Memorable, witty, bawdy, profound--the short poem observes no limits except those of length. They can range from subjects as diverse as a child's first words, a woman's feet, or human destiny. The verses within this collection vary greatly in theme, style, and tone, but in each case, brevity reveals the poets at their best, both as individual artists and as exemplars of their times.
The short poem is often overlooked in verse collections, where poets tend to be represented by their longer, more sustained work. Defining "short" as any poem of under fourteen lines, P. J. Kavanagh and James...