Truthfully, it’s impossible to say. Happily, however, the number of great poems is almost endless. For starters, here are 30 poets and volumes worth looking into and possibly picking up…
Note: Given The Jacob Challenge schedule of 12 meetings per year featuring two poems per meeting, a maximum of 24 poets and poems can be featured in a single calendar year. It’s our recommendation that no more than four selections be from any single poet in a given year, which sets the stage for a minimum of six and maximum of 24 featured poets.
When considering how to read and discuss a poem, here are some basic suggestions.
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
The Complete Poetry and Selected Prose of John Donne
John Keats: The Complete Poems
Leaves of Grass: The Poems of Walt Whitman
The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson
The Collected Poems of W.B. Yeats
T.S. Eliot: Collected Poems, 1909-1962
The Collected Poems of Wilfred Owens
The Complete Poems of Carl Sandburg
The Collected Poems of William Carlos Williams
Elizabeth Bishop: The Complete Poems
e.e. cummings: Complete Poems, 1904-1962
The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes
The Essential Gwendolyn Brooks
What Work Is: Poems by Philip Levine
Maya Angelou: The Complete Poetry
Margaret Atwood: Selected Poems 1965-1975
Poems 1962-2012 by Louise Glück
Different Hours: Poems by Stephen Dunn
Stag’s Leap: Poems by Sharon Olds
Gabriel: A Poem by Edward Hirsch
Macaroni and Cheese Manifesto by Steven H. Biondolillo
Note: April is National Poetry Month; the group might consider entertaining poetry written by members or inviting a local poet to join the meeting.
