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21st out of 23 books
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The Penguin Book of First World War Poetry
Unrivaled in its range and intensity, the poetry of World War I continues to have a powerful effect on readers. This newly edited anthology reflects the diverse experiences of those who lived through the war, bringing together the words of poets, soldiers, and civilians affected by the conflict. Here are famous verses by Rupert Brooke, Siegfried Sassoon, and Wilfred Owen; ...more
Paperback, 400 pages
Published
May 11th 2007
by Penguin Classics
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Mindy
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Recommended to Mindy by:
Found it at this great used book warehouse in Knoxville with Nathan
8/23/11: Jeezus, this took forever. I couldn't review this if I tried b/c it ended up being the book I carried around for reading on the subway, and I don't actually go into the city that much, so I'm rarely on the subway. The introduction was really long, and the editor suggests that Rosenberg is the superior poet to Owen (the other "great" WWI poet), but I liked Owen's poems the best. I would like to read more of his work. This was also a lesson that I can't read big collections of p...more
What is it about World War I that garnered such a deluge of superb war poetry? There has been wars since man stood erect and poetry almost as long? So what was the magic held by those predominantly British soldiers that enabled them to capture horror and dread in such introspective confines as verse? In reading this Penguin collection, I found that neither Wilfred Owen nor Siegfried Sassoon were the best poets...that distinction must go to Edmund Blunden, whose poetry is both probing and comp...more
It is difficult for me to know what I should be reviewing here: the poetry within or the entire collection? I would give the poetry five stars, for it is an absolutely fantastic collection of poetry that can never be stopped in telling the gruesome truth of War and All. It also features poetry by women, which is something I have never encountered in modest amounst before. Thus meaning that as a collection, they have done well in picking those which capture the very essence of feeling.
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Antoine
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review of another edition
Recommends it for:
great war enthusiasts
Recommended to Antoine by:
Prof Richard "A-minus" Cody
One of the books from my semester-o'-world-war-one, in the spring of 1990. This one was, I think, from the English class, though it may have also been assigned reading for the history class as well. The poetry itself runs the gamut, from the conventional and sentimental "pep" works from early in the war (some from poets, like Rupert Brooke, who died before ever seeing combat at all, and others from poets too old for combat, like Kipling), to full fledged "trench poetry" by t...more
it's so hard to review a collection of poems, without writing a review for every single poem in it (which is more than a few)
there were some i loved, some i didn't, but most of all, interestingly so, my favourite is the first one in the prologue.
brilliant collection with loads of heartfelt, inspirational poetry ^_^
there were some i loved, some i didn't, but most of all, interestingly so, my favourite is the first one in the prologue.
brilliant collection with loads of heartfelt, inspirational poetry ^_^
I always like to dip into this in the run up to Rememberance Sunday. It's a good way of reminding me of what those men went through, physically and emotionally, almost 100 years ago. This collection has both the classics and some lesser known poems and includes poets from both sides of the conflict.
This book brings the war to life and really underscores the emotions that accompanied people onto the fronts.
This book is pretty awful. The organization is impossible to figure out. The editing is lousy, and the driving force of the introduction seems to be to track how anthologies over the years have defined the poetry of the first world war. There isn't a table of contents that lists the poems! There is no way of finding poems by author, only a title/first line index. And they aren't dated. So... thanks a lot for thematically organizing the poems into "Before the War" or "Behind ...more
And so begins my love affair with Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen.
Using it to teach my year 8 poetry unit. BRILLIANT!!
With contributions from a diverse range of people including war poets Wifred Owen and Siegried Sassoon and authers D.H. Lawrence and Rudyard Kipling this book contains a respectable selection of poems. If you haven't got into poetry but would like to try it without comitting to one writer then you could do worse than read The Penguin Book of First World War Poetry.
I've never been one for poetry, really, but this is the kind of writing that anyone can understand, poetry lover or not. It is often graphic, always frank, and a fascinating read which I did a lot of interesting work with.
Another text for my 183G kids.
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War poetry at its simple best.
There has always seemed to be something about conflict and human tragedy that has bought about the artistic best in man... this collection is ample proof of that.
There has always seemed to be something about conflict and human tragedy that has bought about the artistic best in man... this collection is ample proof of that.
Some great poetry. They did a good job of mixing in both pro and anti-war pieces from soldiers and people on the home front. Nearly all of the poets are from England.
Often very rough and ready poetry, but always absolutely engaging.
What a confoundingly organised collection.
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