A fine collection of canonical works. I'm not sure what this gives us that our college anthologies did not, except this could make a lovely gift at the holidays.

We don't add many poetry books tomorrow collection unless I request them to use in my high school poetry group. There are some excellent choices for that in this collection. Thank you!

“Poems For Life: 31 Classic Poems to Live By” edited by Taylor Randolph is a slight volume full of famous poems that mean something to the author.

There is no doubt that poetry feeds the soul. Included in this collection are Emily Dickinson, Langston, Hughes, Robert Burns, and others. You could read a poem a day or browse whenever you need inspiration.

The problem with collections like this is there are poems you expect to be here that are and poems you expect to be here that aren’t. That doesn’t mean the poems that are included are not significant or of value. They just might not be your particular poems for life.

I had fun with the book, its fairly straight with the poems and I really enjoyed reading them. All the poems followed the theme and some of the poems really inspired me.

I would recommend this to any lover of poems and people who wonder about the meaning of life.

I still will say there were a few poems and disliked but that comes with any collection of poems but they were fun to read.

Also a Thank you to Net Galley for giving me early access to the book.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are my own."

What a lovely collection of poems that one can relate to, even if some were written over 100 years ago.

I would like to share my favorites if you don't mind
-To Laugh Often and Much:Ralph Waldo Emerson
-Your Mission:Ellen M.H.Gates
-Wishing :Ella Wheeler Cross
And my absolute favorite Poem
Sermons We See: Edgar Guest

This is a short and simple compilation of poems about life, death and the full cycle of life. It includes poems from famous poets such as Rudyard Kipling.

Really loved reading this. It was a throwback to poetry that is more "classic," so to speak. That has a deeper core than so much of the poetry of today that does not feel original or especially unique, and is so focused on the same topics.

This collection was okay but also very safe in my opinion. I wish they had thought about more eras of poetry different regions of the world...

Just today, a friend was telling me that they wanted to explore poetry more. Here is a lovely way to begin or, if you already enjoy poetry, to continue. The editor of this book has curated a collection of just thirty-one poems, a number that will encourage reading poems, while not overwhelming in any way. In fact, readers may well want to go on to explore additional works by the poets featured here. Just a few of them include John Donne, Robert Frost and Rudyard Kipling, along with others less well known by me as, for example, Kate Seymour Maclean.

I enjoyed my time with this title. Others will too, I think.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press for this title. All opinions are my own.

You can't argue with someone's personal picks for poems that mean enough to them that they consider them Poems to Live By. And I am truly thrilled to see more and more poetry books popping up. That being said, this collection was just so-so for me.

I would have liked the collection to be larger. There are so many great poems out there that, in my opinion, choosing only 31 is limited. However, again, it's the editor's choice and I respect that.

My thanks to St. Martin's Essentials for permitting me to read a DRC of this book via NetGalley. It is scheduled for publication 4/11/23. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and are freely given.

While the collection contains some of my favorite poems, I couldn’t find a connecting thread for why they were here or why this collection of poems exist. The introduction gave me the impression that this is just a gathering of one person’s favorite poems (that are all old enough to be in the public domain).

This book contains a plethora of poetry relevant to readers of all ages. I would recommend this book to any student, particularly those in AP or Honors classes, as part of a rigorous English education.

The main issue with such poetry collections is that you cannot really criticize the editor’s choices no matter what he/she picks. If it meant something to them, then it was a poem to live by. That being said, you can have a general idea, however vague, of the “essentials” that a good chunk of people will want in here. Some of those are in here (you’ve got Emerson, Frost, and Kipling), and most are missing. Not a wide enough range of poetry, in my opinion. Yet, despite what I have just said, this is not a bad book to get someone going in poetry, if they are interested in exploring further.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for the advanced review copy.

A beautiful collection of poems written by various well known writers and poets. I am a huge fan of poetry so when I was approved for this Arc i was so excited to read it! Some of the writers I knew and some were new to me, but these poems were beautiful and powerful and it's the reason why I enjoyed them so much. This collection was such a great read and I can't wait to get it when it releases! Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers for allowing me to read and review this wonderful book, and thank you to the editor Taylor Randolph for putting together this lovely collection of poems! I can't wait for the release!

A lovely collection of poems to uplift and inspire. I truly enjoy the muse of words. A true gem for your poetry collection.

What a lovely short little uplifting poetry collection to start a morning with.

I enjoyed revisiting some old friends - Dickinson, Kipling, Whitman, and Hughes to name a few - but just as much reading a few from others that I’ve always been meaning to get to but haven’t had the time. I’ll definitely be picking up Park and Wordsworth’s other works in the new year.

I think it would be my preference to include more things outside there Anglo tradition in a collection like this but this doesn’t claim to be a collection of world literature or poems and it not being so definitely doesn’t take away from the quality of the selection. Besides, one should approach something like this seeing it as a reflection of the editor’s preferences and expertise. I appreciate the subtle humour from Randolph in sections such as the “about the author” as it kept the tone light-hearted and all the more enjoyable despite not being part of the main text.

I am one of those who loves poetry but can not get into them much. This is a sweet collection of favourite poems which I appreciate. Like a favourite mix tape!

I am not much of a poem reader except for the type that tell a story, but even though this was not what I expected not a bad read.

A great collection of classic poetry pieces for those who love poetry or are looking for inspiration.

This is simply a collection of someone's favorite poems, or so it seems. And at that, a someone who is either not familiar with or moved my poetry written by living people. The collection is small and has no discernible theme. The selections are rather unoriginal -- they are all well anthologized poems or ones you'd find in a textbook -- so it's not clear why a library would want to add this to their collection.