Resistance is a key concept for understanding the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, and for approaching the poetry of the period. This collection of 15 critical essays explores how poetry and resistance interact, set against a philosophical, historical and cultural background. In the light of the upheavals of the age, and the changing perception of the nature of language, resistance is seen to lie at the core of poetic preoccupations, moving poetic language forward. From this perspective, the resistance of poetry is connected with the human call to solidarity, resilience, and, ultimately, meaning. The volume covers poetry from Hardy, Yeats and Auden, among others, to contemporary writers like Hugo Williams and Linton Kwesi Johnson.