Poetry > 5 GBP to 9 GBP Poetry > by Title (First Letter)

Advantages: -
Disadvantages: -

Where are the fairies? Where can we find them? We've seen the fairy rings, They leave behind them! When they have danced all night, Where do they go? Lark, in the sky above, Sat, do you know? Is it a secret No one is telling? Why, in your garden Surely they're dwelling! No need for journeying, Seeking afar: Where there are flowers, There fairies are. However, if looking around your garden seems like too much trouble, you can find a wonderful selection ...
...seven books in the flower fairy series, but in 1982 the publishers decided to publish an eighth, Flower fairies of the winter, so that there would be one for each season. As well as being available in this compilation edition, they are all still available as separate books. The seven books included in this wonderful and captivating book are: flower fairies of the Spring, Flower fairies of the summer, Flower fairies of the Autumn, Flower fairies of ... Read review

Advantages: Touching without being depressing
Disadvantages: None

Another pocket-sized treasure from the Scottish Poetry Library, 'Lament' accompanies 'Handfast' as a book of Scottish poetry carefully selected by Lizzie MacGregor and with a certain theme, this time 'funerals and consolation'. In common with 'Handfast', 'Lament' has contributions from a range of Scottish poets, from classic to modern. Some are written in English, some in Scots and some in Gaelic, but please don't let this deter you from at least ...
...by complete translations in English, and the Scots have glossaries alongside. As I wrote in my 'Handfast' review, anyone with any familiarity with Scots shouldn't have a problem anyway, but for those that don't this would be a nice introduction, these poems are so expressive. For those that have an interest in Scots, there are several versions of well-known texts re-written here in the language, as Richard Holloway points out in his very useful ... Read review

Advantages: Everything Oscar Wilde has written
Disadvantages: Cheap and tacky book won't last long

...has its flaws. Firstly the book is bulky and probably won't last long if your an avid reader. The print is small and the paper cheap. A true fan of wilde would probably be better off spending money on a decent edition of his works or buying their favourite pieces seperatly. That said the content of this collection is superb. It includes all the well-known pieces adn much that is less well-known but no less readable. Some of the early poetry is not ...
...know little about wilde. The intor is servicable but nothing special and is worth reading as an overview. Wildes works thought are welll worth reading. His plays are funny and perceptive commidies about victorian manners and society. His childrens stories are evocative fairy tales. The classic Dorian Grey is probably one of the best works of fiction produced in this era. To accompany all this there are the poems. The ballad of Reading Gaol stands ... Read review

Advantages: Definitly different
Disadvantages: Just the slightest bit wordy

I picked up a copy of Catullus, quite by accident really. Looked interesting in an educated sort of way. And well it certainly opened my eyes, to *just* what the Roman has been doing. The vast majority of Catullus's work (at least what I've read of it) is marvellously backbiting gossip, reprimanding friends for bad habits, spreading rumours about their sexuality, longing for his lover. Indeed it's like a modern soap opera, except it's poetry, and ...
...light and the tone above all is one of wryness, but also a vitality. You imagine Catullus as being an energetic person, someone with time for men and woman (he didn't discriminate, if it meant he could have the best of both worlds!) I read some in their original Latin, but as a previous reviewer said, that kinda took the fun away- having to translate them literally, meant that much of the beauty was lost on my numbskull ears, so eventually I just ... Read review

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