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/lit/ - Literature

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6359488 No.6359488 [Reply] [Original]

1. William Shakespeare
2. John Milton
3. Geoffrey Chaucer
4. WB Yeats
5. William Wordsworth
6. John Keats
7. William Blake
8. TS Eliot
9. John Donne
10. Emily Dickinson

Are these the objective top 10 English poets?

>> No.6359496

>>6359488
Haven't read any T.S. Elliot where do I start?

>> No.6359497

>>6359496
prufrock

>> No.6359502

>>6359488

Why no Lord Byron

>> No.6359506

>>6359488
You just had to stick an unknown before Emily.

>> No.6359516

>>6359506
>Donne
>unknown

FUCKING BUTTERFLY STRIKES AGAIN

>> No.6359517

>>6359506
Classic butterfly

>> No.6359533

>>6359516
Pardon. He was before my time.

>> No.6359536

>>6359533
And Dickinson wasn't?

>> No.6359550

but which english poet is the most fun?

>> No.6359594

Frost is top 10

>> No.6359724

>>6359594
Who on OP's list would you replace with Frost?

>> No.6359739

No Whitman

He's known as the greatest poet of the new world

Yeats shouldn't be so high
Nor should Eliot

>> No.6359749

>>6359739
Agreed

You can't have a poet born after Whitman and not include Whitman

>> No.6359765

>>6359594
>Still swallowing the Frost pill
It's okay, man. We can let go of him now, we're out of high school, and (hopefully) out of college.

>> No.6359774

>>6359488
>No Alexander Pope
>No Robert Frost

>> No.6359776

>>6359594
Frost a shit

>> No.6359815

>>6359739
>>6359749
Where should one start with Whitman?

>> No.6359818

>>6359815
Song of Myself

>> No.6359821

>>6359815
House of Leaves

or
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qh_Q2oC9cMQ&index=8&list=PLA217710A80A5B863

>> No.6359832

>>6359821
I meant Leaves Of Grass. I guess it's time for bed.

>> No.6359855

My favorite English language poet is John Shade.

>> No.6359859

Wordsworth sucks. Frost did everything he wanted to do better and with more depth.

I'm tempted to suggest Percy Shelley goes somewhere on there just because of the beauty of Prometheus Unbound but he also produced a lot of mediocre work so I can't do that in full sincerity.

>> No.6359872

>>6359488
oscar wilde

>> No.6359912

>>6359497
yep

>> No.6359914

>>6359594

maybe Wallace Stevens, but definitely not Frost

>> No.6360069

Edmund Spenser is pretty good

>> No.6360102

Here's Bloom's list of the 23 best (chronological order): Chaucer, Spenser, Marlowe, Shakespeare, Donne, Ben Jonson, Marvell, Milton, Pope, Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley, Keats, Browning, Tennyson, Dickinson, Whitman, Yeats, Frost, Stevens and Hart Crane.

He probably would have made room for T. S. Eliot if Eliot weren't an anti-Semite

>> No.6360104

>>6359765
>>6359776
>>6359914
Frost is brilliant, guys

>> No.6360109

>>6359550
Probably Coleridge

>> No.6360117

People are mad about Frost because some of his poems can be enjoyed by plebs

>> No.6360120

Where's Byron, Shelley, or Keats?

>> No.6360130

>>6360120
Keats is at number 6 in OP's list.

>> No.6360137

>>6360130
I meant *coughs* Browning.

>> No.6360512

>>6359488
Best? Probably, but certainly the most important. I'll give you Eliot, since most of his career was in England, but why are people talking about Frost and Whitman? Or Yeats, for that matter? If you mean British, say so. The American list is not the English list, folks. So, replace Dickinson with Tennyson, and we're good (aside from whether Keats should be there rather than Byron or Shelley).

>> No.6360544

>>6360512
I think - from his inclusion of Yeats , Eliot and Dickinson that OP means best English language poets. It's the same as Leavis saying that the four great English prose stylists are Austen, Eliot, James and Conrad when half of them weren't born in England.

If he was talking about England the country his exclusion of Spenser, Skelton and Hill would be - in my opinion - inexcusable.

>> No.6360575

anybody ever read Clarel by Herman Melville?

>> No.6360623

>>6359496
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAO3QTU4PzY

>> No.6360696

>>6359506
Omfg

>> No.6360723

Someone tell me why I should like John Milton.

I've never had a copy of Paradise Lost in front of me, but I've never marvelled at his work in small increments.

>> No.6360730

>>6360723

sounds like the fix is to have a copy of Paradise Lost in front of you, and for you to read it.

>> No.6360837

>>6359488
>Blake
>No Spenser
>Keats above Wordsworth

Pffhahahahahahhahahahahahahahhaha

Top 3 is good though.

>> No.6361002

>>6359488
>>6360837
>5. William Wordsworth
>Keats above Wordsworth

I've never read Wordsworth, but is he that good? I've heard that Coleridge was way better than him

>> No.6361043

>>6360723

There's a scene where Jesus tosses entire mountains at Satan's army

>> No.6361471

>>6360723
Just read Samson Agonistes then, it's easier to digest and has some insightful passages regarding self-wrought misery. The ending is pretty anticlimactic though, and I've heard Lycidas handles hopelessness more fully.

>> No.6361613

>>6359550
>but which english poet is the most fun?
Larkin, Heaney.

>> No.6361631

>>6359488
Where da Pound at? Also, Keats shouldn't be on this list. Otherwise, pretty solid I suppose.

>> No.6361664

1. William Shakespeare
Sure
2. John Milton
Sure
3. Geoffrey Chaucer
Sure
4. WB Yeats
Maybe
5. William Wordsworth
kek, no
6. John Keats
Maybe
7. William Blake
kek, no
8. TS Eliot
Maybe
9. John Donne
kek, no
10. Emily Dickinson
kek, no

>> No.6362758

>>6361664
Convincing post. Thanks for the contribution.

>> No.6362784

>>6361043
Don't tell Michael Bay.

>> No.6362801

>>6361002
Yeah sorry I fucked that up. I meant to laugh at Wordsworth (who was basically a hack) being placed over John Keats (2nd greatest poet in the English language).

Coleridge is better than Wordsworth in the peaks they reached, but the thing is that Wordsworth had more of an output of monotonously dull crap which the Victorians ate up like it was McDonalds.

>> No.6362803
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6362803

Is Melville a poet?

>> No.6362807

>>6361631
> Also, Keats shouldn't be on this list.
> Also, Keats shouldn't be on this list.
> Also, Keats shouldn't be on this list.
> Also, Keats shouldn't be on this list.
> Also, Keats shouldn't be on this list.

kill yourself

but before you do, read hyperion, to autumn, his sonnets or his odes of 1819 in general
then you'll kill yourself in shame at making such a fucking pleb statement

>> No.6362813

>>6362807
I agree with this post.

>> No.6362822

>>6359488
I'd put Eliot at the bottom, but yeah.

Gerard Manley Hopkins honorable mention.

>> No.6362832

1. biggie
2. kool g rap
3. big pun
4. nas
5. jay-z

>> No.6362833

>>6362822
>Gerard Manley Hopkins honorable mention.

Da fucking man
But I respect him more for his innovations in prosody than his actual poems. The Windhover and Pied Beauty are two of the greatest poems in English literature, but he didn't really reach the heights outside of that.

>> No.6362839

>>6362832
1. Dylan
2. Dylan
3. Dylan
4. Dylan
5. Dylan

>> No.6362861

>>6362839
i like van zandt better. more relatable songs and at plus he could sing. dylan just fucking mocked the public every time he opened his mouth instead of even pretending he was trying to sing.

>> No.6362865
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6362865

>no byron

>> No.6362878

>>6362861
>relatable
>public appeal
pleb

>> No.6362881

>>6362865
>implying Byron had a single poetic bone in his body

He's only remembered because of the way he lived.

>> No.6362882
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6362882

>>6362861

>> No.6362887

>>6362878
dylan's sold way more records than townes brother

>> No.6362888

>>6362881
Byron is the funniest author I've ever read...but he's not in the top 10.

>> No.6362895

>>6362832
Pretty good list, but Nas should be higher.

>> No.6362898

>>6362887
I'm saying your critique 'mocking the public' is rather stupid.

>> No.6362903

>>6362898
>>6362887

it was a pop culture reference u guyz not re: Bob Dylan

>> No.6362906
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6362906

Why doesn't McCarthy do some poetry?
He should take a break from doing movies.

>> No.6362909

>>6362861
But Dylan spits hot fire! Think about it.

>> No.6362912

>>6362906
Fuck off pleb, this thread is for people interested in poetry and not 20th century yank meme authors.

>> No.6362913

>>6362881
he puts a lot of references in his book
i tried reading don juan and man it's hard

>> No.6362915

>>6362803
>>6362906

what is this from?

>> No.6362930

>>6362913
Don Juan was intended to be a poem detailing the spirit of his times. Byron intended to end it with the French Revolution. So don't feel bad.

>> No.6362956

>>6362909
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF_3w_gXing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JGc2CvM0EQ

>> No.6362972

>>6362956
Shit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AL1HUsJJCzU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6yWZUv9QJA
If you think Van Fag beats these lyrical performances then poetry may not be your best to you interests.

>> No.6362976

>>6362972
>may not be your best to you interests.
Jesus Christ. Point still stands.

>> No.6362980

>>6362956
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9lg6HqJeY0

>> No.6362986

>>6362972
it's one thing to like one style more than another but if you can't acknowledge townes as a master of the artform you likely don't have much insight into it.

>> No.6362998

>>6362986
Never said that. But I will say Dylan is better.

>> No.6364228

>>6361664
Lmao you keked the most obvious poets for a megapleb to dislike

>> No.6364247

>>6362998
>>6362986
>>6362980
>>6362976
>>6362972
>>6362956
>>6362909
>>6362903
>>6362898
>>6362895
>>6362887
>>6362882
>>6362878
>>6362861
>>6362839
>>6362832
Please dont' post about shitty pop music in the poetry thread

>> No.6364249
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6364249

>>6359488
>no Coleridge

You've triggered me.

>> No.6364291

>>6359488
Blake and dickinson higher
Keats eliot donne out
Spenser browning whitman in

>> No.6364359

Marianne Moore master race needs to be included.

>> No.6364401
File: 40 KB, 200x200, pepem.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
6364401

>>6364247
>muh oral tradition
>REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

>> No.6364408

>>6364359
I think Dickinson might be the only GOD TIER English-language female poet, though Christina Rossetti might be close

>> No.6364436

>>6364408
And Elizabeth Bishop

>> No.6364597

The lack of Marlowe in this thread makes me happy.

>> No.6364603

>>6364597
I mentioned Marlowe.

>> No.6364717

>>6364603
I know, and no one else has; that made me happy...

>> No.6364723

>>6359488
yeats too high, whitman should appear before dickinson or eliot at least, spenser should appear

>> No.6364734

>no Whitman

>> No.6364739

Is Shakespeare even a good poet?

I know he's an accomplished dramatist and the word "sonnet" is almost always associated with Shakespeare (in the US at least), but is his poetry really important/good?

Not a troll, just legitimately confused.

I've read through a couple of his sonnets but they've never impacted me the way Yeats has.

Maybe I'm just a pleb right now?

>> No.6364751

>>6364739
people just count his plays towards his reputation as poet

>> No.6364753

>>6364751

Would a class titled "Shakespeare's Sonnets" with an emphasis on poetic form be a waste of time

>> No.6364758

>>6364753
no, shakespeare's sonnets are actually frequently incredible

>> No.6364774

>>6364758

Awesome, thank you

>> No.6364845

>>6360723
Paradise Lost is the most visual reading experience of my life. Milton paints incredibly vivid images using verse, and it's simply marvelous how he builds the characters and the world they inhabit. It also frames biblical concepts within the "epic" format of Greek mythology, which is interesting, assuming one has knowledge of both. On top of that, it's an immensely influential book, which is reason enough to read it; it's fascinating how much people's theology is shaped by sources they aren't even aware of.

>> No.6365026
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6365026

JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON JOHN MILTON

>> No.6365592

>>6360102
Is there anyone who should be added to this list other than Eliot?

>> No.6365605

Geoffrey Chaucer, William Dunbar, John Skelton, Thomas Wyatt, Henry Howard, Philip Sidney, Fulke Greville, Edmund Spenser, Walter Raleigh, Christopher Marlowe, George Chapman, Michael Drayton, Samuel Daniel, William Shakespeare, Thomas Campion, John Donne, Ben Jonson, Robert Herrick, Thomas Carew, Richard Lovelace, Andrew Marvell, George Herbert, Thomas Traherne, Henry Vaughan, John Wilmot, Richard Crashaw, John Milton, Samuel Butler, John Dryden, Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope, Samuel Johnson, William Collins, Thomas Gray, Christopher Smart, Oliver Goldsmith, William Cowper, George Crabbe, Robert Burns, William Blake, William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Lord Byron, Walter Savage Landor, Percy Bysshe Shelley, John Clare, John Keats, Thomas Lovell Beddoes, George Darley, Thomas Hood, Thomas Wade, Robert Browning, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Matthew Arnold, Arthur Hugh Clough, Christina Rossetti, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Edward FitzGerald, Lewis Carroll, Edward Lear, Algernon Charles Swinburne, Emily Bronte, George Meredith, Francis Thompson, Lionel Johnson, Robert Bridges, Gilbert Keith Chesterton, W. S. Gilbert, Coventry Patmore, James Thomson (B.V.), John Davidson, Ernest Dowson, William Morris, William Cullen Bryant, John Greenleaf Whittier, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Herman Melville, Edgar Allan Poe, Jones Very, Frederick Goddard Tuckerman, Henry David Thoreau, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Sidney Lanier, Stephen Crane, Trumbull Stickney, William Butler Yeats, Thomas Hardy, Rudyard Kipling,

>> No.6365608

A. E. Housman, Walter De la Mare, Wilfred Owen, Isaac Rosenberg, Edward Thomas, Robert Graves, Edwin Muir, David Jones, D. H. Lawrence, W. H. Auden, Roy Fuller, Gavin Ewart, Basil Bunting, William Empson, R. S. Thomas, Stevie Smith, F. T. Prince, Philip Larkin, Donald Davie, Geoffrey Hill, Elizabeth Jennings, Keith Douglas, Hugh MacDiarmid, Louis MacNeice, Dylan Thomas, Seamus Heaney, Thomas Kinsella, Paul Muldoon, John Montague, Jay Macpherson, Daryl Hine, Anne Carson, A. D. Hope, Judith Wright, Les Murray, Kevin Hart, Derek Walcott, Christopher Okigbo, J. P. Clark, Gabriel Okara, Edwin Arlington Robinson, Edgar Lee Masters, Robert Frost, Wallace Stevens, Vachel Lindsay, Elinor Wylie, William Carlos Williams, Ezra Pound, Robinson Jeffers, Marianne Moore, Hilda Doolittle, John Crowe Ransom, T. S. Eliot, Conrad Aiken, e. e. cummings, John Brooks Wheelwright, Louise Bogan, Léonie Adams, Hart Crane, Allen Tate, M. B. Tolson, Langston Hughes, Robert Penn Warren, Richard Eberhart, Theodore Roethke, James Agee, Robert Fitzgerald, Delmore Schwartz, Weldon Kees, Elizabeth Bishop, John Berryman, Randall Jarrell, Charles Olson, Robert Hayden, Robert Lowell, Jean Garrigue, May Swenson, Robert Duncan, Richard Wilbur, Kenneth Koch, Frank O'Hara, James Schuyler, James Dickey, A. R. Ammons, John Ashbery, Anthony Hecht, Edgar Bowers, Donald Justice, James Merrill, W. S. Merwin, James Wright, Galway Kinnell, Philip Levine, Irving Feldman, Donald Hall, Alvin Feinman, Richard Howard, John Hollander, Amy Clampitt, Howard Moss, Gary Snyder, Charles Simic, Mark Strand, Charles Wright, Jay Wright, Allen Grossman, James Applewhite, J. D. McClatchy, Alfred Corn, Douglas Crase, Rita Dove, Thylias Moss, Edward Hirsch and Henri Cole.

>> No.6365753

Why are people keking at William Blake? They jelly that he's not only one of the best poets, but also one of the best visual artists?

>> No.6365771

>>6359488
Anyone but Bukowski.

His poems are a tragic embarrassment to classic literature

>> No.6365779
File: 1.13 MB, 266x208, nas.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
6365779

>>6364247
>doesn't think it's poetry if it's not assigned by his teachers
>missing out on the best contemporary poetry due to snobbishness
Sad.

>> No.6365824

>>6365779
>contemporary poetry or literature of any kind

you can keep your pomo shit to yourself, friend.

>> No.6365832

>>6360102
>>6365592

Some would certainly argue for Pound.

>> No.6365884

>>6359872
Wildes poety is the shittest ever.
If your joking: sorry

>> No.6365999

>>6365824
One of the great things about most rap: it's not beholden to pomo bullshit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8L8F8xzQQA

>> No.6366004

>>6365779
What makes you think I'm missing out on bad pop music?

>> No.6366027

>>6365999
appreciated, now i know te sound of crap

>> No.6366037

>>6359506

>doesn't even know goat metaphysical poet

>> No.6366368

>no whitman
>no Thoreau

DO YOU EVEN TRANSCENDENTALISM OP