First American edition of T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
“April is the cruellest month”
– T.S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land”
. . . But we’ve no reason to fret here in cyberspace, as it yields a rather fruitful land of poetry – the opaque, the classic, the heartbreaking, the comic – by which we may celebrate National Poetry Month. Behold:
http://www.poets.org/index.php
Poets.org from the Academy of American Poets. Definitely visit “Poetry 101” if you’re a beginner (see Poets & Poetry/On Reading). On this site, you also may sign up for the Poem-A-Day email, read interviews and essays, watch videos, and even download free poetry ringtones!
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/
The Poetry Foundation’s website has an intriguing Search feature: you may browse for poems by Occasion, Holiday, School/Period, and more. This site also features audio and video resources; and be sure to check out the Learning Lab, which “encourages teachers, students, and learners of every age to immerse themselves in poetry.”
http://www.favoritepoem.org/index.html
Favorite Poem Project: “Americans Saying Poems They Love.” On this site, you can read about the project (which documented Americans of all walks of life discussing and then reading their favorite poems); you also can watch 50 of these documentary videos.
http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/home.do
The Poetry Archive (recordings of poets reading their work). Click the “Links” tab for a nice list of even more poetry sites.
http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/
Poetry 180: Housed at the Library of Congress’ website, this is a collection of poems selected for high school students; the program originated with Billy Collins, former Poet Laureate of the United States.
Related articles
- John Lundberg: A Brief Guide to National Poetry Month (huffingtonpost.com) (Ha – I wrote the above and then saw this link. Turns out I am one of the “very clever” people quoting T.S. Eliot this month.)
- National Poetry Month (greecesecondaryela.wordpress.com)
- Celebrate National Poetry Month: Sidewalk Chalk and Poetry (lifeisanexquisitejourney.com)
Apr 15, 2012 @ 21:57:41
Good sites, all of them! And thanks for including Billy Collins’ project from his turn at the US Poet Laureate wheel.
Apr 15, 2012 @ 22:09:56
: ) Many thanks for stopping by, and I appreciate your kind comment. I adore Billy Collins, and have seen poetry-skeptical students react so positively to him, as well.
Apr 16, 2012 @ 20:10:27
Apr 23, 2012 @ 21:29:26
Poetry: Readings, Reflections, Introduction, and Recuperation « The Dad Poet
May 21, 2012 @ 00:20:21