The title of this anthology suggests the thrust of its contents: The treasures inside are the definition of a country characterized by diversity, power, stability, and strife. Because of the complexity of American life and of America's heritage, it is easier to explain what American poetry is not than to explain what it is. There is, howerver, no denying that the myriad events and personalities which produced this country provoked and shaped a poetic heritage which can only be defined as a national treasure. Not every poem in the anthology is a jewel in the literal sense, but each one, verbal emerald as well as verbal opal, has its intrinsic quality and character. Collectively they shape a unique and haphazard crown for a monarchless country.