A popular anthologist (treasuries of the Familiar, of Inspiration, of Catholic Thinking, etc.) has chosen 151 poems by 87 poets and introduced each with a short biographical note which is really a more accurate definition than the ""little known stories behind them"", except- say- in the obvious case of Milton's sonnet on his blindness. For the most part the poems are predictable choices as well as familiar (Arnold's Dover Beach, etc., etc.); one could question the qualifications of Sally in our Alley; there are a number of battle songs, national anthems, inscriptions; and very few modern poets- Dylan Thomas and Karl Shapiro. Woods' interpretation of the circumstances of the lives of the poets he has selected is no less orthodox than his taste, and the collection is for an audience which is un-versed although it is hard to believe that any high school English course wouldn't have introduced most of these poems- and this basic background material.