American Poets and Poetry: From the Colonial Era to the Present [2 volumes]: From the Colonial Era to the Present

American poetry springs up out of all walks of life; its poems are "maternal as well as paternal…stuff'd with the stuff that is coarse and stuff'd with the stuff that is fine," as Walt Whitman wrote, adding "Of every hue and caste am I, of every rank and religion."

Written for high school and undergraduate students, this two-volume encyclopedia covers U.S. poetry from the Colonial era to the present, offering full treatments of hundreds of key poets of the American canon. What sets this ref...