The English language has grown into the world’s pre-dominant spoken language, containing over one million words. Its sources are rich and diverse, having absorbed words from other cultures and times without hesitation. With such talents as Shakespeare, Keats, Shelley, Kipling, Blake, and many other classic poets using this most flexible language to render their thoughts and visions, it is no wonder that the beauty and reach of English entrances us.

The remarkable poems presented here exemplify the heritage of the English Language and its most celebrated poets. Included in Volume 1 are:

• English Poetry - An Introduction
• 'The Passionate Shepherd to His Love' by Christopher Marlowe
• 'The Face That Launched a Thousand Ships' by Christopher Marlowe
• 'Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day?' (Sonnet 18) by William Shakespeare
• 'Let Me Not to the Marriage of True Minds...' by William Shakespeare
• 'To Celia' by Ben Jonson
• 'On My First Son' by Ben Jonson
• 'The Good Morrow' by John Donne
• 'Witchcraft by a Picture' by John Donne
• 'On Shakespeare' by John Milton
• 'On the Morning of Christ's Nativity' by John Milton
• 'To His Coy Mistress' by Andrew Marvell
• 'A True Born Englishman' by Daniel Defoe
• 'A Song for St Cecilia's Day' by John Dryden
• From 'The Rape of the Lock' by Alexander Pope
• 'Summer' by Alexander Pope
• 'Elergy Written in a Country Churchyard' by Thomas Gray
• 'The Lamb' by William Blake
• 'The Tiger' by William Blake
• And many more….