Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1486231 in Books
• Published on: 2001-02-19
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 76 pages

Synopsis
In this series, a contemporary poet advocates a poet of the past or present whom they have particularly admired. By their selection of verses and by the personal and critical reactions they express, the selectors offer intriguing insight into their own work.

Customer Reviews

Remarkable poetry from a remarkable man
Every Housman fan has his (or her, don't women read him as well?) favourites. For me 'The True Lover', 'How clear, how lovely bright', and 'A.J.J.' would have to be the three best (probably). But they're all great. As with all great poetry, it's not at all easy to say exactly WHY. But they produce some effect (hairs on the back of the neck, a chill on the arms, a tear to the eye etc. etc.) that is not found often in other poets' works (at least not as frequently as in Housman's). This is true poetry. Housman even said he wanted his poetry to be felt by the reader, to create an emotional response to the words.

This is the definitive volume of Housman's poetry, containing all of them from 'A Shropshire Lad', 'Last Poems', and 'More Poems'. Slim volumes, all of them, but then with things like this it's quality, not quantity...

Treat yourself today.

Incomparable
Housman's poetry doesn't seem to be too fashionable these days. Not 'politically correct' as he writes about Empire and the Monarchy as well as the more profane. This is a pity as his work often takes the ordinary person's viewpoint - Kipling has the same problem with cultural censorship enacted by those who think they know best; the Ignorati. Anyway, read this book, it's 'real' poetry that scans well and has rhythm and speaks to you on your level.