Poetry > M Poetry > by Author Name (First Letter)

Advantages: Chuckles ahoy!
Disadvantages: Very few

...And rightly so. Now We Are Sixty is the response of the author to him hitting the golden years, and at the same time creating a lovely pastiche of A A Milne's poems about Christopher Robin. Unfortunately, the book was dressed as being more for the silver-haired amongst us, when really the themes are applicable to (nearly) all, and the writing style is just so witty and enjoyable, there is no real age-bracket it would appeal to - it is a book for ...
...about Buck House as mentioned, now starts "They're changing sex at Buckingham Palace" and proceeds from there - luckily Christopher Robin doesn't go down with, or on, Alice at all. And in the rest of the poem it becomes clear this is a Club-member type spouting off against all and sundry: New Labour, cricket, the courts, Stephen Fry... "The King's Breakfast" has become "The Queen's Pickle", which is another brilliant re-working, wherein the old ... Read review

Advantages: Classic Literature, Entertaining and Thought Provoking
Disadvantages: Old Language, Lengthy, Very Lengthy

...casting out of Eden, hence Paradise Lost. His version of 1st book of The Bible, Genesis. It is entertaining and thought provoking, bringing a fascinating chain of events into a story accesible by the people of his time. I really enjoyed reading (grafting :P) through it. It was tough but extremely fullfilling, to have found it entertaining to the last and to be able to say i've read one of the all time great pieces of English literature. It is ...
...of it was based around Paradise Lost. If you like fantasy (or perhaps reality?), were prepared to get a grasp on the language and, in all seriousness, were prepared to spend the next few years of your life reading it then read this book. Otherwise stick to modern day novels. Be warned, this is a heavy piece of English, not for the faint hearted. It's deep, long and hard to read. You have to really want to read it. I did and i enjoyed it. Hopefully ... 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: Powerful, gripping
Disadvantages: not 100% historically accurate.

...Monroe) set in 1692 during the witch trials of Salem, Massachusetts. The play begins with Reverend Parris praying for his daughter, Betty, who is lying inert on a bed. The circumstances surrounding how Betty ends up in an unresponsive state becomes a major theme and discussing point of the play. However, Miller has other central themes and key ideas, for example, reputation and how it alters certain character's behaviour. To convey this, Miller uses ...
...be considered by readers of the play as John Proctor and Abigail Williams. John Proctor is married to Eilzabeth/Goody Proctor and yet, while she was ill for a period of time, had an affair with the manipulating temptress that is Abigail Williams. From the play (although it is not actually part of any of the f