Romeo and Juliet was the first drama in English to confer full tragic dignity on the agonies of youthful love. The lyricism that enshrines their death-marked devotion has made the lovers legendary in every language that possesses a literature.

An anthology of five hundred poems by poets from around the world explores themes of passion, spirituality, death, and friendship, in a collection that includes contributions by such writers as Mary Oliver, W.H. Auden, Charles Simic.