[Andrew Sacks]

Thank you, John. Your namesake is, in my judgment. John Donne. Of course, I share Marvell's first name, yet.... I, by the way, have always been proud to share a June 13 birthday with W.B. Yeats, the greatest poet of the 20th century.

[Chris Childers]

Simon, you seem to be arguing that Keats' unwritten poems are better than the ones Yeats actually wrote. You really are a Keatsian: heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard / are sweeter...

[S. A. Wyatt]

Originally Posted by Rex Coleridge

Yeats or Keats who is the better poet?

I don't know, but Wyatt > Coleridge.
(just kidding)


Your question could only be settled in a new episode of the Epic Rap Battles of History series.

[Chris O'Carroll]

Yeats or Keats,
Who whom beats,
Higher rates,
Keats or Yeats?
Are debates
Keats v. Yeats
Wastes of time
Like this rhyme?

[John Whitworth]

Ah but Keats had already written a body of work. Consumption could have consumed Rimbaud at nineteen and we would have all he ever wanted to write. Actually I am of the opinion that early Yeats is better than late Yeats, though I realise that is not the general view.

[Roger Slater]

If I had to make one of them disappear from history, and thankfully I don't, it would be bye-bye William.

[Roger Slater]

Donne's overall output is greater than Marvell's, but Marvell wins in the best single poem category.

[Ed Shacklee]

Originally Posted by Rachael Briggs

Meh. What has either of them written lately?

I think Rachael has her tongue firmly in cheek. After all, what did either of them do in comparison to Justin Timberlake? Did they try to bring sexy back? I think not.

Best,

Ed


P.S. I have to go with Yeats.

[Gail White]

I am a huge Yeats fan and at times in my life he has been my favorite poet, but he also had a much higher Silly Notions quotient than Keats, and for overall intelligence, I think Keats comes out on top.

[Roger Slater]

I know the letters are not poems, but for me they are an important part of what Keats left behind and a huge contribution to poetry in their own right. More controversially, I would add that as much as I have always been intoxicated by Yeats' rhythms, for me he wrote nothing as staggeringly great as any of the May odes. Even leaving aside Nightingale and Urn, where is Yeats' To Autumn or Psyche or Melancholy? Even if you suppose for argument sake that Keats would not have written another good poem in his life had he lived past 25, for me it's no contest, and Keats wins.