No one in their right mind would argue the worth of the poems in this volume. If you’re interested in the verse that has shaped our culture, this is a great place to start.

I learned something about myself in reading this book, though—I prefer things in their context:

• I’d rather listen to a representative album from an artist than a best-of CD.
• I prefer Biblical Theology to Systematic Theology because it allows each author to speak in his own voice.
• I would much rather have read these poems in their original context than ripped from their homes and forced into a best-of list.

This book is great—for a compilation. My next poetry read, though, will be the collected works of Robert Frost.

Smith, Philip, ed. 100 Best-Loved Poems. Dover Thrift, 1995.