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The Family Book of Best Loved Poems
A unique collection of the world's most popular poetry, especially selected for the enjoyment of the entire family. A wholesome anthology of all the favorites, old and new - reverent poems of faith and devotion; exciting poems of adventure; gay poems of laughter; poems of nature, home and friendship; romantic poems of love and youth - and a complete section of poetry for children. A rich variety for countless hours of entertainment and pleasure.
- GenresPoetry
485 pages, Hardcover
First published September 6, 1952
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
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February 10, 2023When my mother-in-law could no longer live independently, and my husband and I helped to clean out her home, this book was among her things. A name plate inside says “Elva V Moore,” which means that it belonged originally, not to my husband’s mother, now 93, but her mother before her. And it does indeed look well-loved. There were bookmarks inside, and the cover is ripped. I have read through it, taking my time.
There are many famous, great, classic poems, by Keats, Blake, Whitman, Longfellow, and also poems I had never heard of, by authors I had never heard of. Some of these were not what I would call good poems. I assume they were popular in their day. Among them all were some very familiar lines. I dare say some of these will be familiar even to people who may never have read a poem.
Give to the world the best you have, and the best will come back to you
One is nearer God’s heart in a garden than anywhere else on earth
No coward soul is mine
Shoot if you must this old grey head
Bring me men to match my mountains
Woodman, spare that tree
If winter comes, can spring be far behind
The cares that infest the day shall fold their tents like the Arabs, and as silently steal away
In the spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love
The moving finger writes, and having writ, moves on
East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet
For of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: “It might have been”
Most of the poems are, as you would expect, rhymed and rhythmic, and the more I read, the more I enjoyed that. There is a pleasure of its own in the language of speech being made to sing like music. And some of those jingly rhythms can worm their way into your brain and stay there for sometimes literally the rest of your life. The book began to remind me of my old Childcraft Books Volume 1 and 2, which I read and re-read as a child, which caused me to develop a love of poetry almost as soon as I learned to read. Except this book didn’t have pictures.
The poems are divided into categories. Love, Inspiration, Home and Fireside. There are Poems for Children, Poems of Humor, and Poems of Nature. I was perhaps most struck that there are sections on America, and the Frontier.
As a whole, the poems in the collection are unabashedly sentimental, perhaps especially those about America and the Frontier. We can celebrate the winning of battles. We can celebrate the plucky country folk who walked westward and cut down trees for farmland, without having to worry about any troublesome nuance in those situations.
I thought to myself, Conservative would love this. Every day there is more news about book banning. It is easy to find lists of books that Conservatives don’t like, and don’t want children exposed to. It makes me wonder, what books do they like? No one can provide a list of those, but there are poems here designed to make one’s heart swell with pride about America, and I am sure many Conservatives would love to have those taught to children.
Words that stir that kind of pride are not necessarily wrong. How many people have been inspired by the poetic language of “I Have a Dream”? Or the lyrics to “Lift Every Voice and Sing”: “Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us, Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us.” Well, that can give me tingles. Those words do not happen to be in this book.
There are many famous, great, classic poems, by Keats, Blake, Whitman, Longfellow, and also poems I had never heard of, by authors I had never heard of. Some of these were not what I would call good poems. I assume they were popular in their day. Among them all were some very familiar lines. I dare say some of these will be familiar even to people who may never have read a poem.
Give to the world the best you have, and the best will come back to you
One is nearer God’s heart in a garden than anywhere else on earth
No coward soul is mine
Shoot if you must this old grey head
Bring me men to match my mountains
Woodman, spare that tree
If winter comes, can spring be far behind
The cares that infest the day shall fold their tents like the Arabs, and as silently steal away
In the spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love
The moving finger writes, and having writ, moves on
East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet
For of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: “It might have been”
Most of the poems are, as you would expect, rhymed and rhythmic, and the more I read, the more I enjoyed that. There is a pleasure of its own in the language of speech being made to sing like music. And some of those jingly rhythms can worm their way into your brain and stay there for sometimes literally the rest of your life. The book began to remind me of my old Childcraft Books Volume 1 and 2, which I read and re-read as a child, which caused me to develop a love of poetry almost as soon as I learned to read. Except this book didn’t have pictures.
The poems are divided into categories. Love, Inspiration, Home and Fireside. There are Poems for Children, Poems of Humor, and Poems of Nature. I was perhaps most struck that there are sections on America, and the Frontier.
As a whole, the poems in the collection are unabashedly sentimental, perhaps especially those about America and the Frontier. We can celebrate the winning of battles. We can celebrate the plucky country folk who walked westward and cut down trees for farmland, without having to worry about any troublesome nuance in those situations.
I thought to myself, Conservative would love this. Every day there is more news about book banning. It is easy to find lists of books that Conservatives don’t like, and don’t want children exposed to. It makes me wonder, what books do they like? No one can provide a list of those, but there are poems here designed to make one’s heart swell with pride about America, and I am sure many Conservatives would love to have those taught to children.
Words that stir that kind of pride are not necessarily wrong. How many people have been inspired by the poetic language of “I Have a Dream”? Or the lyrics to “Lift Every Voice and Sing”: “Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us, Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us.” Well, that can give me tingles. Those words do not happen to be in this book.
February 5, 2022
This was an entertaining read, containing many of the classic poems from ancient and modern, organized by theme.
Overall, a good introduction to many of the most important/impactful/memorable poems out there.
However, beware - a few are rather long and tedious.
Overall, a good introduction to many of the most important/impactful/memorable poems out there.
However, beware - a few are rather long and tedious.
June 8, 2020
Great book. Full of poetry from some of the classics and not so old one's. I think you will enjoy it a great deal if you love poetry at all.
May 5, 2015
An amazing collection of poems that stretches many different subject matter such as: Love, Faith & Inspiration, Children, Nature, Adventures of Land & Sea, Humor & Satire, America, and the list goes on. The book also has poems from some of the most celebrated poets of all time like Emily Dickinson, Edgar Allen Poe, William Blake, Henry Wadsworth, and Robert Louis.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews