A Short(ish) List Of Very Specific Poetry Recommendations

by Amelia Freidline (who is also short[ish])

Editor’s Note—Most of the time on this Substack newsletter, we’ll share specific, worthwhile poems one by one. However, today, we have invited Amelia Freidline to assemble a list of poems grouped in quirky categories for those of you who are ready to take a deeper dive into one of the poets below. Pick a book and, when it arrives, make yourself a cup of tea and settle down in a shaft of sunlight for a good poetry sesh. Now, on to the recommendations.

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For Those Who Think They Don’t Like Poetry Because They Think It Has to Rhyme:

The Trouble with Poetry, by Billy Collins

also Picnic, Lightning and The Rain in Portugal, by Billy Collins

For Children in General:

Favorite Poems, Old and New, compiled by Helen Ferris

For Children Who Don’t Scare Easily (But Perhaps Should):

Cautionary Tales for Children, by Hilaire Belloc

The Gashleycrumb Tinies, by Edward Gorey

Goblabet, by Ken Priebe

For Children (And Adults) Who Adore the Absurd:

Jabberwocky and Other Nonsense: Collected Poems, by Lewis Carroll

For Adults Who Appreciate a Healthy Dose of Nonsense:

The Best of Ogden Nash

For Adults (Or Children) in Need of Re-Enchantment.

The Lost Words, by Robert Macfarlane

For Curmudgeonly Mystics:

The Mad Farmer Poems, by Wendell Berry

For Typewriter Poets:

archy and mehitabel, by Don Marquis

For Those in Need of a Warm Blanket:

The Road Not Taken and Other Poems, by Robert Frost

For the Playful and Profound:

Final Harvest: Poems, by Emily Dickinson

As Kingfishers Catch Fire: Selected and Annotated Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins

For Introverted Midwestern Punk-Rock Mystics:

Masks & Mirrors, by Chris Wheeler

also Solace: poems for the broken season, by Chris Wheeler

For Enneagram Fours:

The Complete Poems, by Christina Rossetti

For Enneagram Ones:

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, as translated by J.R.R. Tolkien

For Those Wanting to Incorporate Poetry Into Their Devotions:

Waiting on the Word and The Word in the Wilderness, both by Malcolm Guite

For Those Who Want to Grow in Writing Poetry:

A Poetry Handbook and Rules for the Dance, both by Mary Oliver

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Amelia Freidline is a writer, editor, and visual storyteller who enjoys good food and good stories.

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