The English language is rich in poetry; yet how many people are aware that many of our stock phrases and familiar sayings have their origins as lines of poetry? Combing through the works of 100 writers, Jamie Grant distils here choice lines from classic poems, with selections from Shakespeare, Chaucer, Keats, Blake, Wordsworth, Dickinson, Emerson, Yeats, Hardy, Bishop, Plath, and Ginsberg. Each quotation is accompanied by a one-page biographical sketch that seeks to introduce the poet and add to our understanding of his or her significance.