Wednesday, March 16, 2011

The ten best American poems

At the Guardian, Jay Parini named the ten best American poems.

One poem on his list:
"Because I could not stop for death" by Emily Dickinson

A perfect poem, and one of Dickinson's most compressed and chilling attempts to come to terms with mortality. Once read, it stays in the head forever, in part because of the ballad stanza, so weirdly fresh in her capable hands.
Read about the other poems on Parini's list.

Emily Dickinson is one of Ruth Padel's top 10 women poets. "I Watched the Moon Around the House" by Emily Dickinson made John Mullan's list of ten of the best examples of Moon poetry.

--Marshal Zeringue