The Lives Of The Poets - Softcover

Schmidt, Michael; Shaw, Simon

4.17

156 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0753807459 ISBN 13: 9780753807453

Publisher: Phoenix, 1999

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Michael Schmidt surveys the rise of English poetry and the language itself from the Black Death to the court poetry of Chaucer and Sir Philip Sidney, the triumph of Marlowe and Shakespeare, the wit of Donne and Marvell, the urbane sophistication of Pope and Dr Johnson, the romanticism of Keats and Shelley, the questioning spirit of the Victorians and ending with the twentieth century, from T. S. Eliot and W. B. Yeats to Paul Muldoon and Thom Gunn. Each chapter combines commentary and quotation to acquaint the reader with the main themes of the poet's work, what his influences were, what the key works are, as well as bringing in from the margins some neglected voices. An indispensable book for all those interested in poetry who may not want to read an entire biography of a poet and for anyone studying poetry at school or university.

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Review:

Quintessentially good-humoured, consummately unstuffy, all but dripping with erudition: Michael Schmidt is an English scholar to die for. In this seminal work he undertakes--and succeeds at--an imposing task: leading us through a vast and swirling river otherwise known as the expanded canon of English literature.

Taking the era of the Black Death as a starting point--children dragged by their foster mothers past lime-doused pits of the dead--he immediately captures our justifiably sceptical attention. Travelling from Lichfield and Devon, to Cambridge, Stratford, and York (to name a few), he's soon our trusted tour guide, offering literary criticism, summaries, biographies, forging connections between and among the greats and lesser knowns. We're also treated to an entertaining array of anecdotes, including, for instance, that Shakespeare's contemporaries quaffed the first English beer (hops having arrived in Kent), and that upon its initial publication, Walt Whitman's Song of Myself was banned in Boston. Like all good guides, he knows exactly when to speed up, when to pull to shore to examine more closely the murky depths.

With opinions at times bordering on the acerbic--he spares no kindness for Allen Ginsberg and his brand of substance-abuse induced visions, nor is he about to excuse Wallace Stevens for "signing his soul over to the Hartford" [Insurance Company]--Schmidt navigates through choppy, and at times altogether uncharted waters. Under his avuncular tutelage, we come to understand how this "vulgar English...this poor cousin of Latin and Norman French" rose from the lowly depths of servant's quarters and peasant's fields to the chosen language of Chaucer and Milton, and all who follow in their wake. --Martha Silano

Review:

"Exceedingly pleasurable—an essential book."—"The Boston Book Review"
"The work of a man who has read widely and lovingly—an astonishing effort."—"The New York Times Book Review"
"A seductive masterpiece, to be savored alike for its vigilant profundity and for its sustained freshness." —"Sunday Times" (London)

"Exceedingly pleasurable--an essential book."--"The Boston Book Review"
"The work of a man who has read widely and lovingly--an astonishing effort."--"The New York Times Book Review"
"A seductive masterpiece, to be savored alike for its vigilant profundity and for its sustained freshness." --"Sunday Times" (London)

"Exceedingly pleasurable an essential book." "The Boston Book Review"
"The work of a man who has read widely and lovingly an astonishing effort." "The New York Times Book Review"
"A seductive masterpiece, to be savored alike for its vigilant profundity and for its sustained freshness." "Sunday Times" (London)"

"Exceedingly pleasurable an essential book." The Boston Book Review
"The work of a man who has read widely and lovingly an astonishing effort." The New York Times Book Review
"A seductive masterpiece, to be savored alike for its vigilant profundity and for its sustained freshness." Sunday Times (London)"

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