The Penguin Book of English Verse

(Paperback)

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Description

Celebrating seven centuries of English verse, this definitive anthology reflects the wonderfully diverse voices and concerns of successive generations of poets and the evolving poetic landscape through the ages. Its acclaimed revolutionary structure redefines the idea of the poetry anthology, presenting the works in the order in which they first appeared, rather than divided by poet. Through the words of the well known and the anonymous, in epitaphs, ballads, and folk and nonsense poems, The Penguin Book of English Verse reveals the whole tradition in an exhilarating new light.This edition includes a preface by Paul Keegan, setting out his innovative organizational principles, and indexes of poets, first lines and titles.

Reviews

'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

Author Bio

Paul Keegan is Poetry Editor at Faber and Faber.