Poetry > less than 5 GBP Poetry

Advantages: Profound but down to Earth - a poetic genius...
Disadvantages: You'll either love him or hate him!

Philip Larkin, an insight into the genius, the poet, the man… I have to admit that when I first started to study Larkin for my A – levels, it was difficult not to curse him, let alone like him! On the surface, Larkin appears to be a misogynistic and sexist man with a supercilious eye for anything lower class. This, unfortunately has become the most popular attitude towards Larkin, however, I feel that this is not the case. After having studied only ...
...you must go deeper than the words on the page in order to understand this mysterious but incredible writer, and that is what I intend to help people to do… General Background: Philip Larkin was born in 1922 in Coventry. He grew up there and went to read English at Oxford University. For the remaining thirty years of his life, Larkin lived in Hull where he became the librarian at the city’s university, until his death in 1985. Personal Background: ... Read review

Advantages: A true classic of the English language
Disadvantages: In Middle English without translation, it can be difficult to read

In Chaucer's work, 'The Canterbury Tales', perhaps the greatest of English literary works from the period of the language known as Middle English, there is one particular piece that have always stood out for me. 'A Clerk ther was of Oxenford also,' This is perhaps my favourite character, as when I first read it, it seemed to epitomise what I hoped for in my own life. 'That unto logik hadde longe y-go. .... For him was lever have at his beddes ...
...to his magnus opus, 'The Canterbury Tales', a collection of stories with prologue told by pilgrims on their journey to Canterbury (car radios and in-flight movies were rare in those days), Chaucer wrote minor poems to suit various occasions (his first record as poet comes from having written a poem as elegy on the death of John of Gaunt's first wife, Blanche, in 1369), and the major work for which he was noted for 'Troilus and Criseyde', which showed ... Read review

Advantages: Easy to read, Funny in places, original (as far as i know!)
Disadvantages: Very anti-men and does not include notes about who these women actually are

...overly enthusiastic; having suffered through the terribly depressing poems of hers that we studied at GCSE. However, I was pleasently surprised as many of them are funny and seem a lot easier to 'analyse'. Ok now here's the review of the book itself: The World's Wife is a clever take on popular characters from mythology, fairytales and real people (all male, of course!) Duffy takes the tales and subverts them so we see these famous stories from ...
...have not had the chance to tell their stories before, including Mrs Midas, Queen Herod and Delilah to name but a few. The poems themselves range from downright funny ('Mrs Faust' and 'Elvis's Twin Sister' to shocking (such as 'The Devil's Wife', which gives a sympathetic view of Myra Hindley) to poignantly sad (See 'Mrs Quasimodo'). In short it covers a wide range of emotions to suit whatever mood one is in. My favourite poems were 'Mrs Aesop' ... Read review

Advantages: Something for every poetical taste
Disadvantages: You wont like every poem.

...two types of books. There's the kind you make time for - a pot of strong hot tea, a blanket, and a prime spot on the sofa with your feet curled under you. And then there's the other kind - books that are so meaningful that you can't just read through them, but rather have to read a little at a time, and then sit back and digest the words, sounding them out in your head and putting your own meaning to them. Poetry books fall into the second category, ...
...are the books that cover my bathroom windowsill, the books I grab for when I'm sitting in the bath and don't have much time to read, or (rather disgustingly, I know) read when I'm sitting on the toilet! I think probably most people have a favourite poem of some kind, be it something inspirational, such as Rudyard Kipling's 'If', something that helps you through hard times, or even just a silly limerick that makes you giggle. So, as both a writer ... Read review

Advantages: Ground-breaking, complex, brilliant
Disadvantages: Over complex, unnecessary showing off with literary allusions.

The Waste Land is not an accessible poem. Crammed full of allusions to literary works you may not be familiar with, Eliot predicts this sufficently to off er you notes at the back. But he notes are often as obscure as the orginal refernces, if not more so. One, for example, Eloit quotes in the orginal GReek. Well that helps a lot.Thanks. Complex, brilliant, irritating and inspiring by turn; there is no doubt this poem makes a major contribution ...
..."il milior fablio" - the better craftsman - because apoparently Pound cut and shaped the work to make the poem we have today. It explores language and themes in a way that broke ground. You have to read it out loud to your self (at least in your head) to getthe best out of it, as the cadences, rhythma and structure sing meaning as much as the words. As Miss Piggy would say: "Pretentious? Moi?" Yes, Eliot. But it is still brilliant. Irritatingly. ... Read review