So...which poetry book should i buy first?

Question:i think it's time i took a break from the writing, and actually read some poems that made it to print.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: i think it's time i took a break from the writing, and actually read some poems that made it to print.

I'd go for an anthology if I were you - there's lots in any bookshop or online. I like Carol Ann Duffy, Sharon Olds, Pablo Neruda, Tennyson and Auden. I wouldn't commit to a book of only one poet until I'd read a few of theirs!

Don't go for old traditional, they might bore you to death.

Sometimes when I feel like I don't understand a poem, I read the verse out loud.

You're a writer? You must be very skilled in what you do.

I suggest contemporary works, amazon.com has great reviews on poetry selections.

I write and when i get a block i write poetry. I don't read anyone elses as i don't want to be influenced. It seems to work as I have had a couple published but you are going to be put down many times before you understand what you are writing about.

I personally like sylvia plath, dickinson, and poe... it gives me something to analyze and its a tad dark.

Maybe if you are looking for several artists you should look for a collection of poets like a compilation of poets from an era or a country.

i just got Harold Bloom's "The Best Poems of the English Language: From Chaucer Through Frost"...its a really good inexpensive poetry book. although, if you want to spend the big bucks, you can get Norton's Anthology of poetry...blooms is roughly $25 v. Norton's $55

Edgar Allen Poe, or Charles Baudelaire are two poets I would look up.

"The Pleasures of the Damned" by Charles Bukowski, it'll cost you but it's worth it.

Failing that, anything published by faber and faber's a good bet if you're looking for something timeless.

POE! or go to poetry.com and check it out they have beginner poetry that is rather good! But Poe is the best!

Brian Patten : "Vanishing Trick", "The Irrelevant Song"
Sylvia Plath: "Collected Poems"
Philip Larkin: "High Windows"

You could try these for starters!
Enjoy.
I look forward to seeing some more of your work soon.

The Captains Verses by Pablo Neruda

An American Prayer by Jim Morrison

Beautifully written, contemporary and one of my main influences.

100 love poems and a desperate song by Pablo Neruda.

there are loads very cheap in charity shops.