American Poetry: The Nineteenth Century (Library of America)

This landmark two-volume anthology gathers over 1,000 poems by nearly 150 poets to reveal the remarkable beauty and astonishing diversity of the distinctly American tradition of poetry that arose in the nineteenth century. Includes generous selections by Poe, Whitman, Emerson, Dickinson, Melville, Whittier, and Longfellow, alongside poems only now achieving full recognition, like Jones Very's mystical sonnets and the exquisite fin-de-siecle verse of Trumbull Stickney. A special section is devoted to American Indian poetry in period translations. Throughout are favorite recitation pieces like "A Visit from Saint Nicholas," "Casey at the Bat," and "Little Orphan Annie," and popular ballads, hymns, and songs like "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" and "Battle Hymn of the Republic." Contains newly researched biographical sketches of each poet, a year-by-year chronology of poets and poetry from 1800 to 1900, and extensive notes.