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Best Poetry Books
Score
A book’s total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book.
| 1 |
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The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson
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4.28 avg rating — 105,989 ratings
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| 2 |
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Leaves of Grass
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4.11 avg rating — 115,196 ratings
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| 3 |
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Shakespeare's Sonnets
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4.25 avg rating — 111,057 ratings
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| 4 |
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Ariel
by
4.19 avg rating — 87,556 ratings
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| 5 |
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The Waste Land and Other Poems
by
4.22 avg rating — 73,049 ratings
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| 6 |
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The Raven and Other Poems
by
4.30 avg rating — 46,443 ratings
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| 7 |
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Howl and Other Poems
by
4.13 avg rating — 117,892 ratings
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| 8 |
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Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair
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4.20 avg rating — 80,303 ratings
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| 9 |
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The Complete Poems
by
4.25 avg rating — 24,294 ratings
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| 10 |
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Songs of Innocence and of Experience
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4.09 avg rating — 51,215 ratings
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| 11 |
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The Collected Poems of W.B. Yeats
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4.23 avg rating — 39,845 ratings
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| 12 |
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Paradise Lost
by
3.85 avg rating — 178,996 ratings
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| 13 |
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Les Fleurs du Mal
by
4.20 avg rating — 78,469 ratings
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| 14 |
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The Poetry of Robert Frost
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4.24 avg rating — 49,082 ratings
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| 15 |
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The Divine Comedy: Inferno - Purgatorio - Paradiso
by
4.08 avg rating — 168,564 ratings
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| 16 |
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Where the Sidewalk Ends
by
4.35 avg rating — 1,489,407 ratings
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| 17 |
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100 Selected Poems
by
4.28 avg rating — 29,293 ratings
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| 18 |
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Four Quartets
by
4.37 avg rating — 19,523 ratings
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| 19 |
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The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
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3.97 avg rating — 62,034 ratings
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| 20 |
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The Collected Poems
by
4.25 avg rating — 50,087 ratings
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| 21 |
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The Essential Rumi
by
Coleman Barks (Translator)
4.39 avg rating — 50,184 ratings
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| 22 |
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Duino Elegies
by
4.39 avg rating — 9,888 ratings
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| 23 |
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The Prophet
by
4.23 avg rating — 323,168 ratings
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| 24 |
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Collected Poems
by
4.20 avg rating — 17,423 ratings
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| 25 |
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The Canterbury Tales
by
3.52 avg rating — 235,468 ratings
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| 26 |
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Illuminations
by
4.32 avg rating — 13,744 ratings
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| 27 |
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Beowulf
by
3.50 avg rating — 339,998 ratings
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| 28 |
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The Collected Poems
by
4.36 avg rating — 18,192 ratings
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| 29 |
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The Complete Poems
by
4.29 avg rating — 16,711 ratings
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| 30 |
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The Collected Poems
by
4.27 avg rating — 11,556 ratings
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| 31 |
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The Complete English Poems
by
4.15 avg rating — 9,900 ratings
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| 32 |
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Crush
by
4.34 avg rating — 41,465 ratings
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| 33 |
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The Waste Land
by
4.11 avg rating — 58,160 ratings
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| 34 |
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100 Love Sonnets
by
4.34 avg rating — 18,367 ratings
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| 35 |
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The Selected Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke
by
4.36 avg rating — 17,084 ratings
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| 36 |
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Lunch Poems
by
4.15 avg rating — 13,222 ratings
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| 37 |
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The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock and Other Poems
by
4.32 avg rating — 22,507 ratings
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| 38 |
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Metamorphoses
by
4.10 avg rating — 76,874 ratings
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| 39 |
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The Iliad
by
3.93 avg rating — 498,632 ratings
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| 40 |
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Song of Myself
by
4.16 avg rating — 15,755 ratings
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| 41 |
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The Complete Poems 1927-1979
by
4.20 avg rating — 12,990 ratings
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| 42 |
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Collected Poems, Prose, and Plays
by
4.32 avg rating — 6,265 ratings
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| 43 |
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The Odyssey
by
3.83 avg rating — 1,165,436 ratings
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| 44 |
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Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats
by
4.07 avg rating — 29,450 ratings
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| 45 |
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The Complete Poetry and Prose
by
4.26 avg rating — 16,841 ratings
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| 46 |
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Poems New And Collected
by
4.42 avg rating — 3,556 ratings
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| 47 |
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Selected Poems
by
4.06 avg rating — 14,691 ratings
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| 48 |
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The Portable Dorothy Parker
by
4.34 avg rating — 11,900 ratings
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| 49 |
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Collected Poems
by
4.21 avg rating — 8,961 ratings
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| 50 |
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The Collected Poems, Vol. 1: 1909-1939
by
4.20 avg rating — 6,189 ratings
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| 51 |
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The Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins
by
4.29 avg rating — 1,841 ratings
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| 52 |
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A World of Verse (ASMSG Collections #2)
by
4.57 avg rating — 96 ratings
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| 53 |
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Collected Poems
by
4.24 avg rating — 8,581 ratings
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| 54 |
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The Aeneid
by
3.87 avg rating — 140,804 ratings
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| 55 |
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If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho
by
4.43 avg rating — 21,031 ratings
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| 56 |
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The Iliad / The Odyssey
by
4.07 avg rating — 82,552 ratings
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| 57 |
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Transformations
by
4.11 avg rating — 7,313 ratings
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| 58 |
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New and Selected Poems, Volume One
by
4.54 avg rating — 14,408 ratings
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| 59 |
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A Coney Island of the Mind
by
4.16 avg rating — 12,216 ratings
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| 60 |
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The Poetry of Pablo Neruda
by
4.43 avg rating — 20,313 ratings
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| 61 |
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Sonnets from the Portuguese
by
4.11 avg rating — 12,736 ratings
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| 62 |
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The Complete Collected Poems
by
4.44 avg rating — 13,910 ratings
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| 63 |
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Selected Poems
by
4.19 avg rating — 7,413 ratings
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| 64 |
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The Dream Songs
by
4.20 avg rating — 6,817 ratings
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| 65 |
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Selected Poems
by
4.17 avg rating — 15,046 ratings
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| 66 |
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The Major Works
by
4.04 avg rating — 7,039 ratings
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| 67 |
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C.P. Cavafy: Collected Poems
by
4.43 avg rating — 5,321 ratings
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| 68 |
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The Complete Stories and Poems
by
4.40 avg rating — 292,630 ratings
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| 69 |
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Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
by
3.76 avg rating — 75,661 ratings
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| 70 |
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The Selected Poems
by
4.32 avg rating — 9,168 ratings
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| 71 |
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Diving Into the Wreck
by
4.24 avg rating — 9,562 ratings
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| 72 |
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White Knuckle
by
Steven Bruce (Goodreads Author)
4.52 avg rating — 462 ratings
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| 73 |
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The Fact of a Doorframe: Poems Selected and New, 1950-1984
by
4.24 avg rating — 3,145 ratings
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| 74 |
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Paterson
by
4.12 avg rating — 3,211 ratings
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| 75 |
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The Collected Poems
by
4.14 avg rating — 5,073 ratings
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| 76 |
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The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova
by
4.42 avg rating — 7,521 ratings
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| 77 |
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Death of a Naturalist
by
4.26 avg rating — 4,374 ratings
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| 78 |
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Picnic, Lightning
by
4.27 avg rating — 4,487 ratings
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| 79 |
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Poems of Paul Celan
by
4.33 avg rating — 3,856 ratings
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| 80 |
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Above the River: The Complete Poems
by
4.33 avg rating — 1,834 ratings
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| 81 |
|
The Sun and Her Flowers
by
Rupi Kaur (Goodreads Author)
4.08 avg rating — 366,928 ratings
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| 82 |
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Collected Sonnets
by
4.33 avg rating — 1,056 ratings
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| 83 |
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The Complete Poems
by
4.15 avg rating — 3,166 ratings
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| 84 |
|
Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror
by
4.07 avg rating — 4,664 ratings
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| 85 |
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The Lady of Shalott
by
4.19 avg rating — 19,710 ratings
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| 86 |
|
Chicago Poems
by
4.01 avg rating — 2,629 ratings
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| 87 |
|
Love Is a Dog from Hell
by
3.96 avg rating — 38,172 ratings
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| 88 |
|
The Colossus and Other Poems
by
4.16 avg rating — 13,875 ratings
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| 89 |
|
A Book Of Luminous Things: An International Anthology of Poetry
by
Czesław Miłosz (Editor)
4.18 avg rating — 2,929 ratings
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| 90 |
|
The World Doesn't End
by
4.13 avg rating — 3,016 ratings
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| 91 |
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Stranger Music: Selected Poems and Songs
by
4.38 avg rating — 2,840 ratings
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| 92 |
|
The Complete Poems and Plays, 1909-1950
by
4.34 avg rating — 7,000 ratings
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| 93 |
|
Sonnets to Orpheus
by
4.24 avg rating — 4,088 ratings
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| 94 |
|
95 Poems
by
4.24 avg rating — 1,994 ratings
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| 95 |
|
Milk and honey
by
Rupi Kaur (Goodreads Author)
3.96 avg rating — 784,561 ratings
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| 96 |
|
Complete Works
by
4.40 avg rating — 9,387 ratings
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| 97 |
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Shelley's Poetry and Prose
by
4.10 avg rating — 4,559 ratings
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| 98 |
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Fugue for Other Hands
by
Joseph Fasano (Goodreads Author)
4.73 avg rating — 182 ratings
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| 99 |
|
The Cantos
by
3.92 avg rating — 5,382 ratings
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| 100 |
|
Tennyson's Poetry
by
4.07 avg rating — 8,011 ratings
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Jordan
123 books
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Tom
1902 books
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Miriam
268 books
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Wealhtheow
4761 books
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Kelly
2413 books
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Dave
1221 books
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Carl
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Comments Showing 1-44 of 44 (44 new)
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message 1:
by
Lea
(new)
Sep 05, 2008 04:15PM
I HAD to stop at fifteen. There were so many favorites, so little time!
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I have tried over 5 times to add Cracked by Alice Shapiro and it won't take here. If you are able to get it work please add this book for me. thanks
Alice, Cracked - Timeless Topics of Nature, Courage and Endurance, by Alice Shapiro is on the list now, at 297 last time I checked. I was able to add it from my list of books...wouldn't come up at first though...see if you can vote on it now.Alice Shapiro
Steven wrote: "Alice, Cracked - Timeless Topics of Nature, Courage and Endurance, by Alice Shapiro is on the list now, at 297 last time I checked. I was able to add it from my list of books...wouldn't come up a..."
Thanks Steve, I finally got back here to vote for her. I found this link again via book lady.
Thanks Steve, I finally got back here to vote for her. I found this link again via book lady.
I'm surprised that some of the classic anthologies aren't ranked higher.
A Salute to Spanish Poetry: 100 Masterpieces from Spain and Latin America rendered into English verse by John Howard Reid
Being that Valentine's Day is just around the corner - now is the time to put together the list of poetry books you want...send them to your someone special so they know what to get you.Check-out Kobo's"Share your Love" promotion - both parties win :) Send the gift of a free eReading app to loved
ones for Valentine's Day and get a chance to
win a $500 Kobo eGift Card http://bit.ly/gDWaOC
To Kill a MockingbirdSince when was #138, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, a book of poetry?
It's prose fiction, and nothing but prose fiction.
Interesting to me how Jack Gilbert and Eugenio Montale are still not known as well as they should be, at least among people who supposedly read poetry. Both of them great poets, and Jack is still alive. Also interesting that I only have one collection even rated of the so-called top 100 books so far listed. Probably why I hate poetry.
"Lucky Charms" poetry by Poetess Tiffany Tolbert
Just too many to go through...if your interested in a smallish group for sharing your own please join...http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/6...
I'm a newbie at poetry, so I'll look for these titles ;)
Ethel Mortenson DavisI Sleep Between the Moons of New MexicoWhite Ermine Across Her ShouldersPowerful, imagistic poetry
I've added several poetry books but I've also deleted several novels: All of Jane Austen's novels, Salinger's 'The Catcher in the Rye', Melville's 'Moby Dick' and Mitchell's 'Gone with the Wind'.
I think it is imp[ossible to tell what is best. What are the criteria? For many folks it will come down to 'what I like'. Poems are set in a context both near and remote and personal. It is like saying A scored higher on an IQ test so she is better than B.
It is true that there may be bad poetry as there are bad songs. "Raise high the flags, stand rank on rank together...and so on" Bad poetry and song because of the results. This is the Utilitarian view. But then put just those words and may some of the other verses into a different context and the poetry might be good. That is 'on the side of the angels'.
Robert Burns and Shakespeare are not mentioned. Why not they certainly compare with Milton and John Donne.
You have set us an impossible task.
Roger wrote: "Robert Burns and Shakespeare are not mentioned. Why not they certainly compare with Milton and John Donne...."Shakespeare's Sonnets was the first book in this Listopia I voted for (and 94 others voted for this books as well...).
I've also added The Complete Poems and Songs of Robert Burns.
HEARTFELT BARING ALL (#5) only has 16 ratings but has 110 votes? Odd...
Sylvain wrote: "HEARTFELT BARING ALL (#5) only has 16 ratings but has 110 votes? Odd..."My guess is because the votes it received weren't the first vote for that user. A #1 vote will give a book 100 points, whereas a #100 vote will just give 1 point. Does that make sense?
Can anyone tell me why my own poetry book may have been removed from this list? I had nearly 100 votes before it was removed and I have not seen any reason why it was. Is it simply the opinion that it is too new to count? Thank you!
Whispering Tears: A Book of Poetry
p. 12: 'Snow' by Orhan Pamuk is not a poetry book but a novel.
The Tale of Peter Rabbit? also on p. 12.
p. 11: Pretty sure "The Dinner" by Koch is a novel.
P. 10, "The Lion of Cairo" appears to be a fantasy novel.
P. 9, "Dare to Surrender" is an erotic novel.
Same with "Off the Record" by K.A. Linde...p. 9
What's with Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (p. 4) - that was some kind of a novel. Even if I didn't make it past p. 25.
Jan C wrote: "Isn't The Merchant of Venice (p. 3) a drama?"Drama in verse. I'd count it in both categories.
AnnMarie wrote: "Sylvain wrote: "HEARTFELT BARING ALL (#5) only has 16 ratings but has 110 votes? Odd..."My guess is because the votes it received weren't the first vote for that user. A #1 vote will give a book ..."
Yes, not only the number of votes counts, but they are weighted by the position in the list of the voter.
I would have felt happy had the poetry of Adonis and Mahmoud Darwish is also included in your list of best books.Ramanuja Rao
p. 12 Pride and Prejudice needs to be pruned out.
Vicki wrote: "p. 12 Pride and Prejudice needs to be pruned out."Done.
For Poems of Love and Letting Go , it's amazing how the poems in this book mirror how I feel at times. It's nice to know someone feels the same way as I do and was able to put into words the emotions I even can't describe myself.
Poems of Love and Letting Go
There are several plays here on this Listopia; although they are poetry (one didn't write anthing else at the time), they were intended as plays...
Related News
Those who have picked up the habit can tell you: Poetry is a lot more fun than you might expect.
This is especially true if you have a love...
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