The New Penguin Book of English Verse - Softcover

Keegan, P J

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140586717 ISBN 13: 9780140586718

Publisher: Penguin, 2001

Synopsis

'Seven hundred years of language, distilled into its sharpest and brightest forms, are here to be discovered...The New Penguin Book of English Verse demonstrates that we have the good fortune to live in the English language, perhaps the richest, most supple, promising, sharp-tongued and rule-breaking playground for poetry.' (Helen Dunmore, Observer) This ambitious and revelatory collection turns the traditional chronology of anthologies on its head, listing poems according to their first individual appearance in the language rather than by poet. Combining scholarship with innovation, Keegan's anthology is a timely and much-needed addition to the bookshelf of anybody interested in the English language poetry of the British Isles.

About this title

Review:

'Keegan makes us picaros of poetry, and this very exciting, bold new book becomes our happy carriage.' -- James Wood, The Guardian

'The reader is very much at the centre of Paul Keegan's enterprise...[His] decision on chronology is justified by the vibrancy of the connection between one poem and the next...Again and again, the reader comes across such thoughtful, thought-provoking juxtaposition of poems... -- Helen Dunmore, Observer

'This big book is welcome: serious, wide-ranging, and sometimes surpassing.' -- Anthony Thwaite, The Sunday Telegraph

Synopsis:

This is an anthology of English verse. Poems are ordered by date of composition rather than in monolithic slabs devoted to individual poets. It also includes a high proportion of anonymous poetry and written on surfaces other than paper. The entire poetic tradition, from epitaphs to ballads, folk poetry to nonsense verse, is revealed in a fresh light.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0140586717
• ISBN 13: 9780140586718
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 1184