Penguin Book of English Verse

Paul Keegan is Poetry Editor at Faber and Faber.

• The Penguin Book of English VersePreface1300-1350(Rawlinson Lyrics)Anonymous 'Ich am of Irlande'Anonymous 'Maiden in the morë lay'Anonymous 'Al night by the rosë, rosë'(Harley Lyrics)Anonymous 'Bitwenë March and Avëril'Anonymous 'Erthë tok of erthe'1350-1400(Grimestone Lyrics)Anonymous 'Gold and al this worldës wyn'Anonymous 'Gloria mundi est'Anonymous 'Love me broughte'Anonymous (The Dragon Speaks)Geoffrey Chaucer from The Parliament of Fowls(Catalogue of the Birds)(Roundel)Geoffrey Chaucer from The Boke of Troilus(Envoi)Anonymous 'When Adam dalf and Eve span'William Langland from The Vision of Piers Plowman(Prologue)(Gluttony in the Ale-house)Geoffrey Chaucer from The Canterbury Talesfrom The General Prologue 'Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote'from The General Prologue (The Prioress)from The Knight's Tale (The Temple of Mars)from The Knight's Tale (Saturn)from The Milleres Tale (Alysoun)from The Wife of Bath's Prologue 'My fourthe housbonde was a revelour'from The Pardoner's Tale 'Thise riotoures thre of whiche I telle'Anonymous from Patience(Jonah and the Whale)Anonymous from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight(Gawain Journeys North)Geoffrey Chaucer Envoy to ScoganJohn Gower from Confessio Amantis(Pygmaleon)(The Rape of Lucrece)1430Thomas Hoccleve from The Complaint of Hoccleve'Aftir that hervest inned had hise sheves'1440Charles of Orleans (Ballade) ('In the forest of Noyous Hevynes')Charles of Orleans (Roundel) ('Take, take this cosse, attonys, atonys, my hert!')Charles of Orleans (Roundel) ('Go forth myn hert wyth my lady')1450(Sloane Lyrics)Anonymous 'Adam lay y-bownden'Anonymous 'I syng of a mayden'Anonymous 'The merthe of alle this londe'Anonymous (Christ Triumphant)Anonymous (Holly against Ivy)Anonymous 'Ther is no rose of swych vertu'1500John Skelton from Phyllyp Sparowe'Whan I remembre agayn'Robert Henryson from The Testament of Cresseid'O ladyis fair of Troy and Greece, attend'William Dunbar Lament, When He Wes Seik1510William Dunbar 'Done is a battell on the dragon blak'William Dunbar 'In to thir dirk and drublie dayis'1515Gavin Douglas/Virgil from The Aeneidfrom Book I (Aeolus Looses the Winds)from The Proloug of the Sevynt Buik of EneadosAnonymous (the Corupus Christi Carol)Anonymous 'Farewell, this world! I take my leve for evere'Anonymous 'Draw me nere, draw me nere'1520Anonymous 'Westron wynde when wyll thow blow'1523John Skelton from A Goodly Garlande or Chapelet of Laurell(The Garden of the Muses: Iopas' Song)To Maystres Isabell PennellJohn Skelton from Speke Parott(Parrot's Complaint)1530William Cornish 'Pleasure it is'1535Myles Coverdale from The BiblePsalm 137: Super flumina1540Sir Thomas Wyatt/Petrarch 'The longe love that in my thought doeth harbar'Sir Thomas Wyatt/Petrarch 'Who so list to hount I knowe where is an hynde'Sir Thomas Wyatt 'They fle from me that sometyme did me seke'Sir Thomas Wyatt 'My lute awake! Perfourme the last'Sir Thomas Wyatt 'Forget not yet the tryde entent'Sir Thomas Wyatt/Alamanni 'Myne owne John Poyntz, sins ye delight to know'1542Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey An Excellent Epitaffe of Syr Thomas Wyat1547Anne Askew The Balade whych Anne Askewe made and sange whan she was in Newgate1557from Tottel's Songes and SonettesSir Thomas Wyatt/Seneca (Chorus from Thyestes) ('Stond who so list upon the Slipper toppe')Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey 'O happy dames, that may embrace'Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey 'Alas, so all thinges nowe doe holde their peace'Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey/Virgil from Certayn bokes of Virgiles Aenaeis(Aeneas searches for his wife)1560from The Geneva Bible, Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 ('To all things there is an appointed time')Robert Weever 'Of Youth He Singeth'1563Barnabe Googe Commynge Home-warde out of SpayneBarnabe Googe An Epytaphe of the Death of Nicolas Grimoald1565Arthur Golding/Ovid from The First Four Books of Ovid(Proserpine and Dis)(Daphne and Apollo)1567Arthur Golding/Ovid from The Fifteen Books of Ovid(Medea's Incantation)1568Alexander Scott 'To luve unluvit it is ane pane'Anonymous 'Christ was the word that spake it'1579Edmund Spenser from The Shepheardes Calender (Roundelay)1580Edmund Spenser Iambicum Trimetrum1581Jasper Heywood/Seneca (Chorus from Hercules Furens)1582Thomas Watson My Love is Past1584Anonymous A New Courtly Sonet, of the Lady Greensleeves1586Chidiock Tichborne 'My prime of youth is but a froste of cares'1588Anonymous 'Constant Penelope, sends to thee carelesse Ulisses'Anonymous/Theocritus from Sixe Idillia . . . chosen out of . . . Theocritus(Adonis)1589Sir Philip Sidney 'My true love hath my hart, and I have his'1590Sir Walter Raleigh 'As you came from the holy land'Mark Alexander Boyd Sonet ('Fra banc to banc fra wod to wod I rin')Sir Henry Lee 'His Golden lockes, Time hath to Silver turn'd'Edmund Spenser from The Faerie Queenefrom Book II, Canto XII (The Bower of Blisse Destroyed)from Book III, Canto VI (The Gardin of Adonis)from Book III, Canto XI (Britomart in the House of the Enchanter Busyrane)1591Sir Philip Sidney from Astrophil and Stella1. 'Loving in truth, and faine in verse my love to show'31. 'With how sad steps, ô Moone, thou climb'st the skies'33. 'I might, unhappie word, ô me, I might'Thomas Campion 'Harke, al you ladies that do sleep'Sir John Harrington/Ariosto from Ariosto's Orlando Furioso (Astolfo flies by Chariot to the Moon)1592John Lyly from Midas'Pan's Syrinx was a Girle indeed'Samuel Daniel from Delia45. 'Care-charmer sleepe, sonne of the Sable night'Henry Constable 'Deere to my soule, then leave me not forsaken'Sir Walter Raleigh The Lie1593from The Phoenix NestAnonymous 'Praisd be Dianas faire and harmles light'Thomas Lodge The Sheepheards Sorrow, Being Disdained in LoveBarnabe Barnes from Parthenophil and Parthenophe (Sestina)('Then, first with lockes disheveled, and bare')Sir Philip Sidney from The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia'Yee Gote-heard Gods, that love the grassie mountaines'1594William Shakespeare from Love's Labours Lost'When Dasies pied, and Violets blew'Anonymous 'Weare I a Kinge I coude commande content'1595Edmund Spenser from AmorettiSonnet LXVII. ('Lyke as a huntsman after weary chace')Sonnet LXVIII. ('Most glorious Lord of lyfe that on this day')Robert Southwell S. J. Decease ReleaseRobert Southwell S.J. New Heaven, New WarreRobert Southwell S.J. The Burning BabeGeorge Peele from The Old Wives Tale'When as the Rie reach to the chin''Gently dip: but not too deepe'1596Edmund Spenser ProthalamionSir John Davies In CosmumSir John Davies from Orchestra, or a Poeme of Dauncing('The speach of Love persuading men to learn Dancing')1597Anonymous 'Since Bonny-boots was dead, that so divinely'William Alabaster Of the Reed That the Jews Set in Our Saviour's HandWilliam Alabaster Of His ConversionRobert Sidney, Earl of Leicester 'Forsaken woods, trees with sharpe storms opprest'1598Sir Philip Sidney 'When to my deadlie pleasure'Sir Philip Sidney 'Leave me ô Love, which reachest but to dust'Mary Herbert, Countess of Pembroke Psalm 58 ('And call yee this to utter what is just')Mary Herbert, Countess of Pembroke from Psalm 139 ('Each inmost peece in me is thine')Christopher Marlowe from Hero and Leander'His bodie was as straight as Circes wand'Anonymous 'Hark, all ye lovely saints above'Christopher Marlowe/Ovid from All Ovids ElegiesBook I, Elegia 5 ('In summers heat and mid-time of the day')Book III, Elegia 13 ('Seeing thou art faire, I barre not thy false playing')John Donne On His Mistris1599Michael Drayton from Idea5. 'Nothing but No and I, and I and No'Alexander Hume from Of the Day Estivall'O perfite light, quhik schaid away'George Peele from David and Fair Bethsabe'Hot sunne, coole fire, tempered with sweet aire'Samuel Daniel from Musophilus(Stonehenge)1600Fulke Greville, Lord Brooke from CaelicaSonnet XLV. ('Absence, the noble truce')Sonnet LXXXIV. ('Farewell sweet boy, complaine not of my truth')Sonnet LXXXV. ('Love is the Peace, whereto all thoughts doe strive')Sonnet XCIX. ('Downe in the depth of mine iniquity')Sonnet C. ('In Night when colours all to blacke are cast')from Englands HeliconAnonymous The Sheepheeards Description of LoveChristopher Marlowe The Passionate Sheepheard to his LoveSir Walter Ralegh The Nimphs Reply to the SheepheardThomas Nashe from Summers Last Will and Testament'Fayre Summer droops, droope men and beasts therefore''Adieu, farewell earths blisse'Anonymous (A Lament for Our Lady's Shrine at Walsingham)Anonymous 'Fine knacks for ladies, cheape choise brave and new'Anonymous 'Thule, the period of cosmography'1601John Holmes 'Thus Bonny-boots the birthday celebrated'William Shakespeare from Twelfth Night'When that I was and a little tiny boy'William Shakespeare (The Phoenix and Turtle)Thomas Campion/Catulus 'My sweetest Lesbia, let us live and love'Thomas Campion 'Followe thy faire sunne unhappy shaddowe'Thomas Campion/Propertius 'When thou must home to shades of under ground'1602Anonymous 'The lowest trees have tops, the Ant her gall'Thomas Campion 'Rose-cheekt Lawra come'1603Anonymous 'Weepe you no more sad fountaines'1604Anonymous The Passionate Mans PilgrimageNicholas Breton from A Solemne Long Enduring Passion'Wearie thoughts doe waite upon me'1607Ben Jonson/Catullus from Volpone'Come my Celia, let us prove'1608Anonymous 'Ay me, alas, heigh ho, heigh ho!'1609Ben Jonson from Epicoene'Still to be neat, still to be dresst'Edmund Spenser from Two Cantos of Mutabilitie(Nature's Reply to Mutabilitie)William Shakespeare from Sonnets18. 'Shall I compare thee to a Summers day?'55. 'Not marble, nor the guilded monuments'60. 'Like as the waves make towards the pibled shore'66. 'Tyr'd with all these for restfull death I cry'73. 'That time of yeeare thou maist in me behold'94. 'They that have powre to hurt, and will doe none'107. 'Not mine owne feares, nor the prophetick soule'116. 'Let me not to the marriage of true mindes'124. 'Yf my deare love were but the childe of state'129. 'Th'expence of Spirit in a waste of shame'138. 'When my love sweares that she is made of truth'144. 'Two loves I have of comfort and dispaire'William Shakespeare from Cymbeline'Feare no more the heate o'th'Sun'Anonymous (Inscription in Osmington Church, Dorset)Anonymous (Inscription in St. Mary Magdalene Church, Milk Street, London)1610John Davies of Hereford The Author Loving These Homely Meats1611from The Authorized Version of the Bible2 Samuel 1:19-27 David lamenteth the death of JonathanJob 3:3-26 Job curseth the day, and services of his birthEcclesiastes 12:1-8 The Creator is to be remembered in due timeGeorge Chapman/Homer from The Iliads of Homerfrom The Third Booke (Helen and the Elders on the Ramparts)from The Twelfth Booke (Sarpedon's Speech to Glaucus)Anonymous A Belmans SongWilliam Shakespeare from The Winter's Tale'When Daffadils begin to peere''Lawne as white as driven Snow'William Shakespeare from The Tempest'Come unto these yellow sands''Full fadom five they Father lies'1612John Webster from The White Divel'Call for the Robin-Red-brest and the wren'George Chapman/Epictetus Pleasd with thy PlaceThomas Campion 'Never weather-beaten Saile'William Fowler 'Ship-broken men whom stormy seas sore toss'1614John Webster from The Dutchesse of Malfy'Hearke, now every thing is still'1615Sir John Harington Of TreasonAnonymous (Tom o' Bedlam's Song)1616Ben Jonson from EpigrammesXIV. To William CamdenXLV. On My First SonneLIX. On SpiesCSVIII. Inviting a Friend to SupperCI. On GutBen Jonson from The Forrest To HeavenWilliam Drummond of Hawthornden Sonnet ('How many times Nights silent Queene her Face')William Browne from Britannia's Pastorals(The Golden Age: Flower-weaving)Thomas Campion 'There is a Garden in her face'Thomas Campion 'Now winter nights enlarge'1618Sir Walter Ralegh (Sir Walter Ralegh to his Sonne)Sir Walter Ralegh from The Ocean to Scinthia'Butt stay my thoughts, make end, geve fortune way'Sir Walter Ralegh 'Even suche is tyme that takes in trust'1619Michael Drayton from Idea61. 'Since ther's no helpe, Come let us kisse and part'Anonymous 'Sweet Suffolk owl, so trimly dight'1620John Donne The CanonizationJohn Donne A Nocturnall upon S. Lucies DayJohn Donne Loves GrowthJohn Donne A Valediction: Forbidding MourningJohn Donne The ExstasieJohn Donne from Holy SonnetsVII. 'At the round earths imagin'd corners'X. 'Death be not proud, though some have called thee'XIV. 'Batter my heart, three person'd God'John Donne A Hymne to Christ, at the Authors last Going into GermanyJohn Donne A Hymne to God the Father1621Katherine, Lady Dyer (Epitaph on Sir William Dyer)Lady Mary Wroth from Pamphilia to Amphilanthus77. 'In this strang labourinth how shall I turne?96. 'Late in the Forest I did Cupid see'1623William Drummond of Hawthornden (For the Baptiste)William Drummond of Hawthornden (Content and Resolute)William Browne On the Countesse Dowager of Pembroke1624Sir Henry Wotton On his Mistress, the Queen of Bohemia1626George Sandys/Ausonius Echo1627Ben Jonson My Picture left in ScotlandBen Jonson An Ode. To HimselfeMichael Drayton from Nimphidia, The Court of Fayrie(Queen Mab's Chariot)1631Michael Drayton These Verses weare Made by Michaell Drayton('Soe well I love thee, as without thee I')Anonymous Felton's EpitaphAnonymous (Epitaph on the Duke of Buckingham)1633George Herbert from The TempleRedemptionPrayerChurch-monumentsDeniallHopeThe CollarThe FlowerThe AnswerA WreathLove1635Francis Quarles Embleme IV (Canticles 7.10 I am my Beloved's)1637Edward, Lord Herbert of Cherbury Epitaph on Sir Philip SidneyRobert Sempill of Beltrees The Life and Death of Habbie Simson, the Piper of KilbarchanThomas Jordan A Double Acrostich on Mrs Svsanna BlvntJohn Milton from A Mask Presented at Ludlow-Castle, 1634(Comus)'The Star that bids the Shepherd fold'1638Thomas Randolph A Gratulatory to Mr Ben. JohnsonSir John Suckling Song ('Why so pale and wan fond Lover?')John Milton Lycidas1640Ben Jonson from A Celebration of Charis, in Ten Lyrick Peeces (Her Triumph)Ben Jonson (A Fragment of Petronius Arbiter)Sidney Godolphin 'Faire Friend, 'tis true, your beauties move'Sidney Godolphin 'Lord when the wise men came from Farr'Henry King An Exequy to His Matchlesse Never to be Forgotten FreindThomas Carew Song. Celia singingThomas Carew Epitaph on the Lady Mary VillersThomas Carew Maria WentworthThomas Carew A Song ('Aske me no more whither doe stray')Thomas Carew Psalme 91William Habington Nox nocti indicat ScientiamWilliam Habington To Castara, Upon an Embrace1641Anonymous On Francis DrakeSir Henry Wotton/Martial Upon the Death of Sir Albert Morton's Wife1642Sir John Denham from Cooper's Hill'Here should my wonder dwell, and here my praise'1645Edmund Waller Song ('Go lovely Rose')Edmund Waller Of the Marriage of the DwarfsEdmund Waller To a Lady in a GardenJohn Milton from On the Morning of Christs Nativity Compos'd 1629'It was the Winter wilde'1646Richard Crashaw from Divine EpigramsUpon Our Saviours Tombe Wherein Never Man was LaidUpon the Infant MartyrsRichard Crashaw Musicks DuellSir John Suckling (Loves Siege)John Hall An Epicurean OdeJames Shirley Epitaph on the Duke of BuckinghamJames Shirley 'The glories of our blood and state'1647John Cleveland Epitaph on the Earl of Strafford1648Sir Richard Fanshawe/Gongora A Great Favorit BeheadedRobert Herrick from HesperidesThe Argument of His BookUpon Julia's VoiceDelight in DisorderTo the Virgins, to Make Much of TimeThe Comming of Good LuckTo MeddowesThe Departure of the Good DaemonUpon Prew His MaidOn HimselfeRobert Herrick The White Island: Or Place of the Blest1649Richard Lovelace from LucastaSong. To Lucasta, Going to the WarresTo Althea from PrisonThe Grasse-hopperWilliam Drummond/Passerat Song"Shephard loveth thow me vell?'1650James Graham, Marquis of Montrose On Himself, upon Hearing What was His SentenceAnonymous from The Second Scottish PsalterPsalm 124Henry Vaughan from Silex Scintillans, Or Sacred PoemsThe Retreate'Silence, and stealth of dayes! 'tis now'The World1651William Cartwright No Platonique LoveJohn Cleveland The AntiplatonickJohn Cleveland A Song of Marke AnthonyThomas Stanley The Snow-ballThomas Stanley The GrassehopperSir Henry Wotton Upon the Sudden Restraint of the Earle of SomersetSir Richard Fanshawe/Horace Odes. IV, 7 To L. Manlius TorquatusRichard Crashaw from The Flaming Heart. Upon the Book and Picture of the Seraphicall Saint Teresa1653Aurelian Townshend A Dialogue betwixt Time and a PilgrimeMargaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle Of Many Worlds in This World1655Henry Vaughan from Silex Scintillans II'They are all gone into the world of light!'Cock-crowingThe Night1656Abraham Cowley from Anacreontiques Translated Paraphrastically from the GreekII. DrinkingX. The GrashopperAbraham Cowley from Davideis(Lot's Wife)William Strode Song ('I saw faire Cloris walke alone')William Strode On Westwell DownesJohn Taylor and Anonymous Non-senseSir John Suckling 'Out upon it, I have lov'd'1657George Daniel Ode. The Robin1659Richard Lovelace The Snayl1662Samuel Butler from Hudibras(The Presbyterian Knight)1663Abraham Cowley Ode. Upon Dr. HarveyAbraham Cowley/Horace The Country Mouse. A Paraphrase upon Horace Book II, Satire 61665Edward, Lord Herbert of Cherbury Sonnet. Made upon the Groves near Merlou CastleJohn Dryden/Ovid from The First Book of Ovid's Metamorphoses(Deucalion and Pyrrha)1694John Dryden To My Dear Friend Mr. Congreve, on His Comedy, Call'd The Double-Dealer1697John Dryden/Virgil from Virgil's Aeneisfrom The Second Book ('The Death of Priam)from The Fourth Book (Fame)from The Sixth Book (Charon)1700John Dryden/Ovid Of the Pythagorean Philosophy, from Ovid's Metamorphoses, Book FifteenJohn Dryden from The Secular Masque'Chronos, Chronos, mend thy Pace'1701Sir Charles Sedley Song ('Phillis, let's shun the common Fate')Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea from The Spleen'O'er me, alas! thou dost too much prevail'1704William Congreve Song ('Pious Celinda goes to Pray'rs')William Congreve A Hue and Cry after Fair Amoret1706Isaac Watts The Day of Judgement. An Ode. Attempted in English Sapphick1707Isaac Watts Crucifixion to the World by the Cross of Christ Gal. vi.141709Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea Adam Pos'dMatthew Prior An Ode ('The Merchant, to secure his Treasure')Ambrose Phillips A Winter-Piece1710Jonathan Swift A Description of a City Shower1712Joseph Addison Ode ('The Spacious Firmament on high')1713Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea A Nocturnal Reverie1714Samuel Jones The Force of LoveAlexander Pope from The Rape of the Lockfrom Canto Ifrom Canto V1716John Gay from Trivia: Or The Art of Walking the Streets of London(Of the Weather)1717Alexander Pope Epistle to Miss Blount, on Her Leaving the Town, after the Coronation1718Matthew Prior A Better Answer to Cloe JealousMatthew Prior The Lady Who Offers Her Looking-Glass to VenusMatthew Prior A True Maid1719Isaac Watts Man Frail, and God Eternal1720Allan Ramsay Polwart on the GreenJohn Gay My Own Epitaph1722Alexander Pope To Mr. Gay . . . on the Finishing His HouseJonathan Swift A Satirical Elegy. On the Death of a Late Famous GeneralWilliam Diaper/Oppian from Oppian's Halieuticks(The Loves of the Fishes)1724Lady Mary Wortley Montagu Epistle from Mrs. Y(onge) to her Husband1725Edward Young from Love of Fame. Satire V'The languid lady next appears in state'Henry Carey from Namby-Pamby. A Panegyric on the New Versification1726Abel Evans On Sir John Vanbrugh (The Architect). An Epigrammatical EpitaphJohn Dyer from Grongar Hill'Now, I gain the Mountain's Brow'Allan Ramsay/Horace 'What young Raw Muisted Beau Bred at his Glass'James Thomson from Summer('Forenoon. Summer Insects Described')('Night. Summer Meteors. A Comet')1727John Gay from FablesThe Wild Boar and the RamThomas Sheridan Tom Punsibi's Letter to Dean SwiftHenry Carey A Lilliputian Ode on their Majesties' Accession1728John Gay from The Beggar's Opera'Were I laid on Grrenland's Coast'1731Alexander Pope from An Epistle to Burlington'At Timon's Villa let us pass a day'Jonathan Swift The Day of JudgementJonathan Swift An Epigram on Scolding1732Jonathan Swift Mary the Cook-Maid's Letter to Dr. Sheridan1733Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (A Summary of Lord Lyttleton's 'Advice to a lady')Alexander Pope from An Epistle to Bathurst(Sir Balaam)George Farewell Quaerè1734Jonathan Swift A Beautiful Young Nymph Going to Bed1735Alexander Pope from Of the Characters of Women: An Epistle to a Lady'Nothing so true as what you once let fall'Alexander Pope from An Epistle from Mr. Pope, to Dr. Arbuthnot'You think this cruel? take it for a rule'Alexander Pope Epitaph Intended for Sir Isaac NewtonJohn Dyer My Ox Duke1737Matthew Green from The Spleen'To cure the mind's wrong biass, spleen'1738Samuel Johnson/Juvenal from London: A Poem in Imitation of the Third Satire of Juvenal'Tho' grief and fondness in my breast rebel'Alexander Pope from Epilogue to the SatiresAlexander Pope Epitaph for One Who Would Not Be Buried in Westminster Abbey1739Jonathan Swift from Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift'The Time is not remote, when I'1740Alexander Pope On Queen Caroline's Death-bedSamuel Johnson An Epitaph on Claudy Phillips, a MusicianCharles Wesley Morning HymnAlexander Pope from The Dunciad(The Tribe of Fanciers)(The Triumph of Dullness)1744Anonymous On the Death of Mr. Popefrom Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song BookAnonymous Cock RobbinAnonymous London Bridge1745Charles Wesley 'Let Earth and Heaven combine'1746William Collins Ode, Written in the Beginning of the Year 1746William Collins Ode to Evening1747William Shenstone Lines Written on a Window at the Leasowes at a Time of Very Deep Snow1748Lady Mary Wortley Montagu A Receipt to Cure the VapoursMary Leapor Mira's WillChristopher Smart A Morning-Piece, Or, An Hymn for the Hay-Makers1749Samuel Johnson/Juvenal from The Vanity of Human Wishes'When first the College Rolls receive his Name'1751Thomas Gray Elegy Written in a Country Church Yard1755Anonymous This is the House That Jack Built1761Christopher Smart from Jubilate Agno'For the doubling of flowers is the improvement of the gardners talent''For I will consider my Cat Jeoffry'1763Christopher Smart from A Song to David'O David, highest in the list'1764Oliver Goldsmith from The Traveller, Or a Prospect of Society (Britain)Samuel Johnson (Lines contributed to Goldsmith's 'The Traveller')1765from Mother Goose's Melody, or Sonnets for the CradleAnonymous 'High diddle diddle'from Thomas Percy's Reliques of Ancient English PoetryAnonymous Sir Patrick SpenceAnonymous Edward, EdwardAnonymous Lord Thomas and Fair AnnetChristopher Smart Hymn. The Nativity of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ1766Oliver Goldsmith from The Vicar of Wakefield'When lovely woman stoops to folly'1769Thomas Gray On L(or)d H(olland')s Seat near M(argat)e, K(en)t1770Oliver Goldsmith from The Deserted Village'Sweet was the sound when oft at evening's close'1772John Byrom On the Origin of EvilRobert Fergusson The Daft-Days1774William Cowper Light Shining out of DarknessWilliam Cowper 'Hatred and vengeance, my eternal portion'Anonymous (Epitaph for Thomas Johnson, huntsman, Charlton, Sussex)Oliver Goldsmith from Retaliation(Edmund Burke)(David Garrick)(Joshua Reynolds)1777Richard Brinsley Sheridan On Lady Anne HamiltonSamuel Johnson Prologue to Hugh Kelly's 'A Word to the Wise'Samuel Johnson (Lines Contributed to Hawkesworth's 'The Rival)Richard Brinsley Sheridan from The School for Scandal Song and Chorus ('Here's to the maiden of Bashful fifteen')1779William Cowper The Contrite Heart. Isaiah lvii. 15Robert Fergusson/Horace Odes I. II1780Samuel Johnson A Short Song of Congratulation1783Samuel Johnson On the Death of Dr. Robert LevetWilliam Blake To the Evening Star1784William Cowper from The Task(The Winter Evening)(The Winter Walk at Noon)1786Robert Burns To a Mouse, on Turning Her Up in Her Nest, with the Plough, November, 17851787Robert Burns Address to the Unco Guid, Or the Rigidly Righteous1789William Blake from Songs of InnocenceHoly ThursdayCharlotte Smith Sonnet. Written in the Church-yard at Middleton in SussexElizabeth Hands On an Unsociable Family1791Robert Burns Tam o' Shanter. A Tale1792Robert Burns Song ('Ae fond kiss, and then we sever')1793William Blake from Visions of the Daughters of Albion'Then Oothoon waited silent all the day'William Blake 'Never seek to tell thy love'1794William Blake from Songs of Innocence and of ExperienceIntroduction ('Hear the voice of the Bard!')The Clod and the PebbleThe Sick RoseThe TygerAh! Sun-FlowerThe Garden of LoveLondonA Poison Tree1796Samuel Taylor Coleridge The Eolian HarpRobert Burns A Red, Red Rose1797George Canning and John Hookham Frere SapphicsCharlotte Smith Sonnet. On being Cautioned against Walking on a Headland Overlooking the Sea1798from Lyrical BalladsSamuel Taylor Coleridge from The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere, in Seven Parts'It is an ancyent Marinere'William Wordsworth Old Man TravellingWilliam Wordsworth Lines Written a Few Miles above Tintern AbbeySamuel Taylor Coleridge Frost at Midnight1799William Wordsworth from The Two-Part Prelude of 1799'Was it for this?'Robert Burns from Love and Liberty. A Cantara'See the smoking bowl before us'1800William Wordsworth from Lyrical Ballads'A slumber did my spirit seal'Song ('She dwelt among th' untrodden ways')1801Robert Burns 'Oh wert thou in the cauld blast'Robert Burns The Fornicator. A New Song1802Samuel Taylor Coleridge Dejection. An Ode, Written April 4, 1802Sir Walter Scott (editor) from Minstrelsy of the Scottish BorderAnonymous The Wife of Usher's WellAnonymous Thomas RhymerAnonymous Lord RandalAnonymous A Lyke-Wake Dirge1803Anonymous The Twa CorbiesWilliam Cowper The SnailWilliam Cowper The Cast-away1804William Blake from Milton (Preface)'And did those feet in ancient time'William Blake 'Mock on Mock on Voltaire Rousseau'1805William Blake The Crystal CabinetWilliam Blake from Auguries of Innocence'To see a World in a Grain of Sand'1806Anonymous Lamkin1807William Wordsworth Composed upon Westminster BridgeWilliam Wordsworth Elegaic Stanzas Suggested by a Picture of Peele CastleWilliam Wordsworth The Small CelandineWilliam Wordsworth Ode (Intimations of Immortality)1808Thomas Moore 'Oh! blame not the bard, if he fly to the bowers'1810George Crabbe from The Boroughfrom Prisons (The Condemned Man)from Peter Grimes ('Alas! for Peter not an helping Hand')Sir Walter Scott from The Lady of the LakeCoronach1815George Gordon, Lord Byron Stanzas for Music1816Samuel Taylor Coleridge Kubla Khan Or, A Vision in a Dream. A FragmentJohn Keats On First Looking into Chapman's HomerPercy Bysshe Shelley To Wordsworth1817Samuel Taylor Coleridge from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner'I fear thee, ancient Mariner!John Keats 'After dark vapours have oppress'd our plains'1818John Keats from Endymion'But there are Richer entanglements'Percy Bysshe Shelley OzymandiasSir Walter Scott from The Heart of Mid-Lothian'Proud Maisie is in the wood'1819Sir Walter Scott from The Bride of Lammermoor(Lucy Ashton's song)George Crabbe from Tales of the Hallfrom Delay has Danger ('Three weeks had past, and Richard rambles now')William Blake To the Accuser Who is the God of This WorldPercy Bysshe Shelley from The Mask of Anarchy'As I lay asleep in Italy'George Gordon, Lord Byron from Don Juanfrom Canto I (Juan's Puberty)from Canto II (The Shipwreck)John Keats The Eve of St. AgnesJohn Keats Ode to a NightingaleJohn Keats Ode on a Grecian UrnJohn Keats To AutumnJohn Keats Ode on MelancholyJohn Keats 'Bright star! would I were steadfast as thou art -'1820John Keats La Belle Dame sans Merci. A BalladPercy Bysshe Shelley Ode to the West WindPercy Bysshe Shelley from The Sensitive-Plant'Whether the Sensitive-plant, or that'1821Percy Bysshe Shelley from Adonais'The One remains, the many change and pass'1822George Gordon, Lord Byron from The Vision of Judgment'Saint Peter sat by the celestial gate'1823George Gordon, Lord Byron Aristomenes. Canto First1824George Gordon, Lord Byron January 22nd 1824. Messalonghi. On This Day I Complete My Thirty Sixth YearGeorge Gordon, Lord Byron 'Remember Thee, Remember Thee!'Percy Bysshe Shelley To Jane. The InvitationPercy Bysshe Shelley from Julian and Maddalo. A Conversation'I rode one evening with Count Maddalo'Percy Bysshe Shelley from The Triumph of Life'As in that trance of wondrous thought I lay'Caroline Oliphant, Baroness Nairne The Laird o' CockpenCaroline Oliphant, Baroness Nairne The Land o' the Leal1826Anonymous (A Metrical Adage)Anonymous Tweed and TillAnonymous (A Rhyme from Lincolnshire)1827Winthrop Mackworth Praed Good-night to the Season1828Thomas Hood Death in the KitchenSamuel Taylor Coleridge Duty Surviving Self-Love1829Felicia Dorothea Hemans CasabiancaDorothy Wordsworth Floating IslandLaetitia Elizabeth Landon Lines of LifeLaetitia Elizabeth Landon RevengeThomas Love Peacock The War-Song of Dinas VawrWinthrop Mackworth Praed Arrivals at a Watering Place1830George Gordon, Lord Byron 'So, we'll go no more a roving'1831Walter Savage Landor'Past ruin'd Ilion Helen lives'Walter Savage Landor DirceWalter Savage Landor On Seeing a Hair of Lucrezia Borgia1832George Gordon, Lord Byron Lines on Hearing That Lady Byron was Ill1833Hartley Coleridge 'Long time a child, and still a child, when years'1834Samuel Taylor Coleridge The Knight's Tomb1835John Clare The Nightingales NestJohn Clare The Sky LarkJohn Clare Mist in the MeadowsJohn Clare Sand MartinGeorge Darley from Nepenthe'Hurry me Nymphs!'1836John Henry Newman The Pillar of the Cloud1837George Darley The Mermaidens' Vesper-HymnJohn Clare 'I found a ball of grass among the hay'John Clare 'The old pond full of flags and fenced around'John Clare from The Badger'When midnight comes a host of dogs and men'1838Leigh Hunt from The Fish, the Man, and the SpiritTo FishA Fish Answers1839Thomas Hood Sonnet to Vauxhall1842Robert Browning My Last DuchessRobert Browning from Waring'What's become of Waring'Alfred, Lord Tennyson UlyssesElizabeth Barrett Browning Grief1844William Barnes The Clote1845William WordsworthThe Simplon PassThomas Hood Stanzas ('Farewell, Life! My senses swim')Robert Browning The Bishop Orders His Tomb at Saint Praxed's Church1846Edward Lear from A Book of Nonsense'There was an Old Man with a beard''There was an Old Person of Basing''There was an Old Man of Whitehaven'Emily Jane Bronte 'The night is darkening round me'Emily Jane Bronte 'Fall leaves fall die flowers away'Emily Jane Bronte 'All hushed and still within the house'Emily Jane Bronte RemembranceJames Clarence Mangan Siberia1847Alred, Lord Tennyson from The Princess'Now sleeps the crimson petal, now the white''Come down, O maid, from yonder mountain height'1848John Clare 'I am'1849Walter Savage Landor 'I strove with none, for none was worth my strife'Matthew Arnold from Resignation. To Fausta('He sees the gentle stir of birth')1850Emily Jane Bronte and Charlotte Bronte The VisionaryAlfred, Lord Tennyson from In Memoriam A.H.H.II. 'Old Yew, which graspest at the stones'VII. 'Dark house, by which once more I stand'XI. 'Calm is the morn without a sound'LVI. '"So careful of the type?" but no'CXV. 'Now fades the last long streak of snow'Thomas Lovell Beddoes from Death's Jest Book, or the Fool's Tragedy'And what's your tune?'1851Thomas Lovell Beddoes from The Last ManA CrocodileA Lake1852Matthew Arnold To Marguerite - Continued1853Walter Savage Landor 'Our youth was happy: why repine'Walter Savage Landor Separation1854James Henry 'Another and another and another'James Henry 'The son's a poor, wretched, unfortunate creature'1855Robert Browning Love in a LifeRobert Browning How It Strikes a ContemporaryRobert Browning MemorabiliaRobert Browning Two in the Campagna1856Coventry Patmore from Victories of Love, Book 1, 2'He that but once too nearly hears'1858Arthur Hugh Clough from Amours de Voyage (Canto II)V. 'Yes, we are fighting at last, it appears'VII. 'So, I have seen a man killed!'VIII. 'Only think, dearest Louisa'IX. 'It is most curious to see what a power'X. 'I am in love, meantime, you think'1859Edward Fitzgerald from Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám'Awake! for Morning in the Bowl of Night'William Barnes My Orcha'd in Linden LeaWilliam Barnes False Friends-like1860Alfred, Lord Tennyson Tithonus1861Dante Gabriel Rossetti/Dante Sestina: of the Lady Pietra degli ScrovigniAdelaide Anne Procter Envy1862Christina Rossetti MayChristina Rossetti Song ('When I am dead, my dearest')Christina Rossetti Winter: My SecretElizabeth Barrett Browning Lord Walter's WifeElizabeth Barrett Browning A Musical InstrumentGeorge Meredith from Modern LoveI. 'By this he knew she wept with waking eyes'XVII. 'At dinner she is hostess, I am host'XXXIV. 'Madam would speak with me. So now it comes'L. 'Thus piteously Love closed what he begat'Arthur Hugh Clough The Latest DecalogueAlgernon Charles Swinburne Free ThoughtWilliam Barnes Leaves-a-VallènWilliam Barnes The Turnstile1863Walter Savage Landor MemoryDante Gabriel Rossetti Sudden Light1864Robert Browning Youth and ArtJohn Clare 'The thunder mutters louder and more loud'1865Lewis Carroll from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'"You are old, Father William," the young man said''They told me you had been to her'George Eliot In a London DrawingroomArthur Hugh Clough from Dipsychus'"There is no God," the wicked saith'1866Algernon Charles Swinburne ItylusAlgernon Charles Swinburne from Sapphics'All the night sleep came not upon my eyelids'Christina Rossetti The Queen of HeartsChristina Rossetti 'What Would I Give'1867Matthew Arnold Dover BeachMatthew Arnold Growing OldDora Greenwell A Scherzo. (A Shy Person's Wishes)1868Charles Turner On a Vase of Gold-FishMortimer Collins Winter in Brighton1869Matthew Arnold 'Below the surface-stream, shallow and light'1870Augusta Webster from A Castaway'Poor little diary, with its simple thoughts'Dante Gabriel Rossetti A Match with the MoonDante Gabriel Rossetti The Woodspurge1871Edward Lear 'There was an old man who screamed out'Edward Lear The Owl and the Pussy-Cat1872Lewis Carroll from Through the Looking-Glass'In winter, when the fields are white'Christina Rossetti from Sing-Song: A Nursery Rhyme Book'Dead in the cold, a song-singing thrush''A city plum is not a plum''If a pig wore a wig''I caught a little ladybird'Robert Browning (Rhyme for a Child Viewing a Naked Venus)1875Christina Rossetti By the Sea1877Coventry Patmore Magna est VeritasGerard Manley Hopkins The Windhover: To Christ our LordGerard Manley Hopkins Pied BeautyGerard Manley Hopkins from The Wreck of the Deutschland'Thou mastering me'1878Algernon Charles Swinburne A Forsaken GardenAlgernon Charles Swinburne A Vision of Spring in Winter1880Alfred, Lord Tennyson RizpahCharles Turner Letty's Globe1881Joseph Skipsey 'Get Up!'Christina Rossetti 'Summer is Ended'Gerard Manley Hopkins InversnaidGerard Manley Hopkins 'As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame'Robert Louis Stevenson from Treasure IslandPirate DittyRobert Louis Stevenson 'Last night we had a thunderstorm in style'1882William Allingham 'Everything passes and vanishes'1884Amy Levy Epitaph (On a Commonplace Person Who Died in Bed)1885Alfred, Lord Tennyson To E. FitzGeraldGerard Manley Hopkins Spelt from Sibyl's LeavesGerard Manley Hopkins 'I wake and feel the fell of dark, not day'1886Dante Gabriel Rossetti from A Trip to Paris and BelgiumI. from London to FolkestoneXVI. Antwerp to Ghent1887Anonymous Johnny, I Hardly Knew YeRobert Louis Stevenson To Mrs Will H. LowRobert Louis Stevenson 'My house, I say. But hark to the sunny doves'May Kendall Lay of the Trilobite1888A. Mary F. Robinson NeurastheniaW. E. Henley from In HospitalII. WaitingIII. Interior1889Amy Levy A Ballade of Religion and MarriageW. B. Yeats Down by the Salley Gardens1891William Morris Pomona1892Rudyard Kipling Danny DeeverRudyard Kipling MandalayW. B. Yeats The Sorrow of LoveArthur Symons At the Cavour1894John Davidson Thirty Bob a Week1895Robert Louis Stevenson To S. R. CrockettAlice Meynell Cradle-Song at TwilightAlice Meynell ParentageMay Probyn TrioletsTête-à-TêteMasqueradingA Mésalliance1895Mary E. Coleridge An Insincere Wish Addressed to a BeggarChristina Rossetti Promises like Pie-crustErnest Dowson Vitae summa brevis spem nos vetat incohare longamA. E. Housman from A Shropshire LadXII. 'When I watch the living meet'XL. 'Into my heart an air that kills'LII. 'Far in a western brookland'John Davidson A Northern Suburb1897Arthur Symons White HeliotropeRudyard Kipling Recessional1898Oscar Wilde from The Ballad of Reading Gaol'He did not wear his scarlet coat'W. E. Henley To W. R.Thomas Hardy Neutral TonesThomas Hardy Thoughts of Phena1900Thomas Hardy The Darkling Thrush1906Walter De La Mare The BirthnightWalter De La Mare AutumnWalter De La Mare Napoleon1908Mary E. Coleridge No NewspapersMichael Field (Katherine Bradley and Edith Cooper) The Mummy Invokes His Soul1909John Davidson SnowJ. M. Synge On an Island1910J. M. Synge The 'Mergency Man1911W. H. Davies Sheep1912Thomas Hardy The Convergence of the TwainT. E. Hulme AutumnT. E. Hulme ImageEzra Pound The Return1913Ezra Pound In a Station of the Metro1914H. D. (Hilda Doolittle) OreadThomas Hardy from Poems of 1912-13The WalkThe VoiceAfter a JourneyAt Castle BoterelW. B. Yeats The Cold HeavenW. B. Yeats The MagiCharlotte Mew Fame1915Ezra Pound The GypsyEzra Pound/Rihaku from CathayThe River-Merchant's Wife: A LetterLament of the Frontier GuardRupert Brooke PeaceRupert Brooke Heaven1916D. H. Lawrence SorrowCharles Hamilton Sorley 'When you see millions of the mouthless dead'Edward Thomas Cock-CrowEdward Thomas AspensAnna Wickham The Fired PotCharlotte Mew A quoi bon direCharlotte Mew The Quiet House1917T. S. Eliot The Love Song of J. Alfred PrufrockT. S. Eliot Aunt HelenIsaac Rosenberg Break of Day in the TrenchesIsaac Rosenberg August 1914Isaac Rosenberg 'A worm fed on the heart of Corinth'Thomas Hardy During Wind and RainEdward Thomas Old ManEdward Thomas Tall NettlesEdward Thomas Blenheim OrangesEdward Thomas Rain1918Wilfred Owen FutilityWilfred Owen Anthem for Doomed YouthWilfred Owen The Send-OffWilfed Owen Maundy ThursdaySiegfried Sassoon Base DetailsSiegfried Sassoon The General1919Siegfried Sassoon Everyone SangIvor Gurney To His LoveIvor Gurney The Silent OneRudyard Kipling from Epitaphs of War, 1914-18A ServantA SonThe CowardThe Refined ManCommon FormRudyard Kipling GethsemaneLaurence Binyon For the Fallen (September 1914)W. B. Yeats The Wild Swans at CooleT. S. Eliot Sweeney Among the NightingalesEzra Pound from Homage to Sextus PropertiusVI. 'When, when, and whenever death closes our eyelids'1920Ezra Pound from Hugh Selwyn MauberleyII. 'The age demanded an image'IV. 'These fought in any case'V. 'There died a myriad'W. B. Yeats Easter, 1916T. S. Eliot GerontionA. E. Housman from Last PoemsXII. 'The laws of God, the laws of man'XXXIII. 'When the eye of day is shut'XXXVII. Epitaph on an Army of MercenariesXL. 'Tell me not here, it needs not saying'A. E. Housman 'It is a fearful thing to be'1922T. S. Eliot from The Waste LandI. The Burial of the DeadIV. Death by WaterIvor Gurney PossessionsIvor Gurney The High Hills1923D. H. Lawrence Medlars and Sorb-ApplesD. H. Lawrence The MosquitoD. H. Lawrence The Blue JayHilaire Belloc On a General ElectionHilaire Belloc Ballade of Hell and of Mrs RoebeckW. B. Yeats Leda and the Swan1925Robert Graves Love Without HopeRobert Bridges To Francis JammesEdmund Blunden The Midnight SkatersBasil Bunting from Villon'Remember, imbeciles and wits'Edwin Muir ChildhoodHugh Macdiarmid from SangschawThe WatergawThe Eemis Stane1926Hugh Macdiarmid Empty VesselHugh Macdiarmid from A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle'O wha's the bride that carries the bunch?'1927James Joyce from Pomes PenyeachBahnhofstrasse1928Thomas Hardy Lying AwakeAustin Clarke The Planter's DaughterW. B. Yeats Sailing to ByzantiumW. B. Yeats from Meditations in Time of Civil WarV. The Road at My DoorVI. The State's Nest by My WindowW. B. Yeats Among School ChildrenW.H. Auden 'Taller to-day, we remember similar evenings'1929D. H. Lawrence The Mosquito KnowsD. H. Lawrence To Women, As Far As I'm ConcernedD. H. Lawrence Innocent EnglandE. C. Bentley (Clerihews)'George the Third''Nell'Edmund Blunden Report on ExperienceRobert Graves Sick LoveRobert Graves Warning to ChildrenRobert Graves It Was All Very Tidy1930W. H. Auden 'This lunar beauty'T. S. Eliot Marina1932Basil Bunting from Chomei at Toyama'I have been noting events forty years'D. H. Lawrence Bavarian Gentians1933Rudyard Kipling The BonfiresW. B. Yeats In Memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Con MarkieviczDylan Thomas The force that through the green fuse1934Hugh Macdiarmid from On a Raised Beach'All is lithogenesis - or lochia'1935William Empson This Last PainWilliam Empson Homage to the British MuseumLouis Macneice SnowWilliam Soutar The Tryst1936W. H. Auden 'Out on the lawn I lie in bed'W. H. Auden 'Now the leaves are falling fast'Elizabeth Daryush Still-LifeLaura Riding The Wind SuffersPatrick Kavanagh Inniskeen Road: July EveningA. E. Housman from More PoemsXXIII. 'Crossing alone the nighted ferry'XXXI. 'Because I liked you better'1937A. E. Housman 'Oh who is that young sinner with the handcuffs on his wrists?'John Betjeman The Arrest of Oscar Wilde at the Cadogan HotelDavid Jones from In Parenthesisfrom Part 3 'And the deepened stillness'from Part 7 'But sweet sister death'1938Austin Clarke The Straying StudentRobert Graves To Evoke PosterityElizabeth Daryush 'Children of wealth in your warm nursery'Louis Macneice The Sunlight on the Garden1939W. B. Yeats Long-legged FlyW. H. Auden In Memory of W. B. YeatsLouis Macneice from Autumn JournalI. 'Close and slow, summer is ending in Hampshire'XV. 'Shelley and jazz and lieder and love and hymn-tunes'1940W. H. Auden Musée des Beaux ArtsJohn Betjeman Pot-Pourri from a Surrey GardenWilliam Empson Missing DatesWilliam Empson Aubade1941Louis Macneice Meeting PointLouis Macneice Autobiography1942T. S. Eliot from Little GiddingII. 'Ash on an old man's sleeve'Alun Lewis Raiders' DawnNorman Cameron Green, Green is El AghirStevie Smith Bog-FaceStevie Smith DirgePatrick Kavanagh from The Great Hungerfrom I. 'Clay is the word and clay is the flesh'III. 'Poor Paddy Maquire, a fourteen-hour day'from XI. 'The cards are shuffled and the deck'from XII. 'The fields were bleached white'1943Henry Reed Judging DistancesDavid Gascoyne Snow in EuropeDavid Gascoyne A Wartime DawnKeith Douglas Desert Flowers1944H. D. (Hilda Doolittle) from The Walls Do Not FallI. 'An incident here and there'Sorley Maclean HallaigLaurence Binyon Winter SunriseLaurence Binyon The Burning of the LeavesKeith Douglas Vergissmeinnicht1945Robert Graves To Juan at the Winter SolsticeDylan Thomas Poem in OctoberW. H. Auden from The Sea and the MirrorMirandaRuth Pitter But for LustWilliam Empson Let It Go1946Samuel Beckett Saint-LôKeith Douglas How to Kill1949Edwin Muir the Interrogation1950Marion Angus Alas! Poor QueenStevie Smith Pad, Pad1951Dylan Thomas Over Sir John's Hill1952Dylan Thomas Do not go gentle into that good nightW. H. Auden The Fall of RomeW. H. Auden The Shield of Achilles1954John Betjeman Devonshire Street W.1Robert Garioch ElegyThom Gunn The WoundPhilip Larkin At Grass1955Norman Maccaig Summer Farm1956Edwin Muir The Horses1957Ted Hughes The Thought-FoxLouis Macneice House on a CliffStevie Smith Not Waving But DrowningStevie Smith Magna est Veritas1959Geoffrey Hill A Pastoral1960Ted Hughes PikePatrick Kavanagh EpicPatrick Kavanagh Come Dance with Kitty StoblingPatrick Kavanagh The Hospital1961R. S. Thomas HereRoy Fisher from Cityfrom By the PondToylandThom Gunn In Santa Maria del PopoloThom Gunn My Sad Captains1962Malcolm Lowry (Strange Type)Christopher Logue/Homer from Patrocleia(Apollo Strikes Patroclus)1963Charles Tomlinson The Picture of J. T. in a Prospect of StoneR. S. Thomas On the FarmLouis Macneice Soap SudsLouis Macneice The TaxisAustin Clarke Martha Blake at Fifty-One1964Philip Larkin Mr BleaneyPhilip Larkin HerePhilip Larkin DaysPhilip Larkin AfternoonsDonald Davie The Hill Field1965Sylvia Plath Sheep in FogSylvia Plath The Arrival of the Bee BoxSylvia Plath Edge1966Basil Bunting from BriggflattsI. 'Brag, sweet tenor bull'R. S. Thomas PietàR. S. Thomas GiftsSeamus Heaney Personal Helicon1967Ted Hughes ThistlesTed Hughes Full Moon and Little FriedaJohn Montague from A Chosen LightII. rue DaguerreGeorge Theiner/Miroslav Holub The Fly1968Geoffrey Hill Ovid in the Third ReichGeoffrey Hill September SongRoy Fisher As He Came Near DeathRoy Fisher The Memorial Fountain1969Michael Longley PersephoneDouglas Dunn A Removal from Terry StreetDouglas Dunn On Roofs of Terry StreetNorman Maccaig Wild OatsIain Crichton Smith Shall Gaelic Die?1970W. S. Graham Malcolm Mooney's LandIan Hamilton The VisitIan Hamilton NewscastTom Leonard from Unrelated Incidents3. 'this is thi'Ted Hughes from CrowA Childish Prank1971Thom Gunn MolyGeoffrey Hill from Mercian HymnsI. 'King of the perennial holly-graves'VI. 'The princes of Mercia were badger and raven'VII. 'Gasholders, russet among fields'XXVII. 'Now when King Offa was alive and dead'George Mackay Brown Kirkyard1972Stevie Smith ScorpionCharles Tomlinson Stone SpeechDerek Mahon An Image from BeckettSeamus Heaney The Tollund ManSeamus Heaney BroaghDouglas Dunn Modern LoveÉilean Ní Chuilleanáin SwineherdÉilean Ní Chuilleanáin The Second Voyage1973Thomas Kinsella Hen WomanThomas Kinsella AncestorMichael Longley WoundsPaul Muldoon Wind and Tree1974Philip Larkin This Be the VersePhilip Larkin MoneyPhilip Larkin from LivingsII. 'Seventy feet down'Philip Larkin The ExplosionPadraic Fallon A Bit of Brass1975Seamus Heaney from Singing School6. ExposureDerek Mahon The Snow PartyDerek Mahon A Disused Shed in Co. WexfordD. J. Enright Remembrance SundayJohn Fuller Wild Raspberries1976Michael Longley Man Lying on a WallElma Mitchell Thoughts after RuskinThom Gunn The Idea of Trust1977Donald Davie from In the Stopping Train'I have got into the slow train'Norman Maccaig Notations of Ten Summer MinutesW. S. Graham Lines on Roger Hilton's WatchRobert Garioch The Maple and the Pine1978Geoffrey Hill from An Apology for the Revival of Christian Architecture in England9. The Laurel Axe12. The Eve of St MarkThomas Kinsella Tao and Unfitness at Inistiogue on the River NoreJames Fenton In a NotebookJeffrey Wainwright 18151979Craig Raine A Martian Sends a Postcard HomeChristopher Reid BaldandersTed Hughes February 17thSeamus Heaney The Strand at Lough BegMichael Longley from WreathsThe Linen Workers1980Tom Paulin Where Art is a MidwifePaul Muldoon Why Brownlee LeftPaul Muldoon AnseoPaul Durcan Tullynoe: Tête-à-Tête in the Parish Priest's ParlourPaul Durcan The Death by Heroin of Sid Vicious1981James Fenton A German RequiemTony Harrison The Earthen LotDerek Mahon Courtyards in Delft1983Paul Muldoon QuoofPaul Muldoon The FrogTom Paulin Desertmartin1984Seamus Heaney WidgeonSeamus Heaney from Station IslandVII. 'I had come to the edge of the water'Douglas Dunn from ElegiesThe Sundial1985Derek Mahon AntarcticaJohn Agard Listen to Mr Oxford don1987Peter Didsbury The HailstonePaul Muldoon Something ElseCiaran Carson DresdenEavan Boland Self-Portrait on a Summer Evening1988Charles Causley Eden RockEdwin Morgan The DowserNorman Maccaig Chauvinist1989Ted Hughes Telegraph Wires1990Ken Smith Writing in PrisonCiaran Carson Belfast ConfettiNuala Níi Dhomhnaill (trans. Paul Muldoon) The Language IssueEavan Boland The Black Lace Fan My Mother Gave Me1991Seamus Heaney from LighteningsVIII. 'The annals say: when the monks of Clonmacnoise'Michael Longley The Butchers1992Denise Riley A Misremembered LyricThom Gunn The HugThom Gunn The Reassurance1994Hugo Williams PrayerHugo Williams Last PoemEiléan Ní Chuilleanáin Studying the LanguageChristopher Reid/Ovid Stories and BonesAcknowledgementsIndex of PoetsIndex of First linesIndex of Titles

'an exceptionally rich collection. Even the best-read will find poets in it who are new to them...' - John Carey, Sunday Times'... assiduously researched, deftly managed and exhilaratingly ramified, [this] is a landmark anthology, perhaps the last great one-volume work of its kind' - TLS'Keegan arranges the poems, rather than the authors, in chronological order; a radical manoeuvre with a startlingly vivifying effect' - John Lanchester, Daily Telegraph'this big book is welcome: serious, wide-ranging and sometimes surprising... a book you should buy, and read, and argue with' - Anthony Thwaite, Sunday Telegraph'Keegan's book is rich with discoveries and reclaimings... [a] very exciting, bold new book.' - James Wood, Guardian'This anthology is a huge joy. [Keegan] shows the scholarship his system requires, and great taste besides.' - Tom Payne, Daily Telegraph