"Death, be not proud," declared John Donne, "though some have called thee/Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so … " The seventeenth-century poet's expression of faith has consoled countless readers. It appears in this outstanding compilation of inspirational verse along with 90 poems, by more than 60 great English and American writers, dating from the Renaissance to the twentieth century.
These works include the familiar words of famous poets as well as unforgettable verses by lesser-known writers. Selections range from Psalm 23 of the King James Bible to Henley's "Invictus," and Stevenson's "Requiem"; from Quarles's "A Good-Night" to Pope's "The Dying Christian to His Soul," Bryant's "Thanatopsis," and Tennyson's "Crossing the Bar"; from Emily Dickinson's "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" to Housman's "To an Athlete Dying Young" and Dylan Thomas's powerful poem to his dying father, "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night." Other featured poets include Shakespeare, Raleigh, Jonson, Shelley, Wordsworth, Longfellow, Browning, Whitman, Swinburne, Kipling, Frost, Millay, Dunbar, and Auden.
This volume will be a consolation for anyone who has suffered loss; it also offers a rich treasury of moving and reflective verse, sure to appeal to any lover of fine English and American poetry.