Poetry Criticism Resources
Analysis and explication of poetry can be found in both books and periodicals. Increasingly, they can also be found in many electronic resources. Here is a list of resources to help you find what others have had to say on the subject of individual poets and their work. It is important to remember that commentary on poetry is, for the most part, limited to a relatively small number of important or well-known poems by major poets. Recently published poems generally will not have passed the test of time and will probably have had very little (or nothing at all) written about them. For assistance locating or using any of these resources, or if you need further help with literary research, contact Mike Russo.
6 Bookmarks Found with These Tags:

United.States [X]
Criticism [X]
Black Poets of the United States: from Paul Laurence Dunbar to Langston Hughes
Middleton Main Stacks: PS153.N5 W313 This work focuses on Afro-American poetry published from about 1890 to 1940. The work consists of twelve chapters that include an introduction and a conclusion. Coverage is basically chronological. The main authors covered include: Paul Laurence Dunbar, Claude McKay, Jean Toomer, Countee Cullen, James Weldon Johnson, Langston Hughes, and Sterling Brown. Biographies are provided for each poet studied. The work includes a bibliographical appendix, a bibliographical supplement, and an index.
Middleton Main Stacks: PR83 .M73 1966 This work covers many major British and American authors. This edition of the work is divided into four volumes: v.1. The beginnings to the seventeenth century.--v.2. Neo-classicism to the romantic period.--v.3. The romantic period to the Victorian Age.--v.4. The mid-nineteenth century to Edwardianism. Authors are covered in chronological order based on the dates of their deaths. Entries contain biographical information and criticism.
The Columbia history of American poetry
Middleton Main Stacks: PS 303 C64 1993 This work contains essays focusing on a variety of American poets. It tends to focus on the relationship between American poetry and American culture.
The Columbia History of American Poetry
Available through Netlibrary. This work contains essays focusing on a variety of American poets. It tends to focus on the relationship between American poetry and American culture.
The continuity of American poetry
Middleton Main Stacks: PS303 .P4 This work originated from Pearce's 1954 lectures on the history of American poetry at the Sulzburg Seminar in American Studies. Its ten chapters cover American poetry roughly from the seventeenth century to the 1950's. The work has an index, which is the best way to find criticism on individual authors.
The New Moulton's library of literary criticism
Middleton Reference: PR85 .N39 1985 This work is similar in arrangement and scope to Moulton's Library of Literary Criticism of English and American Authors through the Beginning of the 20th Century. It is comprised of ten volumes instead of four, so each volume deals with smaller periods of time. Authors are arranged basically by date of death. The eleventh volume is a cumulative index that contains an index to bibliographies, series contents, an index to authors, and an index to critics.

