5 of the 15 best poetry books of all time
William Shakespeare (1609)
These are considered the best sonnets ever, and the best love poems ever. The poet puts his craft to situations that call for all his musicality and reason; the results attain a kind of perfection.
Lyrical Ballads
William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1798)
This collaboration set out to change poetry, and while it remains easy to mock, the authors pulled it off. If elaborate, over-fussy classical references seem out of place next to more straightforward observations and tales, Lyrical Ballads heralded the change.