cacophonous. This perception has persisted even to the present, with the bourgeoning field of law and literature focusing almost exclusively on fiction and drama. Poetry of the Law, however, reveals the richness of poetry about the law.Poetry of the Law is the first serious anthology of law-related poetry ever published in the United States. As the editors make clear, though, serious need not imply solemn. Instead, David Kader and Michael Stanford have assembled a surprisingly capacious collection of 100 poems from the 1300s to the present.Set in courtrooms, lawyers’ offices, law-school classrooms, and judges’ chambers; peopled with attorneys, the imprisoned (both innocent and guilty), judges, jurors, witnesses, and law-enforcement officers; based on real events (think “Scottsboro”) or exploring the complexity of abstract legal ideas; the poems celebrate justice or decry the lack of it, ranging in tone from witty to wry, sad to celebratory, funny to infuriating. Poetry of the Law is destined to become an authoritative source for years to come. Contributors Include:W. H. AudenRobert BurnsLewis CarrollJohn CiardiDaniel DefoeEmily DickinsonJohn DonneRita DoveRalph Waldo EmersonMartín EspadaThomas HardySeamus HeaneyA. E. HousmanLangston HughesBen JonsonX. J. KennedyYusef KomunyakaaTed KooserD. H. LawrenceEdgar Lee MastersW. S. MerwinEdna St. Vincent MillaySir Walter RaleighMuriel RukeyserCarl SandburgWilliam ShakespeareJonathan SwiftMona Van DuynOscar WildeWilliam Carlos Williamsfrom “The Hanging Judge” by Eavan BolandCome to the country where justice is seen to be done,Done daily. Come to the country whereSentence is passed by word of mouth and rawBoys split like infinitives. Look, hereWe hanged our son, our only sonAnd hang him still and still we call it law.

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