Poetry:
Primary & Secondary Resources
Poetry in Books:
Use the UW Libraries Catalog to find books
in the Libraries, whether you're looking for poetry by a particular author, or critical interpretations of a poet's works. Keep in mind that most
poetry is published either in periodicals or anthologies. You'll need to use other tools to identify poems that fit in these categories. Below are
examples of search strategies you can use to find book collections of poetry in the library:
1. Finding Books of Poetry by a Specific Author:
- Search by author: Di Prima, Diane
- Search by title: Memoirs of a Beatnik
2. Finding Books of Poetry on a Specific Theme:
- Search by subject heading: American poetry—women authors
Race relations—poetry
Protest poetry, American
- Search by keyword: african americans AND poet* AND slav*
3. Finding Books by Scholars that Analyze or Interpret Poetry:
- Search by subject heading: Ginsberg, Allen, 1926— Criticism & Interpretation
- Search by keyword: beat AND poet* AND criticism
Poetry in Anthologies:
A lot of poetry is published in anthologies. Unfortunately, locating a specific poem within an anthology can be extremely difficult. There are a handful of special tools available that can identify if a particular poem has been published in an anthology. However, these tools only cover a fraction of the anthologies in existence. Granger's is the best available--try it first. Occasionally, the tables of contents of individual anthologies are available in WorldCat or Google. If none of these resources work, check the following. All are located in Suzzallo Reference (1st Floor).
- Columbia Granger's World of Poetry -
UW restricted
Index to poetry, including full-text and excerpts of some poems. This online version contains the contents of the following works:
Columbia Granger's index to poetry in anthologies (eds. 8-11), Columbia Granger's index to poetry in collected and selected works,
Columbia Granger's guide to poetry anthologies (2nd ed.), Columbia Granger's dictionary of poetry quotations, Classic hundred poems,
as well as new content not published previously in print.
- Black Literature: 1827-1940, McNews (Z1229 N39 B55).
A project headed by Henry Louis Gates Jr. to identify fiction, poetry, book reviews and literary notices published in black periodicals
between 1827-1940 and reproduce the material on microfiche. The call number above is a guide to the microfiche set and the
microfiche number is M2296.
- Chicoral Index to Poetry in Anthologies & Collections in Print, PN 1021 .C44.
Covers a total of 250,000 poems. Indexed by author, title, first line, translator or editor.
- Columbia Granger's Index to African American Poetry, Z 1229 .N39.
- Hoffman's Index to Poetry: European and Latin American Poetry in Anthologies, PN 1022 .H627 1985.
- Index to Black Poetry, PS153.N5.C45 1974.
- Index to Poetry by Black American Women, Z 1229 .N39 C45 1986.
- Index to Poetry for Children/Index to Children's Poetry (1942-1992), PN 1023 .B68/PN1023 .B7.
- Last Lines: An Index to the Last Lines of Poetry (2 vols), PN1022.K55 1991.
Indexes over 171,000 poems written in or translated into English from a variety of anthologies published between 1900-1987. Poems covered begin in 2600 B.C. through 1987.
- Poetry by American Women, Z 1229 .W8 R4.
- Poetry Index Annual. 1981-. PN1022.P6.
- Women's Poetry Index, PN1024.G89 1985.
Indexes 51 anthologies by author, title, and first line.
Poetry in Periodicals:
A lot of poems are first published in literary magazines and other periodicals. You must use special tools in order to determine where or if a particular poem has been published in a periodical. The following are tools that are designed to provide this information. All print titles are located in Suzzallo Referrence (1st Floor):
- American Humanities Index (1975 -). AI3 .A487.
"AHI is a collection of bibliographic reference to literary, scholarly and creative journals
published in the United States and Canada. The index covers over 700 journals published from 1975 to the present, many of which
cannot be found in other reference works. The index provides citation information for articles, essays and reviews, as well as
original creative works including poems, fiction, photographs, paintings and illustrations."
- Expanded Academic Index - UW restricted
EAI covers approximately 1,500 scholarly and general interest periodicals in all subject areas--humanities, social sciences, and science and technology, 1980-present. Search by author or title to find individual poems published in some magazines and literary journals.
- Academic Search Complete - UW restricted
A scholarly, multidisciplinary database providing indexing and abstracts for over
10,000 publications, including monographs, conference proceedings, and
full-text access to over 5,000 journals. Search by author or title to locate individual poems published in some magazines & literary journals.
- Reader's Guide Retrospective (1890 - 1982) - UW restricted
Readers' Guide Retrospective is a database containing comprehensive indexing of the most popular general-interest periodicals published in the United States. Search for poetry by title or author's name.
- Alternative Press Index - UW restricted
Full text database of selected newspapers, magazines, and journals of the alternative and independent press that includes selected poems & short fiction.
- Annual Index to Poetry in Periodicals, PN 1022 .A56 1984.
Provides author, title, and first line indexing for 8,000 poems.
- Comprehensive Indext to English Language Little Magazines, Series I: 1890-1970 (8 vols.), Z 6944 .L5 S23.
- Index to American Periodical Verse (1971 -). PN6101.I5.
- Index to Black Periodicals (1950 -). AI3 .I552.
Critical Analysis & Reviews of Poetry:
Finding critical interpretations of poetry by major poets can be relatively easy. However, finding criticism on a particular poem or poetry from a less-established author can be more difficult. If you can't find information on a particular poem, try looking for more general discussions on the poet's works--use of particular themes or styles, for example. For new authors, sometimes reviews of a recently published collection of poetry are the only sources of information available.
- MLA International Bibliography - UW restricted
MLA focuses on literature, language, linguistics, and folklore. It includes scholarly research in over 3,000 journals relevant monographs, working papers, proceedings, bibliographies, and other formats, from 1963 - present. MLA does NOT include reviews.
- Expanded Academic Index - UW restricted
EAI covers approximately 1,500 scholarly and general interest periodicals in all subject areas--humanities, social sciences, and science and technology, 1980-present. You can find both critical essays on poets/poetry, as well as reviews of poetry book collections in EAI.
- Literature Resource Center - UW restricted
LRC covers more than 120,000 novelists, poets, essayists, journalists, playwrights, and other writers, with in-depth coverage of 2,500 of the most-studied authors. Includes full-text articles from literary journals, critical essays, plot summaries,
author portraits and an encyclopedia of literary terms.
- Alternative Press Index - UW restricted
Full text database of selected newspapers, magazines, and journals of the alternative and independent press from 1969 - present.
- C19: 19th Century Index - UW restricted
C19 Index draws on the strength of established indexes such as the Nineteenth Century Short Title Catalogue, The Wellesley Index, Poole's Index and Periodicals Index Online to create integrated bibliographic coverage of over 1.5 million books and official publications, 71,000 archival collections and 16.3 million articles published in over 2,500 journals, magazines and newspapers.
- Humanities & Social Sciences Index Retrospective (1907 - 1984) - UW restricted
Humanities & Social Sciences Index Retrospective is a bibliographic database that cites articles from English-language periodicals. Periodical coverage includes some of the best-known scholarly journals and numerous
lesser-known but important specialized magazines.
- Readers' Guide Retrospective (1890 - 1982) - UW restricted
Readers' Guide Retrospective is a database containing comprehensive indexing of the most popular general-interest periodicals published
in the United States.
- Annual Bibliography of English Language & Literature (ABELL) 1920 - present, Z 2011 .M69.
ABELL "aims to list annually all scholarly articles, books and reviews concerning English language and literature and related topics published anywhere in the world, and in any language. (Education and pedagogical subjects, and the medical application of linguistics, are excluded.)."
- Poetry Explication: A Checklist of Interpretation Since 1925, PR 502 .K8 1980.
- British Humanities Index (1962-), AI3 .B7.
- Guide to American Poetry Explication (2 vols.), Z 1231 .P7 G85 1989.
- Guide to British Poetry Explication (4 vols.), Z 2014 .P7 M34 1991.
- Poetry Criticism, PN 1010 .P62
Each entry includes an author portrait, list of principal works, an "introductory essay about the author that examines the critical discussions" on his/her works, and "chronologically arranged critical excerpts that provide perspective on changes in critical evaluation over the years."
Poetry Reference Tools:
There are many reference tools available that can provide useful information pertaining to poetry. These include sources that provide biographical information on a poet, bibliographies of additional resources on a poet or a poet's works, and definitions of important poetry terminology. The following all located in Suzzallo Reference (1st floor).
- Asian-American Poets: a Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook, PS153.A84 A826 2002.
- Chicorel Index to Poetry: Poetry on Discs, Tapes & Cassettes, PN 1021.C45.
- Contemporary American Women Poets: an A-to-Z Guide,
PS151 .C665 2002.
- Contemporary Poets, PR 603 .C6 1991.
- Dictionary of Literary Biography, PN 41 .D484 (also available online through LRC - see below)
- Dictionary of Poetic Terms, PN 1042 .M93 2003.
- Encyclopedia of American Poetry: 19th Century, PS 316 .E53 1998.
- Encyclopedia of American Poetry. The Twentieth Century,
PS323.5 .E53 2001.
- Literature Resource Center - UW restricted
LRC covers more than 120,000 novelists, poets, essayists, journalists, playwrights, and other writers, with in-depth coverage of 2,500 of the most-studied authors. Includes full-text articles from literary journals, critical essays, plot summaries, author portraits and an encyclopedia of literary terms.
- New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry & Poetics, PN 1021 .N39 1993.
- Notable Poets (3 vols.), PN 1022 .N68 1998.
- Poetry Themes, PN 1022 .M3.
- Poet's Market, PN 1059 .M3 P63.
Poetry Online:
- American Verse Project (U Michigan)
- Columbia Granger's World of Poetry - UW restricted
- Poet's Corner
- Poetry Portal
- Poetry Archive - "The Poetry Archive contains readings by hundreds of poets, including a number of real historical gems from those who have passed away. The homepage contains links to a number of educational resources for teachers or for those looking for a brief introduction to reading poetry.
- Poetry Archives - A collection of thousands of classical poems; the database is searchable by first-line, author and poem title by key words using the search feature located on the top right corner of each page.
- Poetry Magic
