So many of these romantic poets and painters started to create paintings of beautiful women or men dying, or writing poetry about the longing that comes when someone is dying.

If you love to write poetry, one of the best ways to develop your skills (and even find markets for your poetry), is to buy and read poetry by other conemporary poets.

The book still begins with American poetry in its 17th-century infancy, but pays much more attention to living and recent poets: a quarter way through, readers are well into the 20th century.