General advice sought, please

[jebib3]

I am recently retired and wishing to fill out what my quasi-liberal arts education failed to provide specifically in the area of poetry. What I am doing now is with the assistance of the web for summaries and criticism reading poetry from the book by Harold Bloom titled, " The Best Poems of the English Language". Candidly, because of my lack of grasp of "Old English" I have started with Blake and am moving forward. My logic is that I have already had an expert, Bloom, cull the herd so to speak. This provides me with material that allows me to avoid the question, "is this good poetry?". It seems to be working because I have just finished Coleridge and will be starting Byron as soon as I finish Dejection. Any comments on the approach and what other suggestions you may have will be appreciated. Regards,

[JBI]

Just read the Norton Anthology of Poetry, it is much more extensive and better annotated than Bloom's text, and has a much larger range. It also stocks a much more extensive bibliography and set of essays.

[OrphanPip]

I'm not familiar with Bloom's text, I have the Norton's and they're very good, but you already have what is probably a fairly expensive book so you might as well stick with what you have. Not sure how much Bloom provides in contextual information, but it helps to read up on movements and periods to understand the aesthetic and philosophical influences on the poets you're reading.

The English Romantics, where you started, are a pretty good starting place since they are fairly accessible.

[Alexander III]

I would suggest to Read the entire text of Byron's Don Juan, an easily accessible yet sublime poem, one of the finest of romanticism, and considered Byron's masterpiece.

[solaris]

reading the classics will help, Byron and Shakespeare being two of my favourites, but may i also suggest you read as many contemporary poets as you can? learn to refine your own palate by tasting each - deciding which, for you, work; which images strike you best; which lines feel best in the mouth...

like films, the critics will often slate or bang on about the wonders of a film that, when you get to see it, leaves you feeling cheated - worse still, if you gave it a miss only to discover years later it was brilliant! learn to trust your own sense of taste. it really doesn't matter if someone else dislikes a poem you do.

[Albion]

Read anthologies and criticisms by all means.
I suggest casting a fairly extensive net before identifying the works you like; but continue dipping into the wider field. If skills allow, read foreign language poems or perhaps their translations (but the originals are recommended) eg, French, Italian, German. Include some American poets, eg Millay, in your reading.

Don’t omit Shakespeare. He is not that difficult if you confine yourself to the more poetic plays, eg Midsummer N. Dream, Twelfth Night, Romeo and Juliet, and to some Sonnets, eg 116 and 60.
Find a period or century that appeals to you starting at 18th century and progressing to probably early 20th. The Romantics, late 18th to late 19th, are an enduring choice but there is more to poetry than Romance, eg Epic, even Modern.
Try various moods, eg heroic, romance, resignation, bombast and melancholy.
Also, try opera librettos; listeners often overlook their poetry. Also, try Lieder and Chansons which are poems set to music. Read the text and translations as you listen.
Read several classic, ie mostly 19th century, novels.
Read slowly in order to savour the text.
There are numerous poetry sites on the web. Try the local library for advice, join a discussion group, go on a poetry workshop and/ or visit a book fair.

[Bastard Child]

One way, as I've done it, is to just head over to your local used book shop and pick up anything and everything (as your wallet allows) and, once you find a poet or poem you like, reference it either within the book itself or among friends, or even online...
I mean, I don't really know; it's just a somewhat sentimental approach I still adhere to from the high school years, when a friend would recommend a certain author, and I'd recommend another, and upon finishing up would read the index and bibliography and want to learn more and start from one to another author, and have my friend do the same, and we'd exchange views and opinions, and debate and argue, and sometimes agree and sometimes disagree, and through many a conversation we'd expand our understanding, both of understanding, ourselves and each other...
I find it's a much more satisfactory - and oftentimes easier - approach than the random pick-and-choose recommendation of strangers from the web... but that's just me...
I am a simple soul who believes there IS no single answer to even the simplest question.
Any path one adopts is one's own path, and one must walk it alone and without assistance, and even should one perish, one must perish alone and without assistance... life is harsh that way... a masterpiece is the same... and, really, what is life but a masterpiece?
Anyone attempting anything real - anyone who can face the abyss without blinking - is an artist, in the profoundest sense of the word. No artist is not an earth-shaker - whether one creates or destroys is beyond the scope and comprehension of any artist, and whether one is eventually loved or loathed will only determined by the whims of distant time...