Has anyone read this? I don't know anything about poetry but it seems like this would be a good collection start...

Has anyone read this? I don't know anything about poetry but it seems like this would be a good collection start. How does it compare to, say, a Norton anthology?

It has a much more interesting selection than the Norton anthology. Tons of really good obscure poems in it.

It's buoyed by Bloom's insufferably pretentious but very well-read opinions. Bloom is selective while Norton is comprehensive. For the poetry newb, however, it's a good enoughplace to start if you take his commentary with a grain of salt.

I have it and it's really good. Poetry from Chaucer to Hart Crane. So if you want any contemporary poetry go for something else. Haven't read the Norton but I think it is quite a bit bigger, 1400 pages compared to 950 iirc.

I can deal with his opinions of they're pretentious, as long as they're helpful. Especially for more obscure or abstract material I don't imagine I'll get a lot out of a reading if there isn't some sort of context/interpretation I can refer to. That makes me sound like an idiot, but like I said, I don't know anything about poetry so some guidance would be nice.

>That makes me sound like an idiot, but like I said,
No it doesn't. I epwas given a copy of Bloom's Book Genius when I was first "getting into" lit and poetry, and the breadth of his reading as well as his opinions helped me to learn. Just read him critically and feel freeto disagree with. Not everything is about prophecy, gnosticism, kabbalah, influence, and agon.

Sorry, but anybody saying you shouldn't absorb Bloom's opinions as life's most fundamental truths is just plain wrong.
The book is great, mighty Bloom is unbelievably wise and his sayings are sacred.

t. Totally unbiased user

The Norton anthology is a bit populist and bloated with poems included for "historical importance" and "diversity". Bloom's book is better, even if it doesn't include later modernist or contemporary poetry.

I have the Norton anthology, and I regret not going with Bloom's.

I've owned Bloom's poetry collection for a long time, but holy fuck I am retarded and can't understand most poetry. It's like poetry doesn't mesh with my mind. It's really annoying too, because the poems that I have been able to understand and enjoy fill me with this deep respect for the medium and I wish I could do something to understand poetry better.