Read a Book of Poetry

Poet and businessman Wallace Stevens said that poetry is "a response to the daily necessity of getting the world right." National Poetry Month is the perfect time to begin to make poetry one of your own daily necessities.

The best point of entry to the world of poetry is, of course, the poem. Dive right into a book of poems—anthologies can be great starting points for browsing and sampling diverse styles and time periods. Other people may find a slim single volume written by just one author more welcoming.

Do you remember a poem you liked in school or when you were a child? Seek out poems by the same author. Don’t feel obligated to read the entire book straight through, or to read particularly fast: a line or image from a poem will come back to you when you least expect it.

Don’t know where to begin? Start browsing through our Find a Poet and Find a Poem sections and see what strikes you. Check out our Poems for Every Occasion section for mini-anthologies of poems grouped thematically. Listen to recordings of poets people reading their own work in the Poetry Audio Archive. Start looking and we’re sure you’ll find a poem that speaks to you.