The Penguin Book of Romantic Poetry

An acclaimed anthology celebrating the creative flowering of the English Romantic period

The Romanticism that emerged after the American and French revolutions of 1776 and 1789 represented a new flowering of the imagination and the spirit, and a celebration of the soul of humanity with its capacity for love. This extraordinary collection sets the acknowledged genius of poems such as Blake’s “The Tyger,” Coleridge’s “Kubla Khan,” and Shelley’s “Ozymandias” alongside verse from less well known figures and women poets such as Charlotte Smith and Mary Robinson. We also see familiar poets in an unaccustomed light, as Blake, Wordsworth, and Shelley demonstrate their comic skills, while Coleridge, Keats, and Clare explore the Gothic and surreal.

“An absolutely fascinating selection—notable for its women poets, its intriguing thematic categories, and its helpful mini-biographies.” — Richard Holmes