A poetry collection is often a compilation of several poems by one poet to be published in a single volume or chapbook. A collection can include any number of poems, ranging from a few (e.g. the four long poems in T. S. Eliot's Four Quartets) to several hundred poems (as is often seen in collections of haiku). Typically the poems included in single volume of poetry, or a cycle of poems, are linked by their style or thematic material. Most poets publish several volumes of poetry through the course of their life while other poets publish one (e.g. Walt Whitman's lifelong expansion of Leaves of Grass).

The notion of a "collection" differs in definition from volumes of a poet's "collected poems", "selected poems" or from a poetry anthology. Typically, a volume entitled "Collected Poems" is a compilation by a poet or an editor of a poet's work that is often both published and previously unpublished, drawn over a set span of years of the poet's work, or the entire poet's life, that represents a more complete or definitive edition of the poet's work. Comparatively, a volume titled "selected poems" often includes a small but not definitive selection of poems by a poet or editor drawn from several of the poet's collections. A poetry anthology differs in concept because it draws together works from multiple poets chosen by the anthology's editor.