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In the East Asian tradition, an anthology was a recognised form of compilation of a given poetic form. It was assumed that there was a cyclic development: any particular form, say the tanka in Japan, would be introduced at one point in history, be explored by masters during a subsequent time, and finally be subject to popularisation (and a certain dilution) when it achieved wide-spread recognition. In this model, which derives from Chinese tradition, the object of compiling an anthology was to preserve the best of a form, and cull the rest.

In the twentieth century anthologies became an important part of poetry publishing, for a number of reasons. For English poetry, the Georgian poetry series was trend-setting; it showed the potential success of publishing an identifiable group of younger poets marked out as a 'generation'. It was followed by numerous collections from the 'stable' of some literary editor, or collated from a given publication, or labelled in some fashion as 'poems of the year'. Academic publishing also followed suit, with the success of the Quiller-Couch Oxford Book of English VersePoetry anthology The Oxford Book of English Verse most commonly means the Oxford Book of English Verse 1250-1900 edited by Arthur Quiller-Couch, an anthology of English poetry that had a very substantial influence on popular taste and perception of poetry encouraging other collections not limited to modern poetry. In fact the concept of 'modern verse' was fostered by the appearance of the phrase in titles such as the Faber & Faber anthology by Michael RobertsMichael Roberts William Edward Roberts ( 6 December 1902 13 December 1948) was a British poet, writer, critic and broadcaster, who made his living as a teacher. He was born in Bournemouth, and educated at Bournemouth School and King's College, London., and the very different W. B. Yeats Oxford Book of Modern Verse.

Since publishers generally found anthology publication a more flexible medium than the collection of a single poet's work, and indeed rang innumerable changes on the idea as a way of marketing poetry, publication in an anthology (in the right company) became at times a sought-after form of recognition for poets. The self-definition of movements, dating back at least to Ezra PoundEzra Weston Loomis Pound ( October 30 1885 November 1 1972) was a poet, musician and critic who, along with T. Eliot, was one of the major figures of the modernist movement in early 20th century poetry. He was the driving force behind several modernist mo's efforts on behalf of ImagismEzra Pound, one of the prime movers of Imagism. Imagism was a movement in early 20th century Anglo-American poetry. It rejected romantic and sentimental Victorian traditions in favour of precision of imagery in clear, sharp language. Early Imagism H., could be linked on one front to the production of an anthology of the like-minded.

See also: list of poetry anthologies