American Poetry

Do poetry and politics mix or are they like oil and water? This article explores some of the views that are out there.

Lincoln's statesmanship steered America in a direction toward strength and peace. His life is certainly one to emulate. And the poets have not failed to notice. Plus the sixteenth president was also something of a poet.

The great Indian-American poet/guru Paramahansa Yogananda demonstrates that depth of emotion can lead to God-realization. This article focuses on two of his most emotion-charged poems.

The Ward Churchill of poetry: Robert Bly's so-called translations amount to little more than plagiarism of the authentic translators' works. This article focuses on Bly's misrepresentation of Kabir through Bly's revisions of the far superior translations of Rabindranath Tagore and Evelyn Underhill.

The poet Ted Kooser has been appointed U S Poet Laureate for a second year, and he has also been awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his recent book of poems.

"Life has loveliness to sell," begins one of Teasdale's most famous poems. This essay offers a glimpes into the life of this much neglected poet.

The changing of the season is always a good time to dip into some nature poetry, and who is better than Robert Frost at satisfying our appetite for nature poetry?

Nebraskan Ted Kooser appointed poet laureate.

Though Thoreau’s reputation does not center squarely on poetry, it does demonstrate that the literary life he chose was one that has been well admired.

Because of his abundance of rime, Edgar Allan Poe was labeled by his contemporaries as “The Jingle Man.”