No list can be comprehensive or infallible, but we did not approach this one lightly. After considering various criteria, we landed on work that felt consequential. We were looking for poetry that had struck its readers, for whatever reasons, as unforgettable, enduring, and influential: maybe because it came as an unexpected gift from a friend or loved one, or in the form of a classroom discovery; maybe because it reframed the world in such a way that culture or society felt foundationally shaken. Maybe it was just because, to paraphrase Emily Dickinson, it takes the top of your head off. Read more
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