What poets would you keep, or discard?

[oggbashan]

Apologies for starting a thread here when I'm only an infrequent lurker.

I have to decide which books of poetry to discard. The thread is in the Author's Hangout:

Poetry: what to keep, what to throw...

Any input from this forum would be appreciated.

Og

 

[WickedEve]

I'd keep the poetry that personally appeals to me. Though, I'd try to keep as many as possible. You may part with a poet, who you'll later discover and wish you had. Keep them all. Oh, the ones you don't want, sell on ebay.

 

[Reltne]

I agree with Eve! But if I had to get rid of a poetry book, I would start by eliminating books about poetry or those that analyze it for you. (This assumes that you have read all the books).

 

[jd4george]

Keep them all.

Imagine if you were lucky enough to have a book of poetry published, and someone wanted to throw it away... or, was even considering such a sacrilege.

If you need the room on your bookshelf, considering giving the culls to someone as a gift!

 

[oggbashan]

Imagine if you were lucky enough to have a book of poetry published, and someone wanted to throw it away... or, was even considering such a sacrilege.

If you need the room on your bookshelf, considering giving the culls to someone as a gift!

Thanks for the responses.

I'm giving away, to a charity that will sell them to discerning readers (if such animals exist), most of the classic poets. I have examples of them in anthologies and I have kept my wife's favourites and mine in our own library. What I am culling is the shop's stock before I close.

I have also kept poets I'd never find again, no matter how bad they are. I know I can buy Wordsworth, Keats, Shelley etc. in new editions but some poets were published only once.

Og

PS. Over the past 3 years the charity has raised several thousand pounds from the books I have given them. They made more out of them than I did. They currently have about 2 tons of books from me.

 

[Liar]

I'm giving away, to a charity that will sell them to discerning readers (if such animals exist), most of the classic poets. I have examples of them in anthologies and I have kept my wife's favourites and mine in our own library. What I am culling is the shop's stock before I close.

I have also kept poets I'd never find again, no matter how bad they are. I know I can buy Wordsworth, Keats, Shelley etc. in new editions but some poets were published only once.

Sounds like a sensible choice to me. Saving Keats for posterity is a bit of a waste of energy, since it's already is done, a thousand times over. Butr there is something magical with a written work that is rare or unique, however mediocre it might be. My most treasured books are old humor and comic volumes from the 30's and 40's that I know only exist in some 500 copies altogether these days. They are not very valueable as collectors items, but they are a document of a time and a place and a state of mind that might be lost if I toss them away.

#L