The River's Voice: An Anthology of Poetry - Softcover

Common Ground (Organization)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1890132691 ISBN 13: 9781890132699

Publisher: Chelsea Green Pub Co, 2000

Synopsis

This volume comprises 190 poems by 133 poets: old favourites such as Tennyson s  The Song of the Brook and Wordworth s  Upon Westminster Bridge are joined by 20th century poetry from both sides of the Atlantic, with writers including A.R. Ammon, Wendell Berry, Carol Ann Duffy, U.A. Fanthorpe, Seamus Heaney, Ted Hughes, Andrew Motion, Sylvia Plath and William Carlos Williams. Poets muse on the particularity of rivers, use the river as a metaphor for life s journey, from spring to the sea of unknowing, and explore the magical qualities of water, its transformations and patterns. Yet in Britain our rivers are still retreating from a post-war onslaught: the lowering of water tables, draining of water meadows, chopping down of trees and destroying wildlife habitats. This book reasserts the timeless importance of rivers to our environment, to the poetic imagination, and indeed to life itself.

About this title

Review

"Go just three days without water, and your body is in trouble. We need trhe stuff, and not just for physical sustenance. Fresh water provides us with 'metaphor, power and enchantment', as 'The River's Voice', a collection of more than 180 poems from both sides of the Atlantic, so beautifully reminds us.

Chosen by Angela King and Susan Clifford, founder directors of arts/environment charity Common Ground, this book makes you wonder anew why we rteat our rivers and streams so abominably. It reminds us that rivers matter, not least because 'their fate is intricately intertwined with ours - naturally and culturally.' . . .Dive into this stunning anthology, and water will never again be just something out of a tap." -- - New Scientist

About the Author

Angela King started work as a fashion designer and buyer in New York before becoming the Friends of the Earth first Wildlife Campaigner for England. She was then actively campaigning with Friends of the Earth and jointly initiated and ran the Friends of the Earth Otter Project and then went on to be consultant to Earth Resources Research and Nature Conservancy Council until Common Ground was founded in 1982/3. Sue Clifford and Angela King have been at the forefront of cultural campaigning in the environmental movement and environmental awareness raising in the arts since they founded Common Ground in 1982/3 with Roger Deakin. In 1990 Common Ground Angela King invented Apple Day and in 1992 the idea of Community Orchards was initiated, there are now hundred of events across the country on October 21st and many orchards are being developed for community use. Common Ground is a charity offering imaginative ideas for people to progress for themselves in their own places, learning by doing. It has been supported by many funding bodies from DEFRA, the Countryside Agency, Environment Agency and English Nature to the Arts Lottery and Arts Council as well as many foundations and trusts. Common Ground have won numerous awards and in 2010 were awarded The Independent Newspaper Green Charity of the Year. For more information on Common Ground visit www.commonground.org.uk Sue Clifford and Angela King have written numerous books together and have edited three anthologies of Poetry for Green Books: Trees be Company, Field Days and The River's Voice plus Community Orchards Handbook.

Edition details

• Publisher: Chelsea Green Pub Co
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 1890132691
• ISBN 13: 9781890132699
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 221
• Editor: King Angela, Clifford Susan