A number of poetry collections are available on the internet, often searchable with just keywords or a first line. Websites about poetry offer information, interpretation and indulgence. Here are some worth exploring:
Web anthologies
Poets' Corner
Over 6,500 poems in English, representing the work of almost 800 poets, have been compiled at this site. The collection is indexed by author, title and subject. With some biographical information and portraits.
Bartleby Verse: American & English Poetry 1250-1920
One of the largest free collections of verse on the web. Includes the complete text of anthologies such as The Oxford Book of English Verse, 1919, and Modern American Poetry, 1919. Fully searchable -- indexes include chronologic, author, title, keyword and first line.
Representative Poetry On-line
An anthology of English poetry, from the medieval period to the early 20th century, with thousands of poems by hundreds of authors. Works are indexed by poet, first line, title, date and keyword. With a timeline and a glossary of poetic terms and forms. From the English Dept. at the University of Toronto.
Project Gutenberg
The Internet's oldest producer of free electronic texts. Over 200 poems ranging from The Aeneid to A Child's Garden of Verses.
back to top
Poetry websites
Glossary of Poetic Terms
Alphabetical entries of poetic terms with pronunciation, cross references, poetic quotations, writers' guidelines and hyper-linked keywords. Compiled by Robert G. Shubinsky.
Poets.org
This site from the Academy of American Poets offers "curated" Poetry Exhibits: a series of showcases on 20th century American poetry, with historical and thematic essays, poems, photographs and audio samples.
Digital Dante
An ongoing project of the Institute for Learning Technologies at Columbia University to develop an online, multimedia Dante-related resource. Includes biographical information, electronic texts, associated artwork, scholarly articles, even a list of the books he read. "Abandon every hope, who enter here."
Modern American Poetry
A collection of over 150 poets with analyses of poems, biographies, illustrations, manuscripts, drafts of poems, bibliographies, interviews, essays, reviews. A multimedia companion to the Anthology of Modern American Poetry published by Oxford Press. From the Dept. of English, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Poetry Magic
A British site sponsored by a small electronic literary publisher, LitLang. Intended as a resource centre for the theory and craft of writing poetry, both traditional and avantgarde. Topics include postmodernist poetry, finding a theme, word choice, and publishing.
Sonnet Central
An archive of English sonnets, commentary, web links and a forum for poets to share and discuss their own work. Sonnets are grouped by periods and can also be accessed via a list of authors. Searchable. Site created by Eric Blomquist.
Showcase of visual poetry
Poems to make, watch and hear, sponsored by the BBC.
Celebration of Women Writers
Poetry by women, browsable by century, country and ethnicity as well as by name. Some have links to bibliographies or their own homepages.
Lesbian Poetry
The Isle of Lesbos: selected works and biographies of poets (of various orientations) who have written about affection between women.
back to top
