Six Centuries of English Poetry: Tennyson to Chaucer

"Six Centuries of English Poetry: Tennyson to Chaucer" by James Baldwin is a collection of timeless English poems from the 1300s to the 1800s. This book, created in the 1800s as part of a series for schools, lets students and teachers read famous pieces of English literature alongside notes and historical information. Including famous poets like Tennyson, Wordsworth and Chaucer, this book shows how English poetry changed over time, covering many different eras. At the start of the book, Baldwin talks about how English poetry developed over hundreds of years, even before Chaucer. He talks about how old poets influenced later poems and how the language changed, linking these historical parts to the richness of more modern works. Baldwin explains that it's important to understand poetry as both a type of writing and as a glimpse into cultural and historical changes, highlighting the importance of learning about poetry to truly enjoy its beauty.