Poetry. A form of words that seems so elegantly simple in one verse and so cleverly complex in another. Each poet has a particular style, an individual and unique way with words and yet each of us seems to recognise the path and destination of where the verses lead, even if sometimes the full comprehension may be a little beyond us.

Through the centuries every culture has produced verse to symbolize and to describe everything from everyday life, natural wonders, the human condition and even in its more hubristic moments, the crushing triumph of an enemy.

In the volumes of this series we take a look through the prism of individual regions of the United States through the centuries and decades.

The United States may be many things: the world's policeman, a bully, a shameless purveyor of mass market culture but it also, in its better moments, a standard bearer for truth, transparency, equality and the more positive qualities of democracy.

Little wonder that's its poets are rightly acknowledged as wonders of their art. Leading lights in the fight against slavery and for equality, even if the rest of the Nation is finding it problematic to catch up.

In this volume we have collected verse from poets born in one of the most famous cities in the World: New York. Within its five boroughs are a small universe of wonder and magic, a kaleidoscope of almost everything the planet has to offer. In past times New York was a gateway to a new land and a new future whatever the misery and tragedy of your former life. Of course, this golden vision was not attained by everyone. But our local poets, including such luminaries as Emma Lazarus, Herman Melville, Edith Wharton, Alice Duer Miller, and Alan Seeger bring vision and truth to this unrivalled city and its hallowed status in the world of verse.

1 - Born in the USA. The New York City Poets. Exploring American Poetry - An Introduction

2 - September by George Arnold

3 - October by George Arnold

4 - A Chant of Love for England by Helen Gray Cone

5 - Rheims Cathedral, 1914 by Grace Hazard Conkling

6 - To the Dead in the Graveyard Underneath My Window by Adelaide Crapsey

7 - Keats by Adelaide Crapsey

8 - The Revolt of Mother by Alice Duer Miller

9 - To the Night Breeze by Alice & Caroline Duer

10 - Nathan Hale by Francis Miles Finch

11 - The Wild Honey Suckle by Phillip Freneau

12 - A Political Litany by Philip Freneau

13 - To the Memory of the Americans Who Fell at Eutaw by Philip Freneau

14 - Mother's Day Proclamation by Julia Ward Howe

15 - Battle Hymn of the Republic by Julia Ward Howe

16 - This Curse by Henry James

17 - Old Manuscript by Alfred Kreymborg

18 - Cradle by Alfred Kreymborg

19 - The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus

20 - A June Night by Emma Lazarus

21 - Assurance by Emma Lazarus

22 - Evil In Design by Emma Lazarus

23 - America by Herman Melville

24 - Dupont's Round Fight (November 1861) by Herman Melville

25 - Look-Out Mountain by Herman Melville

26 - Shiloh by Herman Melville

27 - The Portent by Herman Melville

28 - A Visit From St Nicholas (T'Was The Night Before Christmas) by Clement Moore

29 - Aspiration by Henrietta Cordelia Ray

30 - Life by Henrietta Cordelia Ray

31 - Silent Thoughts by Charles Lewis Reason

32 - The Spirit Voice or Liberty Call to The Disfranchised by Charles Lewis Reason

33 - I Have a Rendezvous with Death by Alan Seeger

34 - Resurgam by Alan Seeger

35 - Sonnet 12 by Alan Seeger

36 - At the Tomb of Napoleon by Alan Seeger

37 - Battle Sleep by Edith Wharton

38 - Survival by Edith Wharton

39 - Non Dolet by Edith Wharton

40 - Terminus by Edith Wharton

41 - The Bread of Angels by Edith Wharton