New York City

This anthology includes diverse poets and their unique ideas about New York City in the early 1900s. During this dynamic time in the city’s development, the population more than doubled and industrialization transformed people’s lives. The taxi and subway systems became popular methods of transportation, and towering buildings redefined New York’s skyline.  Poets were quick to respond to these changes. Some were inspired to write about the beauty of the city while others addressed harsh working conditions, immigraton, modernization, and the mistreatment of minorities. Sonnets, lyrical poems, and two books of poetry, Lola Ridge’s The Ghetto and Charles Hanson Towne’s Manhattan, are reprinted in this volume. Other poets include Claude Mckay, Sara Teasdale, Amy Lowell, and William Carlos Williams.