The New Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250-1950 (Oxford Books of Verse)

Reflecting seven centuries of verse, from 1250 to 1950, The New Oxford Book of English Verse was recognized on first publication as a towering achievement, and has become the most comrehensive anthology of English poetry. Dame Helen Gardner reflected the critical consensus of the day in broadening her choices beyond those of Quiller-Couch's lyrical tastes, and the anthology balances poems that deal with public events and historic occasions with poems of private life, and religious, moral, or political verse with satire and light verse.