Product Description

This ambitious and revelatory collection turns the traditional chronology of anthologies on its head, listing poems according to their first individual appearance in the language rather than by poet.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #106517 in Books
• Published on: 2004-09-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 1184 pages

Review
'an exceptionally rich collection. Even the best-read will find poets in it who are new to them...' - John Carey, Sunday Times '... assiduously researched, deftly managed and exhilaratingly ramified, [this] is a landmark anthology, perhaps the last great one-volume work of its kind' – TLS 'Keegan arranges the poems, rather than the authors, in chronological order; a radical manoeuvre with a startlingly vivifying effect' - John Lanchester, Daily Telegraph 'this big book is welcome: serious, wide-ranging and sometimes surprising... a book you should buy, and read, and argue with' - Anthony Thwaite, Sunday Telegraph 'Keegan's book is rich with discoveries and reclaimings... [a] very exciting, bold new book.' - James Wood, Guardian 'This anthology is a huge joy. [Keegan] shows the scholarship his system requires, and great taste besides.' – Tom Payne, Daily Telegraph

About the Author
Paul Keegan is Poetry Editor at Faber and Faber.

Customer Reviews

Penguin Book of English Verse
Many people probably buy just one poetry anthology, so chosing a good one is important. This one certainly contains a large proportion of the poems, that I expected to find in a general anthology, though inevitably any choice will be personal and affected by changing fashion. This anthology includes translations and verse in dialect, together with a wide range of types of verse, often missing from anthologies. However, it omits American and other non-British writers, apart from poets such as TS Eliot, who came to have a close relationship with the UK. An unusual feature of this anthology is that poems were grouped according to year of publication, rather than by author, which I think was a mistake, as it is surely more likely, that readers would want to look at a particular poets work, rather than verses from one particular year.