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Short and Sweet: 101 Very Short Poems (Faber poetry)

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Short and Sweet: 101 Very Short Poems (Faber poetry) (Paperback)

by Simon Armitage (Editor)

4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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Product details

Paperback: 128 pages
Publisher: Faber and Faber; New edition edition (7 Oct 2002)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0571215564
ISBN-13: 978-0571215560
Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 12.6 x 1.2 cm

Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 137,774 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

Some of the finest poems are short. Whether it's Edward Lear's limericks Or the fragments of Sappho, brevity is very often the soul of a poet's wit: what would be obvious and mundane expressed in lengthy prose, or prolix doggerel, becomes amusing or moving when forcibly compressed into five or seven--or three or two--lines of poetry.

No stranger to the pithy himself, poet Simon Armitage has collected 101 of literature's best "very short poems" in this anthology. His criterion of shortness (as he explains in a witty introduction) is that no poem should be more than 13 lines long. This deliberately excludes the 14-line sonnet, but manages to include some famous nearly-sonnets: such as Gerard Manley Hopkins's Pied Beauty("Glory be to God for dappled things"). It's towards the end of the book, where the poems dwindle in size (they are arranged so that the longer precede the shorter), that Armitage's selection comes truly into its own. Some of the poems are so tiny they are quotable in their entirety, Gavin Ewart's "Penal", for instance: "The clanking and wanking of Her Majesty's Prison", or Edwin Morgan's Siesta of a Hungarian Snake,"s sz sz SZ sz SZ sz ZS zs Zs zs zs z." Finally, right at the end, comes a laugh-out-loud piece that manages to remain a poem while consisting of no lines whatsoever. --Sean Thomas --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

The longest poem in this collection is 13 lines and the shortest has no lines at all. Arranged as a kind of countdown, the anthology illustrates how the short poem can tell a story, capture an instance, present a complex argument and be packed with as much passion, wisdom and music as we might desire from a piece of writing.

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Customer Reviews

3 Reviews

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4 star:		(1)
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Average Customer Review

4.7 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic, 21 Feb 2003

By	Hilary Jane - See all my reviews

This one's an essential buy for two reasons. First, you always need a well chosen collection of short poems in your pocket in case the train is late. Second, Simon Armitage's introduction is a gem. Witty and low key as always, he quietly offers us a thought provoking definition and defence of short poems and poems in general, while slily denying any such intention.

Classing a short poem as anything less than a sonnet, Armitage offers us a dazzling variety. From fragments of Sappho through favourites from Hopkins to a couple of ultra short items that stretch anyone's definition of a poem, there is enough here to transform any number of bad train days. There are upsides and downsides to the choices of course. He has provocatively ignored the convention of only including one poem per poet - good news for James Tate fans - but has modestly stuck with another one by not giving us even a measly one of his own poems. And the Robert Frost seems a bit long to me if one of the definitions of a short poem is something you can learn by heart and carry around with you intact, even when you've left the book on the train. But these are quibbles. With the poems arranged as a countdown from thirteen line poems to none, you even get a choice of which end to start, to suit the time available.

Short and Sweet was firmly aimed at the Christmas market, which certainly worked on me - I bought it as a present for myself. Don't let that put you off though, it's a classic.

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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Quality varies, but worthwhile and convenient, 10 Nov 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Short and Sweet: 101 Very Short Poems (Faber Penguin audio) (Audio Cassette)

Each poem in this book is less than 13 lines long, and the smallest has no lines at all but does have a fantastic title. As a compilation, the style and tone of the poems vary considerably but many are witty and pithy. Simon Armitage's introduction is worth the price of admission alone.

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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing, 6 Feb 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Short and Sweet: 101 Very Short Poems (Faber poetry) (Paperback)

A collection of short poems. some are very short - 2 lines - others are longer - a whole verse. all are short and sweet. An excellent book for dipping into and worth owning!

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