English and American Poetry Resources: Databases

Find out if the library has specific journals, magazines, or newspapers, either electronically or in print.

The largest and most comprehensive dictionary of the English language as it is currently used today.

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This database is an excellent source for starting research on poems and their authors. It provides the full text online of over 250,000 poems, critical commentaries on 1,000 well-known poems, biographies of approximately 500 poets, and a "Listening Room" featuring notable contemporary poets reading aloud a selection of poems by many authors. It also can be used to find copies of poems published elsewhere, as it supplies over 450,000 citations to where poems may be found in printed books. In addition to poems written originally in English, it also provides information about and access to a wide range of poetry from all times and places, written in many other languages.

This database lists books and articles written since 1926 on modern languages and their literatures. To find secondary sources about an author, type the author's surname first (for example -- Kipling, Rudyard) in the first search box, then select "Subject Terms" from the drop-down list in the box to its right. To find discussions of a specific work by this author, add its title in the second search box.

A useful complement to the MLA International Bibliography, this database lists books, articles, and some book reviews written since 1920 about works of literature written in English. To find sources about a poet or essayist, type the author's name (surname first) in the "Subject" box. To find discussions of a specific work by this author, add its title in the "Keyword" box.

This database contains the full text of over 190,000 essays providing criticism of literature from around the world, in all genres, and from all time periods from antiquity to contemporary emerging authors. The essays discuss individual authors and their works, as well as literary movements and topics. This is an excellent source to survey some of the most important criticism about an author and to observe how critical assessments have changed over time.

Containing the full text online of criticism, articles from reference books, and reviews of authors and their works, this is a helpful database to get started on your research. If you are looking for critical analysis of a particular literary work, type its title in the "Name of Work" search box, then the author's name with the surname first (for example -- Kipling, Rudyard) in the "Person - By or About" search box.