Poetry > J Poetry > 5 GBP to 9 GBP

Advantages: very good read
Disadvantages: controversion

John Donne is one of the most fantastically interesting metaphysical poets. Just to give you a brief description of what metaphysical poetry is about: metaphysical poets were a group of poets in the 17th century whose name was given to them after they had been writing by Samuel Johnson. It's hard to describe exactly what a metaphysical poem is just because, well there isn't really a strict pattern they follow as most of them were not famous until ...
...Anyway, the key thing that more or less all of the metaphysical poems contain is an extended metaphor or conceit throughout the poem. For example in John Donne's 'The Flea' the conceit is that he imagines himself and his lover throughout the poem making love inside of the flea, their "marriage temple". Sounds strange, i know but it really is fantastically hilarious if you read the rest of his poems and see that he is essentially trying to chat up ... Read review

Advantages: A heartwarming look at old age
Disadvantages: Absolutely none!

Oh, how I love this poem! When I am old I am going to aspire to its' every detail! Jenny Joseph wrote this poem in 1961 and it was voted Britain's favourite poem in 1996. It is written from the point of view of a middle-aged woman who yearns to throw off the cloak of respectability in her old age. For now, she must live the life of expected sobriety but, when she reaches old age she is determined to let respectability fly to the wind! There is ...
...everybody can relate to, some more than others maybe, but the connection will be there all the same. To quote just a couple of lines to give you the feeling of the theme: ....and gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells and run my stick along the public railings.... The good thing about old age is that nobody cares so much about what you look like or what you do. You can get away with most things and all people will do is call you eccentric! ... Read review

Advantages: Highly entertaining, approachable, wittily-illustrated guide
Disadvantages: Purists may cringe occasionally!

William Shakespeare would weep if he could see the manner in which his works are sometimes studied today. He would surely be bemused to see the seriousness with which lines of wit from his comedies have been dissected and analysed to extract their double-or-treble-or-quadruple entendres when it is a well-known fact that humour is lost when jokes have to be explained. I wonder what he would make of some of today’s productions at the Globe Theatre, ...
...a performance by the Reduced Shakespeare Company? Or lament the irreverence shown to some of the more serious themes? There are no right or wrong answers to such hypothetical questions. I would like to think, however, that the bard would give his stamp of approval to “Shakespeare in a Nutshell”, a rhyming guide that has the ability to unite both lovers and loathers of Shakespeare in merriment. James Muirden, already known as the author of “A Rhyming ... Read review

Advantages: Powerful and gripping storyline, Great contributions of all characters
Disadvantages: None that I have found

Written by Arthur Miller in the early 1950s during the time of the McCarthyism when the government blacklisted accused communists. Miller was also summoned in court and he wrote this play as a parable and links the Salem witch-hunt and the McCarthy trials which took place nearly 250 years apart. A very powerful play and an excellent one to study for GCSE English Literature for its revoloutionary work in the theatre and its portrayal of the human ...
...man's struggle to find and do what is right by him. With just 4 Acts and 5 important characters, this truly is a masterpiece. Proctor, a hard-working family man finds in the middle of lying and confessing to witchcraft, both of which go against his newly developed religious beliefs. ... Read review

Advantages: Interesting concept behind the plot
Disadvantages: Slow paced

Author: George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright born in 1856, and who died in 1950. Although he write music as well, he most enjoying writng plays, with the prupose of putting across a social message, and making it more memorable with the use of comedy, whilst doing so. Some of his plays addressed the issue of education, religion and government, however one topic he often considered was the exploitation of the working class. As a socialist, ...
...a British socialist movement, writing brochures and leaflets for them. He even married a fellow member of the Society, called Charlotte Payne-Townshend. He was an eloquent orator, and gave speeches on equal rights in politics for men and women, how to live healthy lifestyles, and condemning the attitudes of the rich towards the poor. This socialist attitude of Bernard Shaw influenced many of his writings, including Pygmalion, which has become a classic. ... Read review