This two-volume anthology celebrates four centuries of English poetry from the Elizabethan era to the present day. The richness and variety of the English poetic tradition are represented by all the great and familiar names, as well as also some of the less well-known poets who have often provided startling exceptions to the poetry of their age. The result is a rich and many coloured tapestry of the depth, diversity, and energy of poetry written in Britain and Ireland.

Included in this volume are the Elizabethan poets (Spenser, Sidney, Shakespeare), the metaphysical poets (Donne, Herbert, Marvell), and many other famous figures of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries such as Milton, Swift, Pope, and Gray.