The Oxford Book of English Verse

Rating:
Summary: An anthology of poetry to keep for your grandchildren
Review: After having studied with Professor Ricks many years ago, it was a joy to find that he had been tapped for the new edition of this book, the Oxford book of English Verse. (The permissions must have been a bear.) As you might know if you've ever read John Mortimer, previous editions have been appreciated by countless readers, including Rumpole of the Bailey (the fictional barrister), who enjoyed the Quiller-Couch edition like he did his cigars, lamb chops and port wine. This new edition from Oxford, handsomely published with a ribbon for marking the pages and the traditional Oxford blue binding, contains most of the poets we first-year undergrads students at Boston University used to hear about from Ricks: there's Stevie Smith, Phillip Larkin, William Wordsworth, Samuel Beckett, William Empson, and many others. It's a thoughtfully collected array of English poetry, chosen by one of the most perceptive critics active today. I hope you enjoy it.

Rating:
Summary: great of course-- but just one thing...
Review: i own an earlier edition of the OBEV, published about 1940, and while i'm glad to see that some dramatic verse has made the cut here, i'm perplexed as to a couple of poets who have been left out this time around. . .in particular, the young yeats' contemporaries (the so-called the 'tragic' generation)--lionel johnson and ernest dowson. also, some of the anonymous scottish ballads from the 15th century

of course this book compared to practically anything else gets 5 stars, 10 stars! i just knocked one off because of my preference for the earlier edition, and so that people would notice my humble review here.
enjoy this book!

Rating:
Summary: Weakness?
Review: Recent poems are hard to come by in the new OxfordBook of English Verse, but one must remember the world we live intoday. Modern works are more than likely under copyright, making them horribly expensive to reproduce in a collection. Thus, when it comes to modern works, it is more a question of funds, copyrights, and dealmaking, not of quality literature. In light of this (and combined with the fact that, most likely, Ricks had to pay for the rights to the copyrighted poems he did print out of his own pocket), the quality of the modern verse in this volume is first rate. The giants of English literature are well represented, as are those poets whom one should, but too often does not, know. Any student of English literature would probably have many of these poems at hand, but not compiled in such a manner. Likewise, those with an interest in poetry but no idea where to start, are encouraged to start with Ricks' book.

Rating:
Summary: The most beautiful book I own
Review: This is a wonderful gift, not only for others but yourself.
To have a significant fraction of western poetry in one book make this a timeless acquisition.
Not only are the aesthetics of the prose attractive but the binding has a tactile quality too!

No matter what your mood there is a poet waiting to speak to you in this book.

Rating:
Summary: A True Literary Landmark
Review: What a wonderful anthology! Rick's new Book of English Verse has been criticized for excluding too much modern verse, however I find that the poetry he has selected provides a fine overview of English Poetry over the course of the last millenium. It's always difficult to judge what will become "classics" as time goes on, and I think, while Ricks has chosen to go the "safe" rather than the "daring" route, his choices represent what we find to be fine poetry. A commendable job, truly something I will find valuable as the century turns.

Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Collection of Great Breadth and Scope
Review: What a wonderful treasure this book is! Certainly one could debate what has been left out and why what is included here was chosen over some other verse, but there is a lot of beauty included here. For me, it is a wonderful place to visit again and again to dip into this and that and to notice things I hadn't seen before.

I think that getting focused on what isn't in this collection is to cheat yourself of the beauty that is here. Not every work is to my taste, not every work is even what I think of as good, but the range and scope of works included is really wonderful. There are many works of great beauty and more of great worth. I think it is a fine collection.

One of the nice things I have found is that something I didn't at first find attractive opened up to me after repeated visits. The breadth of the music created with our language is stunning to me and has given me a great deal of pleasure.

There are 822 works in this collection that are arranged chronologically from the 13th century through the mid 1990s and grouped by poet. There is an index by author, by foreign authors in translation or imitation, and an index of works by first line. This organization makes it very easy to find a work that you might be looking for or to decide where to dip into the pool depending on how you feel at the moment.

Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Collection of Great Breadth and Scope
Review: What a wonderful treasure this book is! Certainly one could debate what has been left out and why what is included here was chosen over some other verse, but there is a lot of beauty included here. For me, it is a wonderful place to visit again and again to dip into this and that and to notice things I hadn't seen before.

I think that getting focused on what isn't in this collection is to cheat yourself of the beauty that is here. Not every work is to my taste, not every work is even what I think of as good, but the range and scope of works included is really wonderful. There are many works of great beauty and more of great worth. I think it is a fine collection.

One of the nice things I have found is that something I didn't at first find attractive opened up to me after repeated visits. The breadth of the music created with our language is stunning to me and has given me a great deal of pleasure.

There are 822 works in this collection that are arranged chronologically from the 13th century through the mid 1990s and grouped by poet. There is an index by author, by foreign authors in translation or imitation, and an index of works by first line. This organization makes it very easy to find a work that you might be looking for or to decide where to dip into the pool depending on how you feel at the moment.