Thorpe --
The hell-gate of Soissons / Herbert Kaufman --
At set of sun / George Eliot --
For this is wisdom / Laurence Hope --
Perseverance / Author unknown --
John Wesley's rule / Ella Wheeler Wilcox --
With every rising of the sun / Ella Wheeler Wilcox --
Pity me not / Edna St. Vincent Millay --
The hollow men / T. S. Eliot --
The martyr / Herman Melville --
To an athlete dying young / A. E. Housman --
When lilacs last in the dooryward bloomed / Walt Whitman --
Song's eternity / John Clare --
And death shall have no dominion / Dylan Thomas --
Dirge in woods / George Meredith --
When I have fears / John Keats --
A slumber did my spirit seal / William Wordsworth --
I heard a fly buzz when I died / Emily Dickinson --
A parting guest / James Whitcomb Riley --
Nature / Henry Wadsworth Longfellow --
The last invocation / Walt Whitman --
Tract / William Carlos Williams --
Thanatopsis / William Cullen Bryant --
Good-bye / Ralph Waldo Emerson --
I shall not care / Sara Teasdale --
Requiem / Robert Louis Stevenson --
Crossing the bar / Alfred, Lord Tennyson --
When I am dead, my dearest / Christina Rossetti --
Remember / Christina Rossetti --
He is not dead / James Whitcomb Riley --
The ballad of Reading Gaol / Oscar Wilde --
In memoriam / William Ernest Henley --
I have a rendevous with death / Alan Seeger --
Take the world as it is / Charles Swain --
On his blindness / John Milton --
One year to live / Mary Davis Reed --
High resolve / Author unknown --
The junk box / Edgar Guest --
Worthwhile / Ella Wheeler Wilcox --
A bag of tools / R. L. Sharpe --
Then laugh / Bertha Adams Backus --
After-thou...

Genres: Poetry, Fiction, Classics, Reference, Anthologies, Collections

739 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Barnabas Piper · Rating 5 out of 5]

As one unfamiliar with poetry this book was a fantastic intro. I was able to meander through and find some I loved, some I didn't and a pile in between. It was a perfect survey of a genre and form I am deeply interested in.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love poems and I love this book.

A wise old owl lived in an oak;
The more he saw the less he spoke;
The less he spoke the more he head:
Why can't we all be like that bird?

- Author Unknown

My favorite poem funny and true ....

[Dholsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first I thought this collection had a better range of poems, but in the end, many I have seen or read elsewhere. I would like to see a collection with more of a world culture outreach. American and English poets does not a "collection of famous/familiar verse" make.

[Willow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars, you ask? Did she finally find a poetry anthology that merits a rating of such high standards?

Well, perhaps it is a questionable rating (you be the judge). I have grown fond of this through long journeying alongside it. Pressed between its pages are elements of a time of great upheaval and change, the dying of dreams and upspringing of new hopes. The poetry featured within presents a collective picture of the spectrum of human emotion and experience, however brief the meeting, however shallow or deep the range, which I found to be reflective of my own state of being. It has been a companionable volume.

This treasury is, however, a hefty tome which could have benefited from onion-skin pages; the hardback is nearly three inches thick, due to the large text and generous margins as well as the weight of the paper. Being a bit unwieldy is really its only drawback. Although I'm in a season of life during which a slim volume would have been preferable, it nonetheless has been lugged from place to place for well over a year (a testament to the determination to find an anthology I can love, plump or otherwise). I wouldn't classify it as perfect, but rather as a general success.

Being an impulse purchase at a library book sale (hardly to be passed by at the price of a dollar), it exceeded my expectations and provided hours of contemplative enjoyment with its abundance of lovely verse. It is one of the better anthologies that has done time in my book stack. Featuring a wide array of poets, subjects, and time periods, there's something for everyone here (except, perhaps, the very young, but that depends on your preferences in poetry for your littles. Certainly not compiled with small children in mind, there are still verses here which could be enjoyed with them if desired). Indeed, I read many of these aloud to my offspring of various ages.

If you happen across a copy of this in your book-hunting excursions (particularly if it's a good bargain), you may be pleased to acquire it and add it to the stack of books next to your chair. 📚 Happy reading!

Note:
-Occasional language in some of the poems, including irreverent use of the Lord's name.
-Some adult themes in the 'Love' section and elsewhere (mild but perhaps not child-appropriate).
-Some angsty verses with unhealthy philosophy and/or questionable theology.

[RKanimalkingdom · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's an all encompassing book on poems, what else is there to say. It's an anthology of British or American poets and their most loved or famous poem/s. It's a great introduction to people who might want to get into poetry but have no idea where to start. It introduces different styles and topics, all of which help a reader get an idea of what type and/or style of poetry they like. It's a hunker of a book and certainly not something you can finish quickly. I got introduced to a couple of new poets and poems, and that made it worthwhile.

[Karen Moran · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have had this anthology for many years and pulled it off the shelf when I was in need of poetical inspiration. This time instead of thumbing through the pages for some of my favorites, I vowed to read it from cover to cover. It was a fabulous experience. Stuart arranged the works according to topics such as aging, beauty, bereavement, betrayal, brotherhood and so on with universal themes from varying eras, sensibilities, and locations from around the world. It remains an excellent reference book of poetry, but it is also readable as a "poetry novel." I credit poetry as my entryway in my sixth grade language arts class for starting me on my lifelong love of words, rhyme, and language structure. My teacher, Mrs. Joan Wohl, taught me that language is multi-dimensional and that reading for enjoyment is as important as reading for information. Through poetry she showed me the beauty of language. If you are looking for commentary, this is not the book for you. Stuart presents the poetry as a means to itself. I found it refreshing.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection is what I'd call "Solid Gold Oldies." While what is here is very good, there's nothing here you haven't read before and can easily find elsewhere. The collection itself didn't feel particularly inspired to me; just some famous, nice poems compiled together. It doesn't flow especially well, so I'd use it more for reference than to actually sit down and read cover to cover.

[Andrea Engle · Rating 3 out of 5]

An uneven collection ... there are some real treasures by such as John Donne, Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman ... but there are also some old chestnuts by Edgar A. Guest and "Author Unknown" that detract from the overall quality of the volume ...

[Richard Haynes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bought this book at a fantastic sale price at B&N in July. Started reading a few poems each and every week. This book has over 4000 poems and is nicely divided into sections from Ageing to Zeal. Wonderful collection. Finished the book today, 26 Dec. 2017.

[Andrew Hodgson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only covers English poetry, with a few Americans, so it is a good collection, but limited. I enjoyed this book less toward the end. The first 2/3 or so is excellent.

[Taylor Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Needed a good palate cleanser after all the trash I’ve recently read 👌🏻

[butterflygloss · Rating 4 out of 5]

I truly enjoyed this collection of poems. It taught me a lot and gave me a grasp for poetry that allowed me to develop a better sense of understanding poems. I found a lot of new favorite poems while reading this collection, and it's definitely worth it to read it and have it on your book shelf. It's something you can come back and read snippets from time and time again. The reason I give it 4 stars is because I really do wish that it would have included more diverse poets other than those from Europe and America. I would have loved to read poems from more poets from all around the world. Also, there were some classic poems in here that have been widely acclaimed, but they're really not that good. There were about 20 poems in here that I had to skip through because they were so boring. Still worth it to pick up and have on your bookshelf, though!

[William Schram · Rating 4 out of 5]

Contains a great number of poems, and I love that it included a great many of my favorites. Also, the price was right since I got it from the Bargain Shelf.

There are one or two things that bother me about it though. The main one is the typos. I don't know what happened, but some of the poems have mistakes in them, and spelling mistakes for such famous poems are hard to forgive. Thus, I give it one less star than it would usually get.

Other than that, it is pretty good. It is organized by theme. After that, I don't really know. I mean, it doesn't seem to be related to the poet's last name, or to the title of the poem, but I wasn't really paying attention.

Final thoughts: as long as it contains Invictus, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and a few others, I am happy enough to forget flaws.

[Cherie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful collection of poems to keep by your bedside. I found all of my old favorites and many more I had never read.

[Alexys Rea · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful collection! I recommend it to be a part of everyone's library!

[Meadow · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an amazing collection of poems! It includes most of my favourite poems and poets. I also read some beautiful poems that I've never read before!

~ 5 stars :D

[Jules · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful anthology of some of the best loved verse, from Tennyson to Wordsworth and Dickinson to Edna St. Vincent Mallay.

[Rashik Reza Nahiyen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Something is here, in my heart. I don't know what is that. But I always feel it. Feel it specially when I read this book. The verses, make me feel that something is here, in my heart. :)

[Tj V]

It has almost all my clasic avorite poems!

[Alona Shoemaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn't like all the poems but there were many that I did and they are all marked for future reference.

[cammie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this is the perfect start to the poetry world if you're a noob like me.
I found a lot of poems that I like thanks to this book!

[hissi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the poems. categorized and neatly packed. I loved a lot of the poems in it.

[Ramona Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are the cozy favorites you will read often. I finally put that I finished the book but it stays by my chair for "rereading".