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Product Description
Book Description
A comprehensive anthology of best-loved verse for all ages, beautifully illustrated by Isabelle Brent.
Product Description
This highly accessible collection gathers together the best-loved gems of English language verse, from the deeply moving to the hilariously silly. The poems span the entire range of verse from high drama to stuff-and-nonsense and are presented in nine sections: Poems of Childhood and Youth; Poems of Love and Marriage; Poems of Life; Poems of Loss and Comfort; Poems of War and Peace; Poems to Read Aloud; Poems to Read Quietly; Poems of Animals and Nature and Poems of Magic and Mystery. The anthology includes works by William Blake, Dylan Thomas, Seamus Heaney, Robert Burns, T S Eliot, Rudyard Kipling, W B Yeats and many, many more. The poems have all been chosen and arranged by Neil Philip and the volume is illustrated throughout with watercolour borders and decorative motifs by Isabelle Brent, glowing with her trademark gold leaf.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
I have no name. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
I have no name. Read the first page
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Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
this book is exquisite with its whimsical illustrations and the gold leaf edges, and the poems just speak for themselves - so it is a wonderful read as well as simply a joy to behold.
However 2 warnings:
1) - before making this a gift for a child, or thinking it looks like a lovely family read, check whether you are buying an edition with or without Philip Larkin's poem 'This Be The Verse' in it. If you are not familiar with this poem, maybe look it up (ie on the Internet) first and you will probably agree that it's definitely not something you want a child to read... and not just because of the language!
2) - the Amazon listing misleadingly shows this particular poem in the book's Table of Contents, but as mentioned above, it is not there if you are sent a different edition like I was.
Who knows what else is missing, I am too disappointed to care now but I am keeping my sanitised edition anyway, to give as a present - and shall go get the edition I wanted from a book shop instead.
However 2 warnings:
1) - before making this a gift for a child, or thinking it looks like a lovely family read, check whether you are buying an edition with or without Philip Larkin's poem 'This Be The Verse' in it. If you are not familiar with this poem, maybe look it up (ie on the Internet) first and you will probably agree that it's definitely not something you want a child to read... and not just because of the language!
2) - the Amazon listing misleadingly shows this particular poem in the book's Table of Contents, but as mentioned above, it is not there if you are sent a different edition like I was.
Who knows what else is missing, I am too disappointed to care now but I am keeping my sanitised edition anyway, to give as a present - and shall go get the edition I wanted from a book shop instead.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Only at Amazon could you get such a beautiful book so cheaply
all my favourite poems and then some that are new - it has
an honoured place on my bookshelves
all my favourite poems and then some that are new - it has
an honoured place on my bookshelves
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The editor of this book selected what appear to be his favorite poems, some of which are famous but others are certainly not, as the comments on the back cover admit. So the title of this book refers to his own personal tastes rather than any assessment of public popularity, but this is still a fine book.
The book is divided into nine themes, these being (1) childhood and youth, (2) love and marriage, (3) life, (4) loss and comfort, (5) war and peace, (6) poems to read aloud, (7) poems to read quietly, (8) animals and nature, ending with (9) magic and mystery. Given these themes, some poems fit more than one theme and they aren't always classified as you might expect them to be. The index of titles and first lines, mixed together with titles italicized, is useful in locating specific poems. A separate index of poets immediately precedes the titles and first lines index, with all anonymous poems listed together. The book is attractively illustrated, which enhances the book and does not distract from the poetry.
Regarding the selection of poems, there are some such as Daffodils (William Wordsworth) and If (Rudyard Kipling) that no self-respecting poetry book could omit while claiming to be about best loved poems. Beyond that, there is plenty of scope for argument about what has been included or omitted. Robert Burns is represented with one of his famous poems (A red red rose, more usually titled My love is like a red red rose) and one that must be here as an editor's choice (O wert thou in the cold blast) because there are plenty of more famous Burns poems (for example, To a mouse) that weren't included. Still, at least you know that if you already have other poetry compilations, you won't just get all the same poems that you've already got, though you will get some of those. Really, that's why I generally prefer to by individual author anthologies, though I appreciate the appeal of multi-author poetry compilations, just as I appreciate the occasional multi-artist music compilation.
The editor's favorite poets, based on the numbers of poems selected, are Thomas Hardy (ten), William Blake (eight) and William Shakespeare (six), while he has selected five each by Alfred Tennyson, D H Lawrence, A E Housman and Emily Dickinson. The emphasis is clearly on poetry more than a century old. W H Auden and Dylan Thomas are represented by just one poem each while John Betjeman is un-represented. Could this be because the publishers didn't want to pay copyright payments? I don't know, but I know that some record labels specialize in releasing music old enough to avoid copyright payments, so I wouldn't rule out the possibility.
There is much to like about this book, which is no doubt aimed at people who don't read much poetry, but given the selection policy, I suspect that even avid poetry fans might find a few poems here that they don't already know. And even if they don't, they could use this book to introduce others to the world of traditional poetry.
The book is divided into nine themes, these being (1) childhood and youth, (2) love and marriage, (3) life, (4) loss and comfort, (5) war and peace, (6) poems to read aloud, (7) poems to read quietly, (8) animals and nature, ending with (9) magic and mystery. Given these themes, some poems fit more than one theme and they aren't always classified as you might expect them to be. The index of titles and first lines, mixed together with titles italicized, is useful in locating specific poems. A separate index of poets immediately precedes the titles and first lines index, with all anonymous poems listed together. The book is attractively illustrated, which enhances the book and does not distract from the poetry.
Regarding the selection of poems, there are some such as Daffodils (William Wordsworth) and If (Rudyard Kipling) that no self-respecting poetry book could omit while claiming to be about best loved poems. Beyond that, there is plenty of scope for argument about what has been included or omitted. Robert Burns is represented with one of his famous poems (A red red rose, more usually titled My love is like a red red rose) and one that must be here as an editor's choice (O wert thou in the cold blast) because there are plenty of more famous Burns poems (for example, To a mouse) that weren't included. Still, at least you know that if you already have other poetry compilations, you won't just get all the same poems that you've already got, though you will get some of those. Really, that's why I generally prefer to by individual author anthologies, though I appreciate the appeal of multi-author poetry compilations, just as I appreciate the occasional multi-artist music compilation.
The editor's favorite poets, based on the numbers of poems selected, are Thomas Hardy (ten), William Blake (eight) and William Shakespeare (six), while he has selected five each by Alfred Tennyson, D H Lawrence, A E Housman and Emily Dickinson. The emphasis is clearly on poetry more than a century old. W H Auden and Dylan Thomas are represented by just one poem each while John Betjeman is un-represented. Could this be because the publishers didn't want to pay copyright payments? I don't know, but I know that some record labels specialize in releasing music old enough to avoid copyright payments, so I wouldn't rule out the possibility.
There is much to like about this book, which is no doubt aimed at people who don't read much poetry, but given the selection policy, I suspect that even avid poetry fans might find a few poems here that they don't already know. And even if they don't, they could use this book to introduce others to the world of traditional poetry.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
It is perfect...
i lately found a new love of poetry and found this book. Its the best, its got the best poems and really are the best loved.
There is something for everyone and everything. Read more
There is something for everyone and everything. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Holz
Best loved poems
Best-loved poems is a well presented,very good value for your bookshelf. It's the sort of book you will want to return to time and time again as a source of favorite poems for... Read more
Published 5 months ago by menlo
A Delight
I was given this book as a birthday present and it really is a delight. It seems to include all my favourite poems, particularly those remembered from my childhood, and also lots... Read more
Published 5 months ago by V. Ross
Fantastic book
I bought this book alongside the 'Nation's Favourite Poems' (see my other review). This book was slightly more expensive than the other but was well worth the extra outlay. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Laury Laury
Wonderful
I love poetry and have quite a collection of books. I was given this as a Christmas present and I love it. Read more
Published on 11 Jan 2009 by S. D. Williams
Beautiful Book
This is a beautiful book. I bought it for a friend's child and found myself buying one for home too. Highly recommended for a family.
Published on 18 July 2008 by Kenny_Consumer
PERFECT
A truly beautifully illustrated anthology, immensely detailed decoration with lots of lovely gold detailing. Read more
Published on 4 Jan 2007 by Lucy H. Pearce
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