Plan: American Poets

Tell the Truth, but Tell it Slant (1263)
Tell all the truth but tell it slant —
Success in Circuit lies
Too bright for our infirm Delight
The Truth’s superb surprise
As Lightning to the Children eased
With explanation kind
The Truth must dazzle gradually
Or every man be blind —
EE Cummings

Not just a poet, but a painter, essayist, playwright, author, and to some extent, a philosopher. E.E. Cummings has contributed so much to the world of poetry with some of the most magnificent poems. He was known for his free-form poetry with a modern approach and a message within. And for the people wondering, his full name was Edward Estlin Cummings.

Our pick: Our pick would be the poem pity this busy monster, manunkind. Since the poem is not under the public domain, we cannot place it here. If you want to read the poem, click here.
The poem is about the world that humans have created, this progress that we’ve made has turned us into lazy beings. Perhaps the best line from the poem would be this;
a hopeless case if — listen: there’s a hell
of a good universe next door; let’s go
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Walt Whitman 

Walt Whitman is considered to be the father of American poetry. He is also called the Father of free verse poetry. Whitman was born in Long Island and was a poet during the Civil War. His poems were centered around the pain of loss, the recovery from tragedy, and sometimes, about national pride. 

Our pick: Continuities. This philosophical poem by Whitman encapsulates the essence of his poetry so brilliantly. The poem talks about the changing nature of the world and the universe, how things don’t last, and how appearances are ephemeral. Take a look at the poem;
(From a talk I had lately with a German spiritualist.)
Nothing is ever really lost, or can be lost,
No birth, identity, form—no object of the world.
Nor life, nor force, nor any visible thing;
Appearance must not foil, nor shifted sphere confuse thy brain.
Ample are time and space—ample the fields of Nature.
The body, sluggish, aged, cold—the embers left from earlier fires,
The light in the eye grown dim, shall duly flame again;
The sun now low in the west rises for mornings and for noons continual;
To frozen clods ever the spring’s invisible law returns,
With grass and flowers and summer fruits and corn.
TS Eliot

T.S Eliot was a major figure in the American poetry scene. He did not write too many poems. And the ones he wrote weren’t about rhyme or structure, but just the essence and meaning of it. 

Our pick: Hysteria (American) is also called Ode (British). Take a look at the poem, or more like prose. 
As she laughed I was aware of becoming involved in her laughter and being part of it, until her teeth were only accidental stars with a talent for squad-drill. I was drawn in by short gasps, inhaled at each momentary recovery, lost finally in the dark caverns of her throat, bruised by the ripple of unseen muscles. An elderly waiter with trembling hands was hurriedly spreading a pink and white checked cloth over the rusty green iron table, saying: “If the lady and gentleman wish to take their tea in the garden, if the lady and gentleman wish to take their tea in the garden…” I decided that if the shaking of her breasts could be stopped, some of the fragments of the afternoon might be collected, and I concentrated my attention with careful subtlety to this end.
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Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe needs no introduction. With his gothic style, dark hair, and a grave countenance, one would almost always imagine Edgar Allan Poe to be with a large raven sitting on his shoulder. Not just a poet, but a writer, editor, and literary critic, Poe’s works are read worldwide, especially his poems.