Today, I am not going to review a particular book. What I want to do in today's post is to recommend to you some of the poets whose work I have enjoyed over the years.
When I first started exploring the creative side of my life, I started writing poetry. In my work as a writer, poetry is one of my main pursuits. I've been privileged to have many poems published in literary journals.
Part of being a writer and poet is reading the works of other writers and poets. Here are just of few of the poets whose work has influenced me and whose work I enjoy reading.
During the time of the English Civil War, there was a group of poets known as the Cavalier Poets. They supported Charles I during the war and his son Charles II during the restoration. Their poetry is very beautiful and easy to read and understand. Robert Herrick, Thomas Carew and Richard Lovelace are my favorites in this group.
Without a doubt in my mind, William Shakespeare is the greatest writer in the English language. His sonnets are worth reading over and over again.
George Herbert was a pastor of a small church in rural England. His poetry is very well done. His religious verse is especially moving.
Two other British poets whose work I admire, and whom I've studied a great deal are William Blake and William Wordsworth. Blake's poem about the tiger is among my very favorite.
Among early American poets, William Cullen Bryant and Edgar Allan Poe are excellent. I especially like Poe. His poems have a great rhythm to them. "The Bells" and "El Dorado" are my favorites along with "The Raven". Poe was also a master of the short story.
Moving on to more contemporary times, William Carlos Williams, Carl Sandburg and Robert Frost are three poets whose work I have read extensively. Williams has the ability to express a lot in short passages.
Robinson Jeffers wrote extensively on environmental themes. I had the privilege to write an article about his work and the home he built near the Pacific Ocean.
As I have stated on the blog previously, Mary Oliver is my favorite poet of current times. When she releases a new volume of poems, I purchase it immediately. She has been a great influence on my work.
Finally, I would like to recommend the work of Juan Ramon Jimenez. Jimenez won the Nobel prize for literature. He is best known for his work "Platero and I." This is a prose poem work that contains wonderfully descriptive language and deep emotions. I have read it again and again.
These are just a very few of the poets whose work I enjoy. In some later blog posts, I will write more about some of the other poets whose work I like.
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