An anthology of English poets' writings on their art, fellow poets and poetic genres, this book provides a record of the history and progress of English poetry, collecting in a single chronological sequence all the major figures in English poetry from Chaucer to Yeats, and their responses to each other, ranging from elegiac eulogy to burlesque and satire. The anthology is arranged in two sections: Part One, "On Poetry", contains poets' writings on the nature, qualities and purpose of poetry and includes insights from, among others, Shakespeare, Sidney, Milton, Pope and Shelley. Part Two, "On Poets" contains poets' writings on their peers, with an individual entry for each poet. Included are influential revaluations - for example, Coleridge on Donne - as well as comment on poetic genres - Carew on Elizabethan Ovidians, Pope on the Metaphysicals, Byron on the Lake Poets. Each extract is presented in modernized spelling and punctuation and is annotated to provide full explanations of unfamiliar phrases and references.