Poetry Books

Book SynopsisJames Fenton, a Whitbread-winning poet praised for his own love poetry, gathers together the best lyric poems originating in the English language. Ranging from the sixteenth century to the present day, The New Faber Book of Love Poems contains a fantastic mix of classics and popular favourites, as well as blues lyrics, American folk poetry, Elizabethan lyrics and Broadway songs. There are poems by men about women, women about men, men about men and women about women - in short, something for everyone, and a must-have for everyone''s bookshelf.

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Book SynopsisIn this series, a contemporary poet selects and introduces a poet of the past

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Book SynopsisIn Praise of Annada, Bharatchandra Ray’s long narrative poem dedicated to the glory of Annada, translated here into English for the first time, is a major achievement and a treasure of Bengali literature. This volume describes the origins of the goddess, the building of her city and temple, and the spread of her worship.

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Book SynopsisEmily Dickinson lived as a recluse in Amherst, Massachusetts, dedicating herself to writing a 'letter to the world'--the 1,775 poems left unpublished at her death in 1886. Today, Dickinson stands in the front rank of American poets. This enthralling collection includes more than four hundred poems that were published between Dickinson's death and 1900. They express her concepts of life and death, of love and nature, and of what Henry James called 'the landscape of the soul.' And as Billy Collins suggests in his Introduction, 'In the age of the workshop, the reading, the poetry conference and festival, Dickinson reminds us of the deeply private nature of literary art.'

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Book SynopsisFeatures translations of poems of Giacomo Leopardi (1798 - 1837) that render into modern English verse - the work of a writer who is regarded as one of the greatest lyric poet in the Italian literary tradition.Trade ReviewWinner of the 1998 Poetry in Translation Award, PEN American Center "[Leopardi's] contribution to 19th-century European poetry second only to Baudelaire's ... there's plenty to be grateful for in this lucidly translated selection... "--Boston ReviewTable of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction to Giacomo LeopardiTranslator's Introduction: "Attempts and Preludes"Infinitive3Sunday Evening5To the Moon9Dream11The Life of Solitude17Sappho's Last Song23Chorus of the Dead27To Silvia31The Solitary Thrush35Memories39The Clam after the Storm49Saturday in the Village53Night Song of a Nomadic Shepherd in Asia57To Himself67The Setting Moon69Broom or The Flower of the Desert73

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Book Synopsis''THE BEST AMERICAN POET OF HIS GENERATION.'' TIMEGathered on the occasion of Robert Lowell's one hundredth birthday, New Selected Poems offers a fresh and illuminating representation of one of the great careers in twentieth-century poetry. The renowned and controversial author of many books of poems, plays, and translations, Lowell was one of the United States' most honoured poets, winning the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry in 1947 and 1974, the National Book Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award. His ongoing interrogation of his family legacy, his personal struggle with manic depression, and his mastery of the tradition of poetry in English formed the groundbreaking autobiographical foundation of Life Studies (1959) and the books that followed it, including For the Union Dead (1964), Near the Ocean (1967), History (1973), and Day by Day (1977).Katie Peterson's incisive selection of Lowell's poems draws attenti

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Book SynopsisPetrarch was the leading spirit in the Renaissance movement to revive literary Latin, the language of the Roman Empire, and Greco-Roman culture in general. My Secret Book reveals a remarkable self-awareness as he probes and evaluates the springs of his own morally dubious addictions to fame and love.Trade ReviewAs a work of autobiography—or, rather, of literary self-fashioning—Petrarch’s Secretum evokes many comparisons but admits few equals…Nicholas Mann is to be applauded for having produced a volume that at last does full justice both to the elegance of Petrarch’s prose and to the sophistication of his thought…There can be no doubt that Mann’s volume is a jewel in the crown of Petrarchan scholarship. It deserves to be cherished by readers for generations to come. -- Alexander Lee * Renaissance Quarterly *It’s the careful, hard-working crew at Harvard University’s I Tatti Renaissance Library who produced the best translation of 2016 with this meticulously-rendered and marvelously sensitive scholarly edition of Petrarch’s most quietly astonishing work, a work of plaintive and rigorous self-examination cast in the form of a dialogue with St. Augustine. The I Tatti Library has been uniformly excellent, but even so, this volume stands out. -- Steve Donoghue * Open Letters Monthly *

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Book SynopsisSuitable for students, scholars, and poets on various aspects of its subject: history, movements, genres, prosody, rhetorical devices, critical terms, and more, this book reflects changes in literary and cultural studies, providing coverage and giving greater attention to the international aspects of poetry.Trade ReviewOne of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2013 "[T]he Princeton Encyclopedia has earned its reputation as the standard reference work for the array of topics comprehended by the study of poetry... [I]ts coverage of an impressive range of poetic traditions hitherto relatively unheralded in mainstream Western criticism is one of its most prominent achievements... [T]his edition of the Encyclopedia has turned concertedly to expert specialists in non-Western poetries like never quite before, which allows for subtle, well-informed and finely grained entries across (almost) the full range of world poetries... [T]his fourth edition of The Princeton Encyclopedia superlatively fulfils its nearly fifty-year-old commitment to, as the preface to the first edition had it, 'accuracy, utility, interest, and ... thoroughness.'"--Ross Wilson, Times Literary Supplement "Ever since the first edition of this work, in 1965, The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics has been a comprehensive and authoritative reference work valued by students, teachers, and poets... This edition will be welcomed by all readers of poetry. It provides so many new essays and updates, and, finally, has an index, which is useful as the Encyclopedia does not include entries on individual poets, but rather discusses them in the context of the larger topics to which they are related. Also beneficial is the new page layout that is easier to read and more conducive to browsing. Highly recommended."--Library Journal (Starred Review) "This is a huge reference work, and the publicity people at Princeton are justifiably proud of it. Even though this book is about poetry, it is surprisingly complete. For example; I love how the book discusses the poetry of a people and ties it to their history--I mean, I could read this book for the historical context of a particular body of ethnic or linguistic poetry alone, but of course, there is plenty of poetry in here, too. If you are a poet, a student of poetry or if you (like me) love reading poetry, then this is, without any doubt, the book for you! It certainly would make an excellent gift for the poet, scholar or poetry lover in your life."--Devorah Bennu, GrrlScientist "[W]orthy... [M]onumental."--Stuart Mitchner, Town Topics "[I]f you're a student of poetry, you'll want to own a copy... The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics goes far beyond a beginner's guide to poetry, and the new Fourth Edition is a worthy update to an already excellent encyclopedia series."--Poetry International "The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics is a stupendous work... What makes it unique and extremely valuable is the exhaustive entries... Running into 1639 pages, in single volume, this is a huge contribution to the study of poetry and poetics. Any student of literature and linguistics should have a copy as it introduces the reader to every nuance of poetry, in its finest. A marvelous work indeed."--Vaidehi Nathan, Organiser "[O]ne of the greatest literary reference works in all of poetry... The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics is an excellent, worthy addition to anyone's collection."--John Cowans, BookPleasures "This belongs on the desk of anyone teaching creative writing or literature, and anyone over the age of twelve who is serious about poetry."--Barbara Berman, Rumpus "You can't say enough about The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics, because it has already said just about everything. It is an encyclopedia, after all, but more than that, it is a thoroughly illuminating text that contains everything a poet or critic might need to know, from Accentual-Syllabic Verse to Zulu poetry. To put it simply, it is the most fascinating book on poetics published this year."--Stephan Delbos, Body "[T]his encyclopedia is a bargain for anyone seriously interested in poetry... This Princeton Encyclopedia, for all its contemporaneity, has the bonus of several hundred years' scholarship behind it... The entries ... are scholarly and extremely wide-ranging. All kinds of poetry are ... taken seriously and the traditions of all major languages--and many minor ones--are treated in considerable detail."--Geoff Page, Age "Roland Greene and associates have done a tremendous job in revising Terry Brogan's and Alex Preminger's magisterial 3d edition of this classic work. It's a vast compendium of poetic lore, terminology, technique, and history with an astutely chosen set of contributors. At 1664 pages, I am still cruising the book and wishing I had the digital edition as well. This is a work to dip into at any page for a wealth of detailed and often absorbingly arcane information. PEPP is up to date, with entries for new poetic developments right up to the present (yes, Lavinia, Conceptual poetry, Kootenay school, and Flarf have entries, along with my own precis on 'absorption,' and new entries on antropofagia, codework, cognitive poetics, Xul, Sanskrit poetry, and many more). The index alone is worth the price of admission... As a kid (and as the kid I still am) I read through dictionaries and encyclopedias, a to z; this book holds that same kind of transfixing fascination. It also shows how new encyclopaedias (I prefer that spelling) can remain relevant in the wake of Wiki. Each of the entries is signed and bears the stamp of its author. While scholarly and descriptive in tone, the book has a thousand different points of view of what poetry is and how it works, hundreds of contradictory, or at least competing, programs. As with the best compendia of odd facts and magical formulae, the wild swerve from one entry to the next offers delight upon delight."--Charles Bernstein, Lemon Hound "With 1,000-plus entries (some 250 of which are new), this edition expands and updates the New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics, with a more detailed focus on international traditions not often included in English-language reference tools... This volume will be a valuable addition for universities, and for colleges with MFA programs in creative writing."--Choice "[I]t is a browser's gem. This fully indexed Encyclopedia is user friendly and of immense interests to poets, editors, scholars and everyone interested in poetry. With the wealth of information it contains it is great value for money and in my opinion is far more reliable than researching on line."--Les Merton, Poetry Cornwall "There is a wealth of interest and debate in this impressive book. It is pretty hefty and not for reading on a train but can be dipped into or the specific topics studied in individual detail."--Stella Stocker, Weyfarers "Ever since its first publication in 1965, The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry & Poetics has oft been referred to as the ultimate, authoritative reference with regards the study of poetry. With its menagerie of terms, concepts, schools, movements and international tradition(s), contained herein is an almost one-of-kind reference book. It's so good--it makes for interesting and stimulating reading in its own right; and there really aren't many reference books one can say that about!"--David Marx, David Marx Book Reviews "The Princeton Encyclopedia is a superb achievement, an essential item for university libraries supporting literature courses and I would strongly urge public libraries to also purchase a copy."--Linda Kemp, Reference ReviewsTable of ContentsPreface vii Acknowledgments xi Topical List of Entries xv Bibliographical Abbreviations xxiii General Abbreviations xxvii Contributors xxviii Entries A to Z 1 Index 1555

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Book SynopsisThis collection of beautiful Persian love poetry is richly illustrated with images from the British Museumâ s world-famous collection.

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Book SynopsisMartin Wiggins is a Fellow of the Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham.

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Book SynopsisBased on the reprinted Revels Plays Edition of 1964, the notes to this play have been augmented to cast futher light on Webster's dialogue. A new introduction sets the tragedy in the context of pre-Civil War England and discusses the play's themes, action and visual imagery.

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Book SynopsisThe universe has never been depicted so intimately, nor the mundane so infused with stellar significance as it is in the poetry of Vicki Husband. This debut collection is as inspired by quantum physics as it is by domestic drama: the shape of the universe is mimed during a game of charades; a woman's domestic arrangements take on a cosmic dimension; a man stands on the corner selling black holes and property on the moon. Her nature poetry stands at an odd angle to her subjects, not merely content to observe or eulogise landscape or animals: she wants to know what police horses patrolling Glasgow's Sauchiehall Street on Saturday night make of the drunken revellers or why jellyfish are flashmobbing a nuclear power station. Her imagination is rooted in compassion, particularly for the elderly and, in one especially moving piece, a man slowly dying from asbestosis. With sympathy, humour and an idiosyncratic eye, Husband reveals herself to be a unique and cherishable talent.Trade Review"This impressive first collection is imbued with a thirst for knowledge and a need to explore, and make sense of, the world around us and our place within it. To do this it offers time and again memorable vignettes as evidence: the tentative first steps in a relationship; the small every day declines of an ageing parent; footprints of our first ancestors; buying black holes; and the beginning of universe itself. Ultimately this poetic journey full of surprising twists and turns leaves you more alive to the possibilities and connections that surround us each day." - Jim Carruth, Glasgow Poet Laureate

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Book SynopsisCohen's beautiful poem connecting God and magic.

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Book SynopsisJalaluddin Rumi's timeless poems blend beauty and insight, resonating with modern audiences. Farrukh Dhondy's translations capture the essence and religious context of Rumi's work while adding a contemporary touch.

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Book SynopsisTwo classic plays in a single volume: One of the most-performed theater pieces in America about the brutal murder of Matthew Shepard and the town in which it happened, joined by an essential and moving sequel to the original play.A terrific piece of theater, history, and life.... Nothing short of stunning.... A theatrical and human event.” —New York magazineOn October 7, 1998, a young gay man was discovered bound to a fence outside Laramie, Wyoming, savagely beaten and left to die in an act of brutality and hate that shocked the nation. Matthew Shepard’s death became a national symbol of intolerance, but for the people of the town, the event was deeply personal. In the aftermath, Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project went to Laramie and conducted more than 200 interviews with its citizens. From the transcripts, the playwrights constructed an extraordinary chronicle of life in the town after the murder. In The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later, the troupe revisits the town a decade after the tragedy, finding a community grappling with its legacy and its place in history. The two plays together comprise an epic and deeply moving theatrical cycle that explores the life of an American town over the course a decade.

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Book SynopsisA collection of poems by the renowned Beat poet, Gregory Corso.Trade Review"In terms of language Corso always seems to me the most interesting of the Beats . . . extracting all the power from standard syntax and rhetoric, maintaining the Beat anti-academicism .. . . Put this together with the experimentalism and relevance of the Beat outlook, and you have poetry that not only shares our experience but creates it. " -- Hayden Carruth

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Book SynopsisPublished in 1965, Solitudes Crowded with Loneliness assembles ten years' work of Bob Kaufman, celebrated in San Francisco as the original Beat and in France as the American Rimbaud.Trade Review"Perhaps the best of the beat poets of the 1950s." -- The National Observer"Mr. Kaufman has a genuine lyric talent and his poetry, at its best is sensuous, exciting, and charged with vitality." -- Publishers Weekly

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Book SynopsisA Far Rockaway of the Heart is Ferlinghetti's sequel to A Coney Island of the Mind, written forty years later, in what the author has called "a poetry seizure" that lasted more than a year.

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Book SynopsisThe 12th-century Zen Master Hogngzhi articulated the meditation method known as "Shikantaza" ("just sitting"). This translation of his poetry includes an introduction, lineage charts, and information on the Chinese influence of Japanese Soto Zen.Trade Review"This is a work of outstanding inspiration. I never get tired of reading it." ---Sojun Mel Weitsman, founder and abbot of Berkley Zen Center

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Book SynopsisOriginally published in 1976, with more than 75,000 copies in print, this collection of poems by fifteenth-century ecstatic poet Kabir is full of fun and full of thought. Columbia University professor of religion John Stratton Hawley has contributed an introduction that makes clear Kabir's immense importance to the contemporary reader and praises Bly's intuitive translations.By making every reader consider anew their religious thinking, the poems of Kabir seem as relevant today as when they were first written.

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Book SynopsisRobinson Jeffers (1887-1962) is not only the greatest poet that California (and indeed the American West) has produced, but a major poet of the 20th century who occupies a prominent place in the tradition of American prophetic poetry. This is a selection of his work.Trade Review"Ultimately Jeffers poems are regenerative, inspired, dynamic, and transcendent, creating an evocative and richly rewarding, even visionary, immersion in the natural world that for all its verbosity makes the world tangible and restorative. As editor Tim Hunt observes, Jeffers's work demands more than just simple contemplation of nature, but rather 'identifying with it and recognizing one's final and inevitable participation in it.'"—Jeffery Beam, Oyster Boy Review"[I]t is hard to see how anyone can read Jeffers's best poetry and not perceive greatness. His narrative verse rivals Wordsworth's or Byron's. It is electrifying; the skin prickles. . . . We will lose something of value if we let Jeffers slip away. He expresses California's peculiar ambience with unsurpassed vividness."—Los Angeles Times Book Review"Tim Hunt, one of the nation's leading Jeffers scholars, has done a masterful job of sorting and choosing from a huge amount of material."—San Francisco Chronicle"Most welcome . . . a volume for the core of American literature collections."—Booklist"The little prose Jeffers wrote is of the highest quality and the best of it is fortunately included in the back of The Selected Poetry."—New York Review"This is the second such collection. The first, from Random House in 1938, remained in print for more than 50 years. Hunt, editor of the five volumes of The Collected Poetry of Robinson Jeffers, now provides an excellent replacement."—Virginia Quarterly Review"One of the major virtues of this selection is its appeal to ecologically-oriented readers. . . . From any critical angle or interest, this Selected Poetry is the best entry into Jeffers's major work."—ISLE"No other American poet has so emphatically preached the saving graces of nature, from galaxies to granite. Jeffers is more than the consummate poet of California and the Pacific Ocean, as many East Coast literati have called him with condescension. He is a poet of transhuman beauty, of disturbing prophecy. Freed from the shackle of his narrative poems, he stands as the preeminent American poet of nature, ecology, and science . . . he is one of our most important writers."—Science MagazineTable of ContentsIntroduction 1. Tamar 1917-1923 2. Roan Stallion 1924-1925 3. The women at Point Sur 1925-1926 4. Cawdor 1926-1928 5. Dear Judas 1928-1929 6. Thurso's landing 1930-1931 7. Give your heart to the hawks 1931-33 8. Solstice 1933-1935 9. Such counsels you gave to me 1935-1938 10. Be angry at the sun 1938-1941 11. The double axe 1942-1947 12. Hungerfield 1948-1953 12. Last poems 1953-1962 13. Prose 14. Unpublished poems Indices.

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Book SynopsisThis volume contains Jay Wright's previously published collections of poetry, including The Homecoming Singer and Transformations. It reveals the consistency of his theme - the spiritual or intellectual quest for personal development in the African American past and present.

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Book SynopsisThis new reprint of the existing Everyman CANTERBURY TALES retains the essential ingredients of A C Cawley's highly respected edition, but adds a new prefactory introduction by Professor Malcolm Andrews of The Queen's University Belfast; a new suggested reading list; and a new chronology of Chaucer's life and times. Whether read for study or purely pleasure, the CANTERBURY TALES remains as fresh and enjoyable today as when it was written.

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Book SynopsisFirst published in 1974, Mourir á Scoudouc emerged out of a period of cultural awakening. Chiasson's poems denounced the narrow limitations of the past and traced the lines of a fresh collective vision. The poems were lyrical, referentially modern, and steeped in the rhythms and forms that had emerged from the Americas, Europe, and India. Now, more than 40 years later, Herménégilde Chiasson is considered to be the father of Acadian modernism, and Mourir á Scoudouc is widely regarded as one of the foundational works of modern Acadian literature. Several of the poems, including the oft-anthologized long poem, "Eugénie Melanson," have now achieved iconic status, appearing frequently in books, magazines, and films in French and in English. To Live and Die in Scoudouc is the first English edition of this seminal collection. It replicates Chiasson's design of the 2017 edition and features his own photographs as well as his new introductory essay. Although several of the poems have been previously translated, To Live and Die in Scoudouc features fresh renditions by Jo-Anne Elder, who worked closely with Chiasson on the translations.

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Book SynopsisIn 2013, Leanne O'Sullivan's husband Andrew suffered a severe infection in his brain. He spent just over three weeks in a coma, during which time his temperature soared to 42 degrees. When he finally woke it immediately became clear that his memory had been almost completely destroyed; he didn't even know his wife. More present and visual to him were the birds and wild animals that he believed he could see during his recovery: foxes, wildcats and herons - animals that seemed to be guiding him back. This became the starting point for poems that deal not simply with personal memory and recovery, but also the ways in which, collectively, even globally, we are trying (or not) to save entire species of plants and animals that we are now actually losing because of human activity. Nature has a voice that can speak back. This is a collection that celebrates the earth's intoxicating wildness as well as the richness and preciousness of human experience. Overall, we can rejoice in the fact that we're here, whatever the challenges. Winner of the inaugural Farmgate Café National Poetry Award 2019. Shortlisted for the Irish Times Poetry Now Award 2019 and for the Pigott Poetry Prize 2019 in association with Listowel Writers' Week.Trade ReviewLeanne O’Sullivan is possessed of a haunting lyric voice which, in A Quarter of an Hour, draws us into an area of surface tension where personal crisis – a husband stricken and then recovering from a deadly illness – interacts with our experience of the non-human. Dawn, the poem that gives the book its particular title and focus, captures in its evocation of the dawning world the ‘here to not here’ of becoming; and as readers we are given access throughout to that dimension between the mundane and the mythic that normally eludes articulation, but here finds expression in limpid, precise poems. At once tender, exploratory and grace-filled, this finely orchestrated collection attests to the wholeness of natural life and, resonant with folkloric wisdom, it re-awakens the spirit to a fresh sense of the mystery and precariousness of our world. It is an astonishing achievement. -- Maurice Riordan * Judge of the Farmgate Café National Poetry Award *

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Book SynopsisThe Shakespeare Made Easy series aims to take the fear out of Shakespeare. By having Shakespearean and Modern English facing each other, pupils will find it easier to comprehend the text. Through discussion of the life, work and theatre of Shakespeare pupils can gain a more rounded understanding of these classic works.

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Book SynopsisAn essential selection from the range and bulk of Robert Graves''s poetry, edited by Ulster poet Michael Longley. This edition restores Graves to view as a major twentieth century poet, and demonstrates his manifold achievement as war poet, as love poet, and as - in the round - a secular visionary whose poems are ''inimitable, eccentric marvels - some of which are extraordinary, many are masterly, all are like nothing else ever written'' (Randall Jarrell).This edition of Robert Graves''s poems is scrupulously selected from across the full range of his lifetime''s verse. It opens with an illuminating introduction in which Longley makes a persuasive case for the importance of this remarkable poet.

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