The following are the ten undisputed greatest (English language) poems ever written in the history of poetry, ever. And if you disagree with any of these choices, wow! you have an opinion on poetry. You must be some kind of nerd.
1. Ode To a Nightengale, by John Keats
2. Terence, This is Stupid Stuff, by A.E. Houseman
3. The Love Song Of J. Alfred Prufrock, by T.S. Eliot
4. Sonnet 116, by William Shakespeare
5. The Waste Land, by T.S. Eliot
6. The Raven, by Edgar Allan Poe
7. Kubla Khan, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
8. Mr. Flood's Party, by Edward Arlington Robinson
9. Fire And Ice, by Robert Frost
10. pity this busy monster, manunkind, by e. e. cummings
Humerous and light verse can't really be placed in the same category (even if it may have a serious message under the silliness), but here are four notables:
1. The Hunting Of the Snark, by Lewis Carroll
2. This Be the Verse, Philip Larkin
3. Reflections On Ice-Breaking, by Odgen Nash
4. The Owl and the Pussy-Cat, Edward Lear
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3 comments:
Right on. "Terence, This Is Supid Stuff" is my favorite poem of all time.
I even use it to justify my bimonthly purchase of Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose.
Bah! "The Hollow Men" is Eliot's best poem, and therefore one of the best poems in the English language, as Eliot is one of the top three or four poets in the English language.
I would agree with "Kubla Khan," though - fine stuff. "The Raven" is very good as well.
Not long ago I discovered "Lepanto" by G.K. Chesterton. Holy cow, what a great poem.
You have inspired me. Perhaps I will do a post like this ...
Morte d'Arthur .... Tennyson
Ancient Mariner ... Coleridge Taylor
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