Golden Ecco Anthology (Paperback)

Choosing 100 great poems of the English language is a staggering prospect for even the worthiest editor. It involves the considerable task of culling from the entire canon a select group of poets and each one's single most important poem. In The Golden Ecco Anthology, Mark Strand, recent poet laureate of the United States and editor of Contemporary American Poets, Another Republic, and The Best American Poetry 1991, combines 100 poetic voices in a masterful celebration of the English language. With seamless grace he moves from era to era and voice to voice and his selections are often surprising, always remarkable. It is safe to say that Strand, who received the 1992 Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry for his 1990 collection The Continuous Life and last year's prestigious Bollingen Prize, has a vision that encompasses both the consummate practice and informed appreciation of his art. The poems that Strand chooses do not in their intractable finesse slam the door on the poets' skills as if to say: "There you have it!" On the contrary, his choices hint at range in virtuosity and provide wonderful openings into the artists' greater work.