“To read Bloom’s insights here is to bask in the emanation
of genius. As entertaining and erudite as his choices of the works he most
loves are, the book’s overriding strength is the guidance it gives, in context
and comprehension.” –Baltimore Sun

This comprehensive anthology offers renowned critic Harold
Bloom’s choice of the best of six centuries of great British and American
poetry, selected in accordance with his three absolute criteria: aesthetic
splendor, intellectual power, and wisdom. In Bloom’s introductory essay “The Art
of Reading Poetry,” he presents his critical reflections of more than half a
century devoted to reading, teaching, and writing about great verse, the
literary achievement he loves most. Throughout this volume, Bloom includes
extensive introductions to each poet and to many of the individual poems. More
than any other anthology, this book provides readers who desire the pleasures
of sublime art with nearly everything they need in a single volume.