Research Guides: Poems and Poets: Reference Sources

Reference Books

The Columbia Granger's® Dictionary of Poetry Quotations by Edith P. Hazen; Carl R. Woodring (Preface by); Edith Hazen (Editor)
ISBN: 9780231075466
Publication Date: 1992-07-21
Provides key word and subject indexes to a collection of the most memorable lines written by the best British and American poets.
The Dictionary of Poetic Terms by Jack Elliott Myers; Don C. Wukasch; Jack Elliott Myers
ISBN: 9781574411669
Publication Date: 2003-07-24
Formerly The Longman Dictionary of Poetic Terms, this newly updated version contains over 1,600 entries on the devices, techniques, history, theory, and terminology of poetry from the Classical period to the present. To bring it up-to-date, the authors have added fifty new entries and examples. The Dictionary of Poetic Terms is compact enough for classroom use, but thorough enough to be the definitive reference handbook for poets and scholars, and the many writers who are both.
The Greenwood Encyclopedia of American Poets and Poetry by Jeffrey Gray (Editor); James McCorkle (Editor); Mary McAleer Balkun (Editor)
ISBN: 9780313323812
Publication Date: 2005-12-30
The most comprehensive reference on American poetry ever assembled, this encyclopedia includes more than 900 alphabetically arranged entries, contributed by approximately 350 scholars. Written for students and general readers, the set covers poetry from the colonial era to the present, devoting special attention to contemporary poets and their works. Multicultural in scope, the encyclopedia covers poets, genres, critics, poetic terms, and movements. Its entries range from Caribbean to Confessional Poetry, from Dada to Eco-poetics, from Gay and Lesbian Poetry to Literary Magazines, New Formalism, and more.
A Poet's Glossary by Edward Hirsch
ISBN: 9780151011957
Publication Date: 2014-04-08
A Poet’s Glossary is a followup to Edward Hirsch’s best-selling book How to Read a Poem and Fall in Love with Poetry (Harcourt, 1999). Readers called for an expansion of the book’s addendum of poetic terms, and Hirsch responded by creating an international and inclusive collection. With terms ranging from abecedarian to zeugma, Hirsch brings us along on a journey that includes basic poetic terms alongside forms from poetry around the world.
The Poetry Dictionary by John Drury; Dana Gioia (Foreword by)
ISBN: 9781582973296
Publication Date: 2005-12-15
The language of poetry is rich and complex - from abstract language to voice, with all the enjambment, Nashers and sprung rhythm in between. The Poetry Dictionary illuminates and unravels it all with clear, working definitions.
The Princeton Handbook of World Poetries by Roland Greene (Editor); Stephen Cushman (Editor)
ISBN: 9781400880638
Publication Date: 2016-11-22
The Princeton Handbook of World Poetries -- drawn from the latest edition of the acclaimed Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics -- provides a comprehensive and authoritative survey of the history and practice of poetry in more than 100 major regional, national, and diasporic literatures and language traditions around the globe. With more than 165 entries, the book combines broad overviews and focused accounts to give extensive coverage of poetic traditions throughout the world.
Twentieth-century American poetry by Christopher MacGowan
ISBN: 9780470690055
Written by a leading authority on William Carlos Williams, this book provides a wide-ranging and stimulating guide to twentieth-century American poetry. Explores the material, historical and social contexts in which twentieth-century American poetry was produced. Includes a biographical dictionary of major writers with extended entries on poets ranging from Robert Frost to Adrienne Rich.
Who's Who in Twentieth Century World Poetry by Alan Parker (Editor); Mark Willhardt (Editor)
ISBN: 9781134713769
Publication Date: 2005-12-05
The definitive biographical guide to poetry throughout the world in the twentieth century and the only book of its kind to look at non-English language poets in such detail. Written in lively prose, with over 900 entries by over 75 international contributors, it brings a uniquely global perspective to bear on modern verse, encapsulating the lives and works of a vast array of poets in precise, compact detail alongside expert critical comment. Who's Who in Twentieth Century World Poetry is a scholarly and hugely enjoyable guide through the diverse arena of modern international poetry.

Cambridge Companions

Cambridge Companions Online offers subject or theme based collections of content within a richly functional, fully cross-searchable online environment. All of the fabulous resources of the numerous Cambridge Companions are available to you through this resource. The Companions feature authors and theorists including: Shakespeare, Nabokov, Hemingway, Adorno, Benjamin, Marlowe, just to name a few. You can view individual volumes, individual essays, and the rich bibliographies that are included within each publication. Each collection is updated with new Companions on publication.

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The Oxford English Dictionary

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is the most comprehensive dictionary of the English language. The NYU Libraries offer access both online and in print:

Oxford English Dictionary (OED) This link opens in a new window
The Oxford English Dictionary is the authority on the evolution of the English language over the last millennium. It is a guide to the meaning, history, and pronunciation of over half a million words, both present and past. It traces the usage of words through 2.5 million quotations from a wide range of international English language sources, from classic literature and specialist periodicals to film scripts and cookery books.

The Oxford English Dictionary by Edmund S. Weiner (Editor); John Simpson (Editor)
Call Number: Bobst reference collection, PE1625 .O87 1989 Non-circulating
ISBN: 9780198611868
Publication Date: 1989-03-30

Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory & Criticism

The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory & Criticism is an indispensable resource for scholars and students of literary theory and discourse. Presents a comprehensive historical survey of the field's most important figures, schools, and movements.

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Finding online full-text in Literature Online (LION)

Literature Online (LION) isn't just for literary criticism - it also contains full-text editions of major works (and some not so major works as well!). There are a number of ways to search for texts, so here are a few:

Using the "Texts" link in the top menu and then the "search" option, search for works using title, author, or keywords.
Using the "Texts" link in the top menu and the "browse" option, select "All texts" to browse by literary period. You can also see poems from major anthologies and literary works published in journals.

Literature Online (LION) This link opens in a new window
A fully searchable library of more than 350,000 works of English and American poetry, drama and prose. LION is the single most extensive and wide-ranging online collection of English and American literature.Resources included in this resource are: Bibliographies Biographies Columbia Companion to the 20th Century American Short Story Columbia Dictionary of Modern European Literature Columbia Dictionary of Modern Literary and Cultural Criticism Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms Encyclopedia of African Literature Encyclopedia of American Poetry: The Nineteenth Century Encyclopedia of Latin American and Caribbean Literature, 1900-2003 Encyclopedia of Linguistics (2 vols.) Encyclopedia of the Novel Handbook of African American Literature New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics Oxford Companion to Irish Literature Penguin Classics Introductions Routledge Encyclopedia of Narrative Theory Routledge Encyclopedia of Post-Colonial Literatures in English (2nd Edition)