( 6 reviews )
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Posted: Nov 24 2007
Although I've never edited an anthology of poetry, I think they should serve two purposes: to include everything that the reader expects, and to encourage the reader to read more deeply. To a large extent, this anthology does just that. All the essential romantic poems are here and many lesser known poets are given a lot of space. The anthology is divided into sections, some of which are grouped by theme (love narratives, politics) and others by genre (sonnet, ode, etc.) and each section is given an introduction. The numbering of the poems starts over with each section, making it a little clumsy and better suited for personal, not classroom, use. Nevertheless, the section themes are well chosen, some being expected ("Man and Nature") and some a little novel ("Comedy and Satire.") The most impressive thing about this anthology is its women poets. Women are very well represented (though still not as well as the Big Six) and their poems in this anthology make me want to go out and read more of their works, especially those of Charlotte Smith and Felicia Hemans. I do feel that a little more room could have been taken away from the members of the Big Six (Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley, Keats) to make way for the poets whose reputations are beginning to rise at this time. Wordsworth, in particular, is a little over-represented with over seventy selections. Every one of his selections is good, but not all are essential. My only real gripe with this anthology (in all honesty, I'd give it four-and-a-half stars instead of four) is its representation of John Clare, who has about a dozen selections. Although I'd like to see more selections, my real problem is with which poems were chosen to represent him. Clare is now considered by many poets and scholars to be England's greatest nature poet, which is why I was surprised to see only one Clare poem in the "Man and Nature" section of this anthology. Clare took issue with the way his fellow poets represented nature, especially in poems like Keats' "Ode to a Nightingale," in which real natural scenery is nearly abstracted out of existence. He insisted on accurate descriptions of nature and by the time he hit his stride in the 1830s, even his "plain" descriptive poetry is incredibly powerful and able to evoke emotion in the reader just like any Wordsworth or Keats poem. The one Clare nature poem here is, in fact, that most Wordsworthian Clare poem I've ever read, showing that the editors are still judging Clare by the High Romanticism which he consciously differed from. All in all, this is a solid anthology. Definitely a companion for the poetry lover to lug around on trips or walks. I'm excited about its representation of women poets, but don't judge Clare based on the selections in this anthology. He is much better, and much more original, than he appears here.
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Posted: Jul 10 2007
This anthology of Romantic poetry is certainly very well presented and well done. Jonathan Wordsworth, one of the editors is also a descendent of William Wordsworth, a feaured poet in the anthology. Of course, the "Big Six" of Romanticism are represented in the book as well as many others less prominent. Each poet also has a small biographical section that has been included as well. For the most part, the shorter works are presented in the whole, but some are not. For instance, Byron's Don Juan is presented in four different areas of the book, and still some parts within each canto are omitted. While the parts included are relevant to the theme of the section, it is difficult with this work to get a "feel" for the whole poem. As well, the notes are in the back of the book and are not footed on the page they correspond to. This is my only true gripe with the book. This set-up is fine for shorter works, but irritating for longer ones since I seemed to be looking ahead through the notes to see when a footnote would fall. That is why the four star rating is given. In all, the book is printed on paperback-style paper which makes the book easy to read and light to carry. The book is relatively inexpensive. I used this book for a college course on Romantic poetry. An alternate to this book is Volume D - The Romantic Period of the six volume set of the Norton Anthology of English Literature.
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( 0 of 14 found this review helpful ) Posted: Aug 21 2006
We never got the book had to buy it at school.
