Poetry > T Poetry > less than 5 GBP

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

Advantages: Poetry of Coleridge, Essay by Hughes
Disadvantages: Only 160 pages

...died in July 1834. A Choice of Coleridge’s Verse edited and Introduced by Ted Hughes was published by Faber and Faber on March 18th 1996 and is available from most good book shops for £7.99. There are two reasons why this book is so special, the poetry of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and the introductory essay written by Ted Hughes. Hughes entitled his essay, 'The Snake in the Oak'. Ted Hughes held a belief in the presence of an inner force behind ...
...suggests that Coleridge was fighting a losing battle between a 'Christian Self' and the 'unleavened Self '. Hughes states that it was whilst Coleridge was in this 'unleavened Self' that his three visionary poems, 'Kubla Khan', 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner', and 'Christabel' were written. Hughes dramatically presents Coleridge's career as a self-torturing flight from the possibility of a psychic wholeness, a state which he could only achieve by ... Read review

Advantages: Accessible and easy to read
Disadvantages: Poetry put some people off!

...have to admit I’m not a great reader of poetry but from time to time I come across something that seems to connect with me. With this in mind I thought I’d do a review of one my favourite poetry collections, ‘A Sense Of Movement’ by British born poet Thom Gunn. Those of you who have read some of my previous opinions will know that I an a fan of the Beat movement, a loose collection of American poets and writers who managed to give an alternative ...
...music. Thom Gunn was not a fully paid up member of this literary movement but in this collection he covers the same ground. Youth angst and culture in general is the principal subject as it was for many writers of the Beat movement like Kerouac, Burroughs and Ginsberg. A BIT OF BACKGROUND Thom Gunn was born in Gravesend in 1929 and was brought up in Hampstead North London. After leaving school, Gunn did two years of National Service and then got ... Read review

Advantages: Intensely profound and thought provoking poetry.
Disadvantages: Dark and gloomy.

...From Crow's Theology: Crow realized God loved him- Otherwise, he would have dropped dead. So that was proved. Crow reclined, marvelling, on his heart-beat. . . . And what loved the shot-pellets That dribbled from those strung-up mummifying crows? What spoke the silence of lead? Crow realized there were two Gods- One of them much bigger than the other Loving his enemies And having all the weapons. Here the central contradiction in the poems ...
...mercy of the world. Crow is unforgiving and selfish, a creature who delights in what he can do, without regard for others: Crow and Mama When Crow cried his mother's ear Scorched to a stump. When he laughed she wept Blood her breasts her palms her brow all wept blood. He tried a step, then a step, and again a step - Every one scarred her face for ever. When he burst out in rage She fell back with an awful gash and a fearful cry. When Crow cried ... Read review

Advantages: Easy to read, great for kids.
Disadvantages: if you dislike cats.

This book of poetry is upon which 'Cats, The musical' is based upon. The rythmical reading of Shimbleshanks: the Railway cat is just beautiful and i would suggest any parents with children interested in cats or pets should but this, it'll keep them entertained night after night and they will probably start joining in with funny lines and the clap of the 'train' rhyme. Even if you haven't seen Cats you'll still enjoy this book. If you and children ... Read review