Through the works of fifty great poets, this volume presents a compact survey of the poetry of the Western World from ancient Greece to modern America.

In his selections, Milton Crane, editor of the famous Great Short Stories, ranges through Homer, Shakespeare, Keats, Shelley, Heine, Baudelaire, Frost and forty-three others most representative of our poetic heritage. 

Using large-scale selections, this book is arranged to satisfy the requirements of the serious student as well as the lover of poetry.

Here is the enduring treasure of the Western World, the works of poets who have captured and preserved the essential spirit of their times while bringing new and unique perceptions to all times.