Growing out of the mytho-poetic devices of oral cultures, specifically within ancient Greece, came a conceptual tradition of "poetics" - often a formulaic activity whereby an analytical definition of poetry would be put forth followed by a discussion of how poetry worked and why it was (or wasn't) important. The two most influential poetics of the ancient world were authored by two Greek conceptual thinkers writing in a tradition that would come to be known as "philosophy: " Plato (a student of Socrates) and Plato's brilliant student-successor Aristotle. This book is a collection of famous essays on the theory of poetry from ancient Greece to 19th century England. Meno, by Plato Ion, by Plato Selections from The Republic, by Plato Chapter II Chapter III Chapter X The Poetics, by Aristotle An Apology for Poetry, by Philip Sidney Timber, by Ben Jonson Essays on Poetry, by William Wordsworth 1. Of the Principles of Poetry & The 'Lyrical Ballads ' 2. Of Poetic Diction 3. Poetry as a Study 4. Of Poetry as Observation & Description 5. Of 'The Excursion' Selections from Biographia Literaria, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge A Defence of Poetry, by P. B. Shelley