Can someone give me some advice on how to get into poetry? I'm

>>8525375
Are there interpretations of the poems next to them? That can be nice and help you see why it's good. Some stuff you'll miss at first.

I would go chronologically, reading a few poems every day. This way you get a sense of the movements and styles. I don't really get what you mean when you say that you would fin something broader past the classical stuff. Reading the classical stuff provides a context to read more poetry. You could also gain this context by looking some extra information up online or in books. If you like a certain poet you can buy a bundle.

I wouldn't be too concerned about analyzing meter. That's only important when you want to write poems yourself or if you're an acaddemic.

>>8525394
>Are there interpretations of the poems next to them?
None what so ever. A lot of the poetry in these books is very hard to comprehend, for me at least.
>I don't really get what you mean when you say that you would fin something broader past the classical stuff
I mean broader as in a broader ranger, as in I'm sure there's plenty more interesting poetry outside of the classic poetry.

Read them out loud, read only a couple a day and reread them to give you time to think about them. Don't worry if you don't get them, just keep reading until you find one that speaks to you.

>>8525402
definetly look up interpretations online. Otherwise you're just reading words for the sound. Reading multiple times is important too. and take it slow, you're only doing this for yourself, there's no reason to go fast except impatience (be patient). for most poems I read it through thoroughly once, then i read an interpretation, and the i read it again. If a poem speaks to me I'll read it multiple times.

>>8525375

If you only speak one language you will never have a non-memed understanding of poetry.
Sorry, try not being an Amerifat.

I recommend you grab some cheap ass 100 Best Remembered Poems or some shit, get yourself versed in the serious pleb shit that academics don't even talk about for the most part but which you need to start with just to get a sense of the fun of poetry, then I suggest you pick up Break, Blow, Burn by Camille Palin. She'll teach you good about poetry.

>>8525745
>100 Best Remembered Poems
how about 100 great american poems, the dover thrift edition? https://www.amazon.com/Great-American-Poems-Thrift-Editions/dp/0486401588/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1474298118&sr=8-1&keywords=poems+dover+thrift+edition

>>8525375
It was William Harmon's Topp 500 Poems that helped me get into poetry. It's a collection of the 500 most anthologized poems in English, arranged chronologically (by the poet's birth year) and with very brief commentary on each. I started with the poets that I knew a bit about (Eliot, Yeats, Hopkins, Dylan Thomas) and read around them for some contemporary context. I was interested and wanted to know more, and found this more helpful than something more comprehensive like the Norton.

In terms of how to deal with each poem, read slowly and out loud, look for sounds or images you like, and compare that to how other poems and poets handle things similarly.

For me, I liked reading poems that were linguistically dense (Dylan Thomas, Hart Crane) and a bit obscure, but also had great sonics. So I looked for poems that I liked to read and my interest expanded from there. I'd say if you already bring an interest you'll find something to like, but without it you can't force yourself to get 'into' poetry. Don't worry about 'getting it' at first, focus on enjoying it.

>>8525394
Honestly, interpretations contribute very little if you're trying to into poetry. In my experience, they don't focus enough on what formally and historically separates poetry and prose, and instead they're really just interpretations answering the asinine and completely irrelevant question of 'what did the poet REALLY mean by this?'
Any decent companion to literature will most likely give you a better historical overview and introduction, doesn't matter if it's Oxford, Longman, or something other, and as for the formal properties I can recommend Hollander's 'Rhyme's Reason' (short, good, and with coverage and examples for basically all the different metres you'll come across).

If you're looking for anthologies, the Penguin Book of English Verse (ed. PJ Keegan) has a nice selection of older English poetry, but I guess they didn't have enough room to include that many newer poets, so if you want something more contemporary the Harvill Book of 20th Century Poetry has a really good, broad spread.

>>8525745
Yeah that works