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Poetry

Trying to define poetry is almost a crime. One of its enduring appeals is that it defies definition, overturns convention, and reinvents words themselves to create meaning out of chaos. Ironically, the best poetry also exemplifies convention, submitting to forms and styles to evoke whatever it is poetry is supposed to evoke.

Pascal spoke of "reasons of which the reason knows nothing," and while he was describing his Christian faith, the statement almost perfectly describes good poetry. Bad poetry is just the opposite: it tells the reader too much, it's ungainly and unmusical, it broods in the corner or waves its arms around for attention. Good poetry communicates directly with the soul, whether or not the mind comprehends.

That's not to say poetry should be meaningless. A lot of contemporary "poets" string words together and call it art, but it's really just pretension, or (worse) obscenity. Some have gone so far as to write anti-poetry, a form specifically devoted to creating "poems" that are inherently unpoetic. None of this is poetry—call it self-aggrandizement, pseudo-intellectualism, or just dumb, if it doesn't look, sound or act like a poem, it probably isn't.

On the other hand, not all poems should look or sound the same. Opponents of free verse need to understand that the language grows and changes, and that free form poems don't abandon, they just reinterpret rhythm and cadence....just as free verse practitioners need to recognize the beauty and requisite skill displayed in more structured forms like sonnets and villanelles.

Typically, a poem uses the natural rhythms of language to conjure meaningful images for the reader. While poets in every age have been attracted to its form as a tool for intellectual or philosophical rhetoric, a truly great poem is one that imparts to individuals an attitude, emotion or idea without seeming to do so. More than writers in any other genre, poets must interest their audience if they're to impact them.

This isn't to suggest a poem means whatever any reader wants it to mean, or that it should merely delight. Far from it: without a definite (or at least, apprehendable) idea in mind, the poet ends up communicating nothing, just as he does if he simply intends to entertain.

What it does mean is that a poem should be universal to the extent that anyone can read it and get something out of it. Obviously, identifiying and understanding allusions, analogies and metaphors will heighten understanding (and enjoyment), but if an initial encounter ends void, the poet has failed to do what he or she set out to do.

Many of the world's greatest writers have been poets. The opportunity for a clever or brilliant turn of phrase in a poem is much higher than in a novel or treatise; poets often sweat for days over a single word, intent on using the language to its absolute potential. This is the paradox of poetry—even in its most primordial form, whispering to our deepest selves, poetry-making requires an active and agile mind.

But don't come to any poem primarily to learn in a cognitive sense; come first to enjoy, and then to learn what it means to love, to be human, to value and respect beauty, even to fear and mourn. Any novel can tell you how other people think, but few of them can unite all readers the way a poem can, to tear down barriers and speak where language is only a vague notion, and words are much more than their definitions.

Introduction by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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Parent Categories
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Poetrymagazine.org
The Poetry Archive
Audio files of poets reading their own work.
Poets.org
Online poems, poet bios, etc.
Poetry Foundation
122 Items found Print
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Active Filters: 6th grade (Ages 11-12)
100 More Story Poems
by Elinor Parker (selection), illustrated by Peter Spier
from Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.
for 3rd-8th grade
in Vintage Poetry (Location: VIN-POET)
100 Story Poems
by Elinor Parker
from Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.
for 3rd-8th grade
in Vintage Poetry (Location: VIN-POET)
Acts of Light
by Emily Dickinson, illustrated by Nancy Ekholm Burkert, appreciation by Jane Langton
Third Printing from Little, Brown & Company
for 4th-Adult
in Poetry (Location: POET-GEN)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
American History in Verse
by Burton Stevenson
from Bob Jones University Press
Poetry for 3rd-Adult
in American History Reference (Location: HISA-REF)
Beastly Boys and Ghastly Girls
by William Cole, illustrated by Tomi Ungerer
for 2nd-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
Bilbo's Last Song
by J.R.R. Tolkien, Illustrated by Pauline Baynes
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 3rd-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$16.99
Birds, Beasts and the Third Thing
by D. H. Lawrence; illustrated by Alice and Martin Provensen
from Viking Press
for Kindergarten-6th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Blue Birds
by Caroline Starr Rose
Dgs from Puffin Books
Narrative Poetry / Novel-In-Verse for 4th-7th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$10.99
Book of Americans
by Rosemary and Stephen Vincent Benet, illustrated by Charles Child
from Farrar & Rinehart
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Poetry (Location: VIN-POET)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Booked
Crossover #2
by Kwame Alexander
from HMH Books for Young Readers
for 5th-7th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
BOX: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom
by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Michele Wood
from Candlewick Press
for 4th-6th grade
2021 Newbery Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.99
Brown Girl Dreaming
by Jacqueline Woodson
from Puffin Books
for 4th-8th grade
2015 Newbery Honor Book, Coretta Scott King Award, National Book Award
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$10.99
Casey at the Bat
by Ernest L. Thayer & Christopher Bing
1st edition from Chronicle Books
for 2nd-6th grade
2001 Caldecott Honor Book
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$19.99 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Child's Anthology of Poetry
by Elizabeth Hauge Sword
from Ecco Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
Child's Garden of Verses
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Jessie Wilcox Smith
from Random House
for 4th-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
Child's Garden of Verses
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Alice & Martin Provensen
from Golden Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
Child's Garden of Verses
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith
from Dilithium Press, Ltd.
for Kindergarten-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
Child's Introduction to Poetry
Books for Young Explorers
by Michael Driscoll & Meredith Hamilton
from Black Dog & Leventhal
for 2nd-8th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Child's Introduction to Poetry
Books for Young Explorers
by Michael Driscoll & Meredith Hamilton
First Revised Edition from Black Dog & Leventhal
for 2nd-8th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$19.99
Children's Own Longfellow
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
from Sandpiper Books
for Ages 9-12
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
Classic Poetry
by Michael Rosen & Paul Howard
Reprint from Candlewick Press
for 1st-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$15.99
Cornstalks: A Bushel of Poems
by James Stevenson
from Avyx, Inc.
for 4th-8th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$8.00 (4 in stock)
Dime a Dozen
by Nikki Grimes, Illustrated by Angelo
from Dial Books for Young Readers
for 5th-8th grade
in Poetry (Location: POET-GEN)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Dream Keeper And Other Poems
by Langston Hughes
from Scholastic Inc.
for 5th-9th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Edgar Allen Poe’s Pie
by J. Patrick Lewis
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
for 2nd-6th grade
in Math Picture Books (Location: MATR-PIC)
$7.99
Enjoy the Poems: Alfred, Lord Tennyson
by Emily Dickinson, Sonya Shafer
from Simply Charlotte Mason
for 1st-12th grade
in Poetry Curriculum & Resources (Location: LIR-POET)
Erie Canal
by Peter Spier
from Doubleday & Company
for 2nd-6th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Favorite Poems for Children
by Holly Pell McConnaughy, editor
from Barnes & Noble
for 1st-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Fortune's Bones
by Marilyn Nelson, notes and annotations by Pamela Espeland
from Front Street
for 4th-8th grade
2005 Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book
in Slavery & the Underground Railroad (Location: HISA-19SL)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Garland of Verse for Young People
by Alfred H. Miles (editor)
from Stanley Paul & Co.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Poetry (Location: VIN-POET)
Gone Fishing
by Tamara Wissinger, Illustrated by Matthew Cordell
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
for 2nd-6th grade
in Poetry (Location: POET-GEN)
$6.99
Harp and Laurel Wreath
by Laura M. Berquist
from Ignatius Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Poetry Anthologies (Location: POET-ANTH)
$24.95 $15.00 (2 in stock)
Hiawatha
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
1st edition from Puffin Books
Poetry for 4th-8th
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$8.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Highwayman
by Alfred Noyes
1st edition
for 3rd-8th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
Highwayman
by Alfred Noyes, illustrated by Charles Mikolaycak
1st edition
for 3rd-8th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
How Do I Love Thee?
by Linda Rhodes (selected by), illustrated by David Johnson
from Hallmark Publications
for 6th-Adult
in Poetry Anthologies (Location: POET-ANTH)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
I Saw Esau
by Iona & Peter Opie
First U.S. Edition from Candlewick Press
for 2nd-6th grade
in Poetry (Location: POET-GEN)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
If I Were In Charge of the World and Other Worries
by Judith Viorst, illustrated by Lynne Cherry
from Aladdin Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
If: A Poem by Rudyard Kipling
by Rudyard Kipling, illustrated by Giovanni Manna
from Creative Editions
for 3rd-8th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Inside Out & Back Again
by Thanhha Lai
Reprint from HarperCollins
Narrative Poetry / Novel-In-Verse for 4th-8th grade
2012 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99
Inside Out & Back Again
by Thanhha Lai
Reprint from HarperCollins
Narrative Poetry / Novel-In-Verse for 4th-8th grade
2012 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Joyful Noise
by Paul Fleischman
from HarperCollins
for 2nd-6th grade
1989 Newbery Medal winner
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$6.99
Joyful Noise
by Paul Fleischman
1st edition from HarperCollins
for 4th-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Joyful Noise
by Paul Fleischman, illustrated by Eric Beddows
1st edition from Harper & Row
for 4th-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Kate Greenaway's Language of Flowers
by Kate Greenaway
from Gramercy Books
for all ages
in Poetry Anthologies (Location: POET-ANTH)
Knock at a Star
by X. J. Kennedy and Dorothy M. Kennedy
from Little, Brown & Company
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
Language of Flowers
by Kate Greenaway
from Dover Publications
for all ages
in Poetry Anthologies (Location: POET-ANTH)
$6.95
Lessons from Nature
by John Bunyan
from Back Home Industries
Lyrical Poems for 3rd-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$24.00 $12.00 (1 in stock)
Lives of the Artists
by M. B. Goffstein
from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for 3rd-8th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Longfellow
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
from Heritage Press
for 6th-Adult
in Poetry (Location: POET-GEN)
Loony Limericks from Alabama to Wyoming
by Jack Stokes
from Doubleday & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Love Songs of Childhood
by Eugene Field
1916th edition from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 2nd-Adult
in Vintage Poetry (Location: VIN-POET)
Lover's Posy
by Celia Haddon
from Michael Joseph
Valentine's Day Poetry for 6th-Adult
in Poetry Anthologies (Location: POET-ANTH)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
May B.
by Caroline Starr Rose
from Yearling
Narrative Poetry / Novel-In-Verse for 4th-7th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.99
Mouse of Amherst
by Elizabeth Spires, Illustrated by Claire A. Nivola
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$3.00 (2 in stock)
My America
by Lee Bennett Hopkins
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Once Upon a Poem
by Kevin Crossley-Holland, illustrated by Peter Bailey, Sian Bailey, Carol Lawson, Chris McEwan
from Scholastic Inc.
for 2nd-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Out of the Dust
by Karen Hesse
from Scholastic Inc.
Realistic Fiction for 6th-8th grade
1998 Newbery Medal winner
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Out of the Dust
by Karen Hesse
1st edition from Scholastic Inc.
Realistic Fiction for 6th-8th grade
1998 Newbery Medal winner
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Oxford Book of Children's Verse
by Iona and Peter Opie
from Oxford University
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
Oxford Book of Children's Verse in America
by Donald Hall
from Oxford University
for 1st-8th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
Oxford Book of Children's Verse in America
by Donald Hall, ed.
from Oxford University
for 2nd-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Oxford Book of Poetry for Children
by Edward Blishen (editor), illustrated by Brian Wildsmith
from Franklin Watts
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Poetry (Location: VIN-POET)
$24.00 (1 in stock)
Paul Revere's Ride
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, illustrated by Ted Rand
from Puffin Books
American Poetry for 2nd-6th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Paul Revere's Ride
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, illustrated by Charles Santore
1st edition from HarperCollins
for 2nd-6th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Peacock Pie
by Walter de la Mare
for 4th-7th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
Poem Stew
by William Cole
from HarperCollins
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Poems Every Child Should Know
by Mary E. Burt, ed.
from Yesterday's Classics
for Kindergarten-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$16.95
Poems of Childhood
by Maxfield Parrish
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 2nd-6th grade
in Vintage Poetry (Location: VIN-POET)
Poems of Childhood
by James Whitcomb Riley, illustrated by Everett Shinn
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-Adult
in Vintage Poetry (Location: VIN-POET)
Poems to Learn by Heart
by Caroline Kennedy; illustrated by Jon J. Muth
from Disney-Hyperion
for 1st-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Poetry for Young People: Alfred, Lord Tennyson
by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
from Sterling Publishing Co.
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
Poetry for Young People: American Poetry
by John Hollander
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 4th-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
Poetry for Young People: Carl Sandburg
by Carl Sandburg
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 2nd-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
Poetry for Young People: Edgar Allan Poe
Poetry for Young People
by Edgar Allan Poe
from Scholastic Inc.
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$3.50 (2 in stock)
Poetry for Young People: Edgar Allan Poe
Poetry for Young People
by Edgar Allan Poe, edited by Brod Bagert, illustrated by Carolynn Cobliegh
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 2nd-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
Poetry for Young People: Edna St. Vincent Millay
by Edna St. Vincent Millay, edited by Frances Schoonmaker & illustrated by Mike Bryce
from Sterling Publishing Co.
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
Poetry for Young People: Edna St. Vincent Millay
Poetry for Young People
by Edna St. Vincent Millay, edited by Frances Schoonmaker & illustrated by Mike Bryce
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 2nd-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
Poetry for Young People: Edward Lear
by Edward Lear
from Sterling Publishing Co.
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
Poetry for Young People: Edward Lear
by Edward Lear, edited by Edward Mendelson, illustrated by Laura Huliska-Beith
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 2nd-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
Poetry for Young People: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 2nd-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
Poetry for Young People: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Poetry for Young People
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, edited by Frances Schoonmaker, illustrated by Chad Wallace
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 2nd-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
Poetry for Young People: Robert Browning
by Robert Browning
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 1st-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
Poetry for Young People: Robert Frost
by Robert Frost
A Magnolia eds. bk from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 2nd-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
Poetry for Young People: Robert Frost
Poetry for Young People
by Robert Frost, edited by Gary D. Schmidt, illustrated by Henri Sorensen
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 2nd-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
Poetry for Young People: Robert Louis Stevenson
by Robert Louis Stevenson
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 2nd-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
Poetry for Young People: Robert Louis Stevenson
by Robert Louis Stevenson
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 2nd-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
Poetry for Young People: Rudyard Kipling
by Rudyard Kipling
from Scholastic Inc.
for 2nd-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
Poetry for Young People: Rudyard Kipling
by Rudyard Kipling, edited by Eileen Gillooly, illustrated by Jim Sharpe
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 2nd-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
Poetry for Young People: Seasons
Poetry for Young People
by John N. Serio
from Scholastic Inc.
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
Poetry for Young People: Walt Whitman
Poetry for Young People
from Scholastic Inc.
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
Poetry for Young People: Walt Whitman
Poetry for Young People
by Walt Whitman, edited by Jonathan Levin, illustrated by Jim Burke
from Sterling Publishing Co.
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Poetry for Young People: Walt Whitman
Poetry for Young People
by Walt Whitman, edited by Jonathan Levin, illustrated by Jim Burke
from Sterling Publishing Co.
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Poetry for Young People: William Shakespeare
Poetry for Young People
by William Shakespeare; David Scott Kastan, Marina Kastan, eds.
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
Poetry for Young People: William Shakespeare
Poetry for Young People
by William Shakespeare; David Scott Kastan, Marina Kastan, eds.
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
Poetry for Young People: William Wordsworth
by Robert Frost
A Magnolia eds. bk from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 2nd-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
Poetry Speaks to Children w/CD
by Elise Paschen (editor), illustrated by Judy Love, Wendy Rasmussen, Paula Zinngrabe Wendland
from Sourcebooks
for Kindergarten-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Puck of Pook's Hill
by Rudyard Kipling
from Echo Library
for 4th-9th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Puck of Pook's Hill & Rewards and Fairies
by Rudyard Kipling
from Oxford University
for 4th-9th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Reading of Poetry
by William D. Sheldon, Nellie Lyons,, Polly Rouault
from Allyn and Bacon
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Readers & Textbooks (Location: VIN-READ)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
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