| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £2.25
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in Edward Thomas. Collected Poems. for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £2.25, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
'One of the most distinctive voices of the twentieth century.' P.J. Kavanagh
Product Description
Since the publication of Walter de la Mare's first edition of his poems in 1920, Edward Thomas has gradually come to be recognised as one of the great English poets of the 20th century.
Though sometimes classified with Owen, Rosenberg and Sassoon as a 'war poet', he was rather a poet who died tragically in the war, and whose main subjects were the English countryside and its people, and the solitude of the observing self. The present edition offers the complete poems together with detailed editorial apparatus in what has become acknowledged as the standard edition by R. George Thomas. It also includes Thomas's remarkable prose War Diary of 1917.
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Edward Thomas is regarded as one of the most important British poets of the twentieth century, and this detailed publication by Faber will provide readers with not only his complete poetic output, but also incisive critical and biographical depth.
Thomas represented the best of the Georgian Poets, an early-twentieth century group who wrote primarily about the pastoral landscape. Often criticised for being lightweight and lacking orignality, Thomas' work stood out from his contemporaries for its grave emotion, clarity of description and honesty.
As the world went to war, his concise poems about the British landscape underlined the value of what stood to be lost. Concerned with the countryside, his work can be seen as representing the deepening fracture between past and present, the shriking of rural life and the growth of modern cities. It depicts a particular turning point, socially and economically, in British history, as the economy became concerned with mass production. The tone is melancholy, but there is pride instead of hopelessness.
In terms of the presentation of Thomas' material, Faber deserve plenty of credit. This text will appeal to both casual readers, scholars and students alike. The introduction by Peter Sacks is a highlight: this offers a biographical sketch of the writer and also a refined and critical appreciation for his poetry.
In addition there are notes on each of the poems (that include the author's comments), Thomas' war diary and four appendices. By reading the book, you sense that those involved were genuinely concerned with handling the legacy of a great writer in the right way.
Thomas represented the best of the Georgian Poets, an early-twentieth century group who wrote primarily about the pastoral landscape. Often criticised for being lightweight and lacking orignality, Thomas' work stood out from his contemporaries for its grave emotion, clarity of description and honesty.
As the world went to war, his concise poems about the British landscape underlined the value of what stood to be lost. Concerned with the countryside, his work can be seen as representing the deepening fracture between past and present, the shriking of rural life and the growth of modern cities. It depicts a particular turning point, socially and economically, in British history, as the economy became concerned with mass production. The tone is melancholy, but there is pride instead of hopelessness.
In terms of the presentation of Thomas' material, Faber deserve plenty of credit. This text will appeal to both casual readers, scholars and students alike. The introduction by Peter Sacks is a highlight: this offers a biographical sketch of the writer and also a refined and critical appreciation for his poetry.
In addition there are notes on each of the poems (that include the author's comments), Thomas' war diary and four appendices. By reading the book, you sense that those involved were genuinely concerned with handling the legacy of a great writer in the right way.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
As a songwriter, I often take inspiration from poets, and Edward Thomas has many an astonishing phrase to resonate in the memory long after. you put the book down: eg, 'stars like seeds of light', 'the whisper of the aspens'.
A very satisfying book to handle, it is a scholarly work with footnotes and references
A very satisfying book to handle, it is a scholarly work with footnotes and references
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is an outstanding collection of poems, and Edward Thomas has gradually become my favourite poet - I can't believe I didn't know about him years ago. I always find myself drawn to it on complicated or lazy days and it never fails to clear and reinvigorate my mind. Its principle subject, as others have said, is nature, and in every poem I seem to experience the same solace that he did, which he has found through close mimesis with everyday experiences, such as birds singing, trees swaying in the wind, coming across a stranger during a walk and looking out a train window. There is real weight and a sense of exploration in these poems, and in my favourites his observations of nature and his inner-self combine harmoniously making it difficult to separate the two.
The typeset, to me, is perfect: clear, weighty and the lines and poems are nicely spaced. How the poems are placed in the order they were written allows you to see the progression, and the changes in mood he seems to have experienced. There are notes towards the back too which provide some nice insights, especially when some of Thomas' prose writing has been linked to some of his poems. There are two wonderful and extremely well-written introductory essays at the very back of the book which really add to what makes this special. Also, Thomas' war diary illuminates his final days and the comfort he found in reading Shakespeare. This book to me is also the perfect size, and the most appropriate colour.
The typeset, to me, is perfect: clear, weighty and the lines and poems are nicely spaced. How the poems are placed in the order they were written allows you to see the progression, and the changes in mood he seems to have experienced. There are notes towards the back too which provide some nice insights, especially when some of Thomas' prose writing has been linked to some of his poems. There are two wonderful and extremely well-written introductory essays at the very back of the book which really add to what makes this special. Also, Thomas' war diary illuminates his final days and the comfort he found in reading Shakespeare. This book to me is also the perfect size, and the most appropriate colour.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Was this review helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Adelstrop
Thomas is a much underrated poet, his work far less simple than it at first appears. This collection, well priced and edited, is thoroughly recommended to anyone interested in... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Elizabeth Conyers
Adlestrop - one of the best poems in the english language
Edward Thomas is a badly underated poet, up to a few weeks ago I hadn't heard his name. Although he wrote throughout the first world war, he could no be classed a a war poet as... Read more
Published on 17 May 2006 by Ruth
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
