Poetry is a mystery to many modern readers. As it no longer occupies a large space in modern cultural life, many readers feel distant from poetry, or simply feel that they don’t understand it. The poems in this book are intended to give the modern reader a taste of different types of poems—different eras, different cultures, and different topics are covered. In addition, the book offers vocabulary and concepts that allow the reader to talk intelligently about poems. Although this book is a companion text for the free edX.org course “College Writing 11.2x, AP® English Literature and Composition: Poems,” offered through UC Berkeley, it is suitable for anyone who wants to learn more about poetry.