Poetry written in English is uniquely powerful and suggestive in its capacity to surprise, unsettle, shock, console, and move. The Cambridge History of English Poetry offers sparklingly fresh and dynamic readings of an extraordinary range of poets and poems from Beowulf to Alice Oswald. An international team of experts explores how poets in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland use language and to what effect, examining questions of form, tone, and voice; they comment, too, on how formal choices are inflected by the poet's time and place. The Cambridge History of English Poetry is the most comprehensive and authoritative history of the field from early medieval times to the present. It traces patterns of continuity, transformation, transition, and development. Covering a remarkable array of poets and poems, and featuring an extensive bibliography, the scope and depth of this major work of reference make it required reading for anyone interested in poetry.

'This book provides an excellent introduction to English poetry but its most productive use will be as a catalyst for further reading.'

Source: Annotated Bibliography of English Studies

'… should prove to be an excellent resource for students and researchers of English poetry and English literary history.'

Source: English

'This is a well constructed and well balanced volume …'

Source: Contemporary Review

'… this is a volume to turn to for close and scholarly appreciations of poetic form.'

Source: The Year's Work in English Studies

'… provides easily excerpted chapters ready for use by teachers of literary survey courses. Rather than specialized or tendentious readings, this book offers concrete observations … Its publication may be taken as an affirmation of the relevance of a diverse, complex, and rich tradition.'

Source: Choice

'Michael O'Neill's The Cambridge History of English Poetry contains nine chapters relevant to the Romantic period. Each of them is written with intelligence and insight. The collection, by leading scholars, gives an important overview of the state of the field.'

Source: The Year's Work in English Studies