General Reference Sources || Find a Poem || Criticism || Explication || Find a Poet || Writing Poetry
 

Drury, John. The Poetry Dictionary. Cincinnati, OH: Story Press, 1995.
     Ref. PN 1021 .D78 1995
Definitions of poetry terms and examples of poetry forms, genres, movements and periods.

Haralson, Eric L., ed. Encyclopedia of American Poetry: The Nineteenth Century. Chicago and London: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1998.
     Ref. PS 316 .E63 1998
Contains brief entries on poets and poetry topics in 19th-century American poetry. Should primarily be used for quick reference.

---. Encyclopedia of American Poetry: The Twentieth Century. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2001.
     Ref. PS 323.5 .E53 2001
Contains brief entries on poets, poems, and topics in 20th-century American poetry.

Glossary of Poetic Terms
Use this section of Representative Poetry Online to find definitions of poetic terms and examples.

Hazen, Edith P., ed. The Columbia Granger's Dictionary of Poetry Quotations. New York: Columbia UP, 1992.
     Ref. PN 6082 .C57 1992
Use to verify the wording of a quotation, find the author and title of a poem of which you remember a part, or find a poetry quotation on a given subject or occasion.

Jason, Philip K., ed. Masterplots II. Poetry Series. Rev. ed. Pasadena: Salem Press, 2002.
     Ref. PN 1110.5.M37
Series includes basic background and summary information on frequently taught and anthologized poems. It does not include poetry explication or criticism.

MagillOnLiterature - 1963-present
Critical essays on authors, titles, and characters from world classics for fiction, poetry, short stories, drama, nonfiction, and juvenile and young adult works are available. Remote access is available only to SLU students, faculty and staff.

Packard, William. The Poet's Dictionary: A Handbook of Prosody and Poetic Devices. New York: Harper & Row, 1989.
     Ref. PN 44.5 .P3 1989
Uses excerpts of well-known poetry as examples.

Preminger, Alex, and T.V.F. Brogan, eds. The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1993.
     Ref. PN 1021.N39 1993
Contains information about the history of poetry in different countries as well as poetry movements, techniques, and criticism.

Turco, Lewis. The Book of Forms: A Handbook of Poetics. Hanover: University Press of New England, 2000.
     Ref. PN 1042 .T78 2000
Use to identify a poem's form or to learn more about poetic elements and traditional verse forms.

SLU Libraries Catalog Tip!    To find poetry written by a specific group of people or on a specific subject, perform a subject search in the SLU Libraries Catalog on "poetry" and the group of people or subject you're interested in. For example, to find poetry written by African American women, search for "Poetry - African American Women". To find poetry about nature, search for "Poetry - Nature".

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American Verse Project
Search this electronic archive of volumes of American poetry published prior to 1920.

Bartleby.com
Provides access to the full-text of a variety of poetry anthologies and volumes.

British Women Romantic Poets, 1789-1832
Browse or search this online archive of poetry by British and Irish women writers written between 1789 and 1832 (the Romantic Period).

Contemporary American Poetry Archive
This electronic archive makes out-of-print volumes of contemporary American poetry available via the Web.

Electronic Poetry Center
Use this portal to find electronic poetry resources including text and audio poems and poetry publishing information.

The Eserver Poetry Collection
Find the full text of selected poems online.

Frankovich, Nicholas, ed. The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry in Anthologies. 13th ed. New York: Columbia University Press, 2007.
     Ref. PN 1021 .G7 2007
Use this index to identify a poem by title, first line, author or subject and find what anthologies it has been published in. Last line indexing is available for 10,000 frequently anthologized poems.

Kline, Victoria. Last Lines: An Index to the Last Lines of Poetry. New York: Facts on File, 1991.
     Ref. PN 1022 .K55 1991
Use to identify and locate a poem when you only know the last line. Use the keyword index when you only know a significant word in the last line or title of the poem.

Newton, Keith, ed. The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry in Collected and Selected Works. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004.
     Ref. PN 1022 .C63 2004
This source indexes poems that have been published in books of collected and selected poems by major poets. Use it to find out who wrote a poem, what poems have been written on a given subject, or where a poem has been published.

Poets' Corner
Looking for the full text of a poem online? Check this site. It's limited to past copyright poems and poems that the authors had permission to publish, but you may find what you're looking for.

Representative Poetry On-Line
This site features approximately 2,500 English poems from the Old English period to today. It also includes online literary criticism, Canadian poetry, and a glossary of poetic terms.

Sonnet Central
Use this site to find non-contemporary English-language sonnets, classic essays on the sonnet, an annotated bibliography of critical works on the form, and sonnets about sonnets.

Voice of the Shuttle
Browse the literature section of this first rate humanities site by period to find electronic poetry texts and criticism or use the site's search engine.

SLU Libraries Catalog Tip!     To find the text of a single poem that has been published in a collection of poems, perform a keyword search in the SLU Libraries Catalog on the title of the poem. For example, to find "Ode to the Bee" by Pablo Neruda, search for "Ode to the Bee".

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MLA International Bibliography - 1926-present
Indexes books, book chapters, dissertations and articles from over 4,400 journals in language, linguistics, literature, and folklore.

Humanities Full Text - 1984-present
Indexes and/or abstracts over 600 humanities periodicals. Full text is available from approximately 230 journals.

JSTOR
This archival journal resource provides access to the full-text of over 500 journal titles, including many literature journals. Note that the last 1 to 7 years of each journal are not available in this resource.

Project Muse
This electronic journal collection provides full-text access to over 250 scholarly journals, including many literature journals.

Modern American Poetry
This University of Illinois site is a great resource for those studying modern American poetry. It features poetry excerpts, criticism and biographical and historical information.

Napierkowski, Marie Rose, ed. Poetry for Students: Presenting Analysis, Context and Criticism on Commonly Studied Poetry. Detroit: Gale Research, 1998-.
     Ref. PN1101 .P64 1998
Look up a poem in this source to find an introduction to the poem and poet, the text of the poem, a summary of it, analysis of the poem's themes and a discussion of the literary techniques demonstrated in the poem.

Poetry Criticism. Detroit: Gale Research, 1991-.
     Ref. PN 1105 .P63
Features excerpts of poetry criticism as well as biographical information on poets and lists of their works.

SLU Libraries Catalog Tip!    To find books of criticism on a poet's work, perform a subject search in SLU Libraries Catalog on the poet's name (last name, first name) and then select the subject heading that ends in "criticism and interpretation". For example, search for "Frost, Robert" and select the subject heading that says "Frost Robert - 1874 - 1963 - Criticism And Interpretation".

See also Literary Criticism Resource Guide.

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Coleman, Kathleen. Guide to French Poetry Explication. New York: G.K. Hall, 1993.
     Ref. PQ 401 .C65 1993
This source lists explications of French poetry from all periods in French literary history, from the Middle Ages to Contemporary poetry. These explications were published between 1960 and 1990.

Kuntz, Joseph M., and Nancy C. Martinez. Poetry Explication: a Checklist of Interpretation Since 1925 of British and American Poems Past and Present. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1980.
     Ref. PR 502 .K8 1980
Use this checklist to find poetry explications that appeared in collections or periodicals between 1925 and 1977.

Martinez, Nancy C., and Joseph G. R. Martinez. Guide to British Poetry Explication. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1991.
     Ref. PR 311 .M377 1991
Find interpretations of British poetry using the following four volumes of this set: Old English-Medieval, Renaissance, Restoration-Romantic, and Victorian-Contemporary. This guide updates Poetry Explication.

Ruppert, James, and John R. Leo. Guide to American Poetry Explication. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1989.
     Ref. Z 1231. P7G85 1989
Use this two-volume set to find explications of pre-twentieth and twentieth-century American poetry. These explications date from 1925-1987 and update Poetry Explication.

SLU Libraries Catalog Tip!    To find books of explication on a poet's work, perform a keyword search in the SLU Libraries Catalog on the poet's last name and the word "explication". For example, to find poetry explication on the works of Allen Ginsberg, search for "Ginsberg and explication".

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Academy of American Poets
Find poets' biographies and photos, poems, and audio files of poets reading their own work.

Contemporary Authors. Detroit: Gale Research Co.,1981-.
     Ref. Z 1224 .C64
Provides biographical information on over 100,000 writers (including poets). Entries may include the following information: addresses, awards and honors, memberships, writings, interviews, photographs and lists of biographical and critical sources. Find the most current entry on an author by using the cumulative index.

Dictionary of Literary Biography. Detroit: Gale Research, 1978-.
The following volumes of the DLB feature biographical and bibliographical information on poets and include photos. Although they are part of a series, they are shelved separately in the reference collection by call number.

Afro-American Poets Since 1955
     Ref. PS 153.N5 A38 1985

American Poets, 1880-1945
     Ref. PS 324 .A44 1987

American Poets Since World War II
     Ref. PS 323.5 .A5

British Poets, 1880-1914
     Ref. PR 581 .B7 1983

British Poets, 1914-1945
     Ref. PR 610 .B7 1983

Late Nineteenth-and Early Twentieth-Century British Women Poets
     Ref. PR 115 .L345 2001

Modern French Poets
     Ref. PQ 441 .M63 2002

Nineteenth-Century French Poets
     Ref. PQ 433 .N56 2000

Poets of Great Britain and Ireland, 1945-1960
     Ref. PR 610 .P56 1984

Poets of Great Britain and Ireland Since 1960
     Ref. PR 611 .P58 1985

Seventeenth-Century British Nondramatic Poets
     Ref. PR 541 .S48 1993

Twentieth-Century Italian Poets
     Ref. PQ 4057 .T92 1992

Twentieth-Century Spanish Poets
     Ref. PQ 6085 .T88 1991

Victorian Poets After 1850
     Ref. PR 591 .V53 1985

Victorian Poets Before 1850
     Ref. PR 591 .V53 1984

Jason, Phillip K., ed. Critical Survey of Poetry. 2^nd Rev. ed. Pasadena: Salem Press, 2003.
     Ref. PN 1021 .C7 2003
Find biographical information on English-language and foreign-language poets and topical essays on poetry. Entries include the following information: birth place and date, principle works, other literary forms, achievements, biographical information, analysis of the poet's work, major publications other than poetry and a bibliography.

MagillonLiterature - 1963-present
Critical essays on authors, titles, and characters from world classics for fiction, poetry, short stories, drama, nonfiction, and juvenile and young adult works are available.

Notable Poets. Pasadena, CA: Salem Press, 1998.
     Ref. PN 1021 .N68 1998
Find biographical information and critical studies on well-known English and foreign-language poets.

Padgett, Ron, Ed. World Poets. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2000.
     Ref. PN 1021 .W67 2000
Includes biographical information on 110 often-studied poets and articles about poetic styles, movements and writing poetry.

Riggs, Thomas, ed. Contemporary Poets. 7th ed. Detroit: St. James Press, 2001.
     Ref. PR 603 .C6
Provides biographical, bibliographical, and critical information on contemporary English-language poets. Available in print and e-book format.

Scott-Kilvert, Ian, ed. British Writers. New York: Scribner, 1979-1984.
     Ref. PR 85 .B688
Comprised of literary biographies of British authors (including poets) from the fourteenth century to the present. Each entry includes a selected bibliography that lists the author's works as well as related critical and biographical publications.

Shelton, Pamela L., ed. Contemporary Women Poets. Detroit: St. James Press, 1998.
     Ref. PS 151 .C67 1997
Use to find biographical, bibliographical, and critical entries on contemporary women poets. Features primarily English-language poets, but some foreign-language poets are included.

Twentieth-Century Poetry in English
Find information on twentieth-century English-language poets via this site or one of the many sites it links to.

Ungar, Leonard, Ed. American Writers; a Collection of Literary Biographies. New York: Scribner, 1974-.
     Ref. PS 129 .A55
Find biographical information on American authors (including poets) and lists of their works. Also use to find references to related bibliographies, critical studies, articles, reviews and interviews.

The Writer's Directory 2007. New York: St. James Press, 2006.     
This e-book provides bibliographical, biographical, and contact information for 20,000 international writers who have had at least one work published in English.

SLU Libraries Catalog Tip!     To find books about a poet, perform a subject search in SLU Libraries Catalog on the poet's name (last name, first name) and select the subject heading that ends in "biography". For example, search for "Frost, Robert" and then select the subject heading that says "Frost Robert - 1874 - 1963 - Biography".

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Poetry Magic
Find information basic and advanced information on writing poetry, types of literary criticism, poetry movements, and poetry's intellectual foundations.

Poetry Portal
Use this collection of links to find poetry resources on the Web, including sites about writing, interpreting and evaluating poetry.

Poetry Society of America
Visit this site to find poetry reviews and information on poetry journals, conferences, book publishers, MFA programs in poetry, literary organizations and the PSA itself.

Poet's Market. Cincinnati: Writer's Digest Books, 2007.
     Ref. PN 1059.M3 P59 2007
Find out where you can publish your poetry and learn about poetry conferences, workshops and organizations.

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