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.
16 Bookmarks Found with These Tags:

United.States [X]
Poetry [X]
After confession : poetry as autobiography
Middleton Main Stacks: PS323 .5 .A36 2001 This collection of essays focuses primarily on modern American poetry. A number of poets and poems are discussed in the essays. The work is interesting but it does not include an index.
American and British Poetry: A Guide to the Criticism 1925-1978
Middleton Reference: Z1231 .P7 A44 1984 Scope: Indexes poems of 1,000 lines or less. Indexing: Alphabetical by name of poet.
An index to criticisms of British and American poetry
Middleton Main Stacks: Z 7156 A1 C63 The work is divided into two parts. Part one consists of entries listed alphabetically by poet and contains poems and critical citations. Part two consists of entries listed alphabetically by critic and contains sources of criticism. The work has a bibliography and an index to poem titles.
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: Z1231 .P7 G74 1989 This work is divided into three main sections: Magazines, Anthologies, and Poets. The work focuses primarily on American writers, though many foreign writers (mostly British) are also included. The Biographical Directory of Poets focuses on poets who currently write SF, Fantasy, and Horror Poetry. The work includes an index.
Epic and Romance Criticism: a Checklist of Interpretations, 1940-1972
Middleton Main Stacks: Z7156 .E6 C64 Volume one focuses on English and American Epics and Metrical Romances and Volume two focuses on Classical and Continental Epics and Metrical Romances. Entries are arranged alphabetical by title of poem. Volume one includes an index that contains nine additional titles.
Guide to American poetry explication
Middleton Reference: Z1231 .P7 G85 1989 Volume 1—Colonial and Nineteenth Century Volume 2—Modern and Contemporary
Invisible Poets: Afro-Americans of the Nineteenth Century
Middleton Main Stacks: PS153 .N5 S48 This work focuses on twenty-six lesser-known African American Poets who published poetry in America during the nineteenth century. As a result, Paul Lawrence Dunbar is not included. Biographical information is included for all authors. The work is divided into one chapter per poet. It also includes sections on: bibliographies of the poets' works, an index and seven appendices. The appendices provide some bibliographic information for the following topics: Poets for Further Research, Occasional Poets, Anonymous Poets and Ada, Turn-of-the-Century Poets, Poets Erroneously Identified as Afro-Americans, the Creole Poets of Les Cenelles, and Phyllis Wheatley and Jupiter Hammon: Bibliographies.
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.
Middleton Main Stacks: Z6511 .W44 1984 The work is arranged alphabetically by author and title. Most entries are author entries. It focuses on American and English Literature.
Middleton Reference: Z2014 .P7 K8 1980 Scope: Covers the years 1925 to 1977, but is limited to poems of less than 500 lines. Indexing: Indexed alphabetically by poet.
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.
The sonnet in England and America : a bibliography of criticism
Middleton Main Stacks: Z2014 .S6 D66 This work is divided into four chapters. Chapter one contains general works. Chapter two focuses on the renaissance. Chapter three is devoted entirely to Shakespeare. Chapter four covers eighteenth and nineteenth century literature. Poets are listed alphabetically in each chapter. All entries are numbered. The work contains a poet index, a contributor index, and a subject index.

