Together with an idea of when and where in their life they
produced a particular poem, it gives you a
better context for
understanding and appreciating their works.
The opposite also holds true. Many a well known public figure whose lives you may think you know,
produced poems that give a
better appreciation of their viewpoint. They become more human and less of an textbook icon to us.
These summaries are intentionally brief, but packed with information nonetheless. If someone, such as a Lord Byron, a Matthew Arnold, a Helen Hunt Jackson, or a Laurence Hope strikes an interest, delve deeper and see what you can find out about them elsewhere.
Perhaps you may sift through the
Britannica, find one of
Untermeyer''s Anthologies, or seek out the ''
Lives of the Poets'' whose title I snitched for this section.
Thanks to Nelson Miller for initiating this biographical index, which will eventually encompass as many of the poets we have collected as possible, and perhaps some we can not yet collect online. There is a companion page, Faces of the Poets, to give you a more corporeal view. I always like to read the biography first, then look at the portrait and see whether it surprises me, or not.
--mudassir