The culmination of Harold Bloom's lifelong love of poetry, The Best Poems of the English Language is a comprehensive anthology that offers six centuries of great British and American poetry. Beginning with Chaucer and ending with Robert Frost, each of the more than 100 poems were chosen according to Bloom's three absolute criteria: aesthetic splendor, intellectual power, and wisdom. Throughout, he offers an extensive introduction to the individual poets and many of the poems.

This outstanding collection also contains an introductory essay in which the esteemed scholar presents his critical reflections on more than a half century devoted to reading, teaching, and writing, and he conveys his passionate concern for how a poem should be interpreted and appreciated.