Modern Poetry and the Tradition by Cleanth Brooks is a landmark work of literary criticism that reshaped the understanding of modernist poetry and its relationship to classical tradition. In this influential study, Brooks — one of the founding figures of New Criticism — explores how modern poets like T.S. Eliot, W.B. Yeats, Ezra Pound, and Gerard Manley Hopkins built upon, rather than broke from, the poetic conventions and aesthetic values of earlier literature.

Brooks argues that the best modern poetry preserves the complexity, irony, and unity of meaning found in traditional verse, while simultaneously innovating in form and language. Through close reading and insightful analysis, he reveals how modern poets engage deeply with religious, moral, and cultural traditions, creating works that speak both to their time and to timeless human concerns.

First published in the mid-20th century, Modern Poetry and the Tradition remains a cornerstone of literary theory and criticism, offering scholars, students, and readers a profound framework for understanding modernism, symbolism, and poetic structure. It continues to inspire debate and admiration as one of the most authoritative and intellectually rigorous explorations of modern English poetry.

PUBLISHER: POETRY LONDON

BINDING: HARD COVER

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

PAGES: 246