The Giant Book of Poetry
Edited by William H. Roetzheim
Reviewed by Barb Radmore
The feature that must be mentioned first is that this book is aptly
named. It is truly a "giant book of poetry". At 640 pages it is packed
solid with pure
poetry in all its beautiful manifestations. They cover the work
of poets
born in time spanning time from around 4,000 BC to 1984. They
were
chosen with no specific
criteria except that the editor liked the poem. Luckily for the reader
William
Roetzheim has widely varied tastes so there is something for everyone
in this anthology.
The introduction of the book and the appendix are both devoted to
educating the reader as to the type and role of poetic meter .
Roetzheim is able to clearly explain the styles that make up the
many types of poems included in his book. It is a well described
education for anyone who is unfamiliar with the components of poetry
and how they are used..
What sets this book aside from other poetry anthologies, besides sheer
volume, is the editor's personal comments and asides in the form of
footnotes. Each poem's form is noted and there is often other
remarks as to vocabulary, meaning or even history of the poem. For
instance his footnote to Robert Frost's "Good-by and Keep Cold" is
"there is an underlying message of needing to trust faith after you
have done everything you can to protect of prepare something
(someone) that you love." He adheres to the common interpretations of
meanings so that new scholars will be informed as to usual thoughts.
Vocabulary definitions will be appropriate for younger readers.
Although he spent much of his pervious life as an owner of software
companies and author of an extensive number of technical books
and articles, Roetzheim retired to be a poet. His work can be found
included in this edition. Anyone looking for a very comprehensive
volume of classic poetry will find this to be the book they want. It is
especially suitable as a first poetry book for both new devotees or
students of the art.