As I continue this series, I realized that with some categories, it is necessary to be more specific than I had been. Poets are one such group; I thought I would begin this discussion with American poets and then move on in later posts to poets from other places.
It is still an enormous task to choose several favorite poets, but since it is my series, I must do so. Here are my choices:
Robert Frost
Without a doubt, Robert Frost is one of the most important American poets. He wrote many poems set in rural America, and his works earned him the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Many who do not read much poetry are familiar with his famous poem: “The Road Not Taken.”
My next choice:
Langston Hughes
Langston Hughes was a poet of the 20th Century, and he was one of the most important of the creative minds who made up the Harlem Renaissance. Hughes wrote about life for African-Americans and about themes that dealt with the entirety of the American experience. One of his best know poems is “Dream Deferred.”
My third choice is a poet whom I have featured in this blog before:
Robert Fillman
Mr. Fillman has a book of his poems being published this spring– November Weather Spell. I completely expect that, in the future, Robert Fillman will be recognized as one of the most important American poets.
Here is a link to the book page: November Weather Spell
and to his homepage: robertfillman.com
TS Eliot, Robert Frost, Sylvia Plath.
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All excellent choices!
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I’ve always loved Langston Hughes, ever since I discovered him in high school. I also enjoy more modern poets such as Maya Angelou and the lighthearted Shel Silverstein. I listened to him on cassette as a kid, and now my daughter and I laugh along to him at bedtime in the classic “Where the Sidewalk Ends.” http://www.shelsilverstein.com/books/where-sidewalk-ends/
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These are excellent choices, and I certainly should have included them!
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You’re right! Children’s poets shouldn’t be overlooked. That being the case, I will add Robert Louis Stevenson to my list of favorites.
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An excellent choice!
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i agree with frost, and also i’d add emily dickinson, maya angelou, and carl sandberg
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Thank you–they are all excellent poets!
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You are very welcome
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Oh, I forgot about Sandburg!
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Sandburg is excellent!
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Robert Frost is awesome!
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yes, he is!
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Emily Dickinson.
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Excellent choice!
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I like the born Brit turned American citizen, W H Auden
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Excellent choice!
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In addition to the ones you list: Sterling A. Brown, Anne Bradstreet, William Carlos Williams, Bri L. Bruce, Mighty Mike Mike MacGee (Santa Clara County poet laureate), and of course – me.
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Andrew, thank you!
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Sylvia Plath, John Berryman, Emily Dickinson, Robert Creeley
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All are excellent choices!
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A.R. Ammons. His love of the natural world shines through in thought-provoking monologues that are both playful and incisive.
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Mike, thank you!
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Thank you!
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I’m only coming to appreciate Robert Frost’s poetry as more time passes from when I had to memorize “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” in the fifth grade and recite it in front of the entire class. Want to make children hate, nay, fear poetry? Do that. Moving on . .
I think I probably have favorite poems more so than favorite poets, but Emily Dickinson is a favorite, as are Billy Collins, Jack McCarthy, William Carlos Williams, and Mary Oliver.
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Oh! I should have included Langston Hughes as well.
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Thank you!
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My first love of poets began with Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Judy Garland and Lois Wyse (I think that is how it is spelled.) And the love affair with poets began… and has never ended.
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That is a wonderful love to have!
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Edgar Allan Poe, Robert Frost, Edna St. Vincent Malay, I was trying to wing it… And then my mind went blank of course there are many others for they have inspired me to write my own country for years. Thank you
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You are very welcome, and thank you!
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Reblogged this on The Reluctant Poet.
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thank you!!
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Pat Mora.
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Thank you!
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Frost and Poe are definitely among my favorites.
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Both are among mine also!
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