Poets on Poetry Author:Charles Norman These 16 short works provide a unique opportunity to examine and compare the theories of English and American writiers who have given form and direction to the poetic tradition in English. From Sir Philip Sidney's An Apology for Poetry to E.E. Cummings's Three Statements, they constitute a body of documents essential to understanding of the hist... more »oric development of that tradition.
In his introduction, Charles Norman examines the nature and importance of each piece and finds that all have in common the fulfillment of the poet's function as guardian of form. The book includes such pivotal texts as Wordsworth's Preface to Lyrical Ballads and Shelley's A Defence of Poetry.
Charles Norman is himself a poet and the author of So Worthy a Friend: William Shakespeare and Mr. Oddity: Samuel Johnson LL.D.« less