Which poetry would you recommend for someone new to it?

Question

Are there particular poets or poetry that is a must read for a beginner?

Thanks

Answer 1

I like John Betjeman. His poems have a lot of humour and a great insight into life

Answer 2

I like the poems that are enjoyable to read, tell a story or provide a truism, a moral if you will, and that are not to abstract that you come away from it going, "What the hell was that?"
Here are some examples I would start with:
Longfellows "The Childrens Hour"
Joyce Kilmers "Trees" and "The House with Nobody in it"
Edward Lears "The Owl and the Pussycat"
Edgar A Poe "The Raven" and Annabel Lee"
Wordsworth "I "Wandered Lonely as a Cloud"

Hope this gets you started. I hitched around the world twice and the only book I carried with me the whole time was a book of poetry. You can read a poem a hundred times and get something different from it each time whereas a book, most of the time, when you have finished it you don't want to reread it for a long time.
Good luck.

Answer 3

I am now 56 and have been reading poetry since I was about 10. Where to begin? I loved that series of books of poetry published by Penguin (three poets per book) then I read my way through Shelley, Wordsworth, etc. It's impossible to pick a favourite. But do try two volumes called 'Staying Alive' (Bloodaxe Books) and 'Being Alive' (also Bloodaxe Books). Also try (if she is still in print) Ntozake Shange, especially For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf. Read Elizabeth Jennings, early Brian Patten, R S Thomas, Vernon Scannell, Douglas Dunn, Norman Nicholson (if you read nothing else of his, at least read 'Blackberry'). I know that when I send this I will think of lots of others, so will respond again. (Have just thought - try the Daisy Goodwin DVDs of poetry) Barry.

Answer 4

Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, and Poe are MUST reads. However, it will not hurt to get a nice poetry book that has a number of poets in it including these three. Everyone enjoys their own kind of poets.

Answer 5

It really depends on your taste.
I would get a good anthology of poetry myself, this way you get a wide variety of poets, and can then make your mind up as to what style you like.
A good modern poetry collection is
The New Poetry, published by Bloodaxe,
or for a mix of modern and older styles try
Poems of the underground. This is a colection of poetry that was displayed on underground trains, don't know if they still do that.
Alos, There is a book called "poetry please" based on the radio 4 programme.

Answer 6

I always loved Roald Dahl as a kid and now I'm about to write my masters dissertation on Alexander Pope and Oscar Wilde. I'd say start with easy, funny stuff. Don't get too heavy too early or it'll do your head in. Robert Burns is good and fairly easy going.
Shakespeare's plays are written in a poetic form and some of the comedies are quite easy going, they'd be a good place to start with old poetry. For modern stuff (most of which is crap I must admit) I'd read Seamus Heaney (won the Nobel Prize, can't be too bad). But as you go along, try Alexander Pope and Thomas Gray. Wordsworth is easy but pretty dull.

Answer 7

PENGUIN mODERN POETS,10 , The Mersey Sound was published around 1970. Worth trying to get hold of it.
It's charming, witty and accessible.

If you want something more classical, I'd suggest Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

Answer 8

There's a book called Read Me- A Poem A Day For The National Year Of Reading.It has 365 poems in it by various poets...it offers you a flavour of different styles...genres..and so on.It's a good read and a good place to start...Ask your library if they have it in stock.

Answer 9

GOOD poetry is never easy to read and understand. Just read what you like and try to find an era whose writers make you feel good. Then you can start looking beneath the surface.

Answer 10

If by Rudyard Kipling.
The Funeral Blues by W.H. Auden
The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe