A poetry collection. Edited by S. T. Joshi and Steven J. Mariconda.
The tradition of weird
poetry is one that stretches back for millennia, to the earliest
literary expression of the human race. In this new volume-the first
comprehensive historical anthology of weird, horrific, and supernatural
poetry in more than 50 years-the editors have rightly begun their survey of weirdness in verse with Homer's "Odyssey," proceeding through Greek, Latin, and medieval verse to such towering poets of English and
American literature as Coleridge, Shelley, Poe, Tennyson, and
Longfellow. With the dawn of the 20th century, such leaders of horrific
prose as H. P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, Donald Wandrei, and Robert E. Howard came to the fore. Our own day has seen a remarkable
resurgence in weird poetry, and such poets as Richard L. Tierney, Bruce
Boston, W. H. Pugmire, and Ann K. Schwader have added to a legacy that
stretches back to the dawn of time.
The editors have added brief
biographical notes on all the poets included, along with bibliographical information on the poems. This volume will become the standard edition
of weird poetry for decades to come.
S. T. Joshi is the author of
"Unutterable Horror: A History of Supernatural Fiction" (2012) and many
other works of criticism and scholarship. Steven J. Mariconda is the
author of many essays on H. P. Lovecraft, Ramsey Campbell, and other
writers of weird fiction.
