There has been a plethora of monographs and textbooks dealing with the many aspects of deconstruction and post-structuralist theory in recent years. What is needed now is a book which demonstrates in very concrete terms the possible application of post-structuralist theory to literary texts. This volume answers that need. A group of distinguished practitioners in the field have been invited to offer close readings of well-known poems from the established canon of English poetry. The texts chosen range from Renaissance sonneteers through Shakespeare, the Metaphysicals, the Augustan and Romantic periods, to Eliot and developments in the wake of modernism. An extensive reference and bibliographical section will provide useful points, of entry for those who wish to pursue critical issues which the book will inevitably raise. The book is unique in bringing together theory and practical application across such a range of texts from a single, canonical tradition.