Whether you are looking for a specific poem or trying to find a poem about a particular theme, Granger’s World of Poetry is a helpful and comprehensive resource. It includes poetry in non-English languages (and translations into English), biographies on poets, and guidance on poetic forms. It also gives you information on where a poem is published and you can browse the top 500 most frequently anthologized poems! Other online databases to discover poems are:

Literature Online

Finding criticism on poetry can be challenging, especially if you are seeking commentary on a newly published poet. You may need to find works of criticism that discuss more broadly the poet’s collected work. Fortunately, Literature Online (also known as LION which is rather fun!) provides access to literary criticism and commentary from numerous well-respected academic journals and other specialized resources. It includes criticism on legacy poets like Walt Whitman and contemporary poets like Ocean Vuong.

The Library Catalog

Subject headings are useful to find scholarly monographs or book chapters on established or canonical poets that we have at the library.  Here are examples of subject heading formats that will help you find library books on poets:

• Dickinson, Emily, 1830-1886 -- Criticism and interpretation
• Hughes, Langston, 1902-1967 -- Criticism and interpretation

Book Reviews

For contemporary poets, you may need to seek individual articles published in literary journals or book reviews. Here are some well-regarded book review collections you can view for free courtesy of the library: