English 271: Introduction to Poetry

While reading poems, you may come across unfamiliar words, or you may want to learn the origin of a particular word phrase. The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is an excellent resource because it provides not only definitions, but also the history of a word’s usage. For example, a search of the word “dauntless” reveals that it was first used in print in 1616.The writer was William Shakespeare, who probably invented the word himself. “Dauntless” next appears in the poetry of John Milton, in 1667.