The romantics: An anthology

by Geoffrey Grigson

The first in a trio of anthologies by Geoffrey Grigson ( The Romantics , Before the Romantics and The Victorians ) that are both highly entertaining and provide a fresh approach to the ideas of an age. Primarily anthologies of poetry, with prose from the era to illustrate it, they have been universally praised for their great scope and their original take on English literature.In his preface to this widely commended anthology, Grigson writes 'The thing to do about the Romantics is to read them and look - if you can find them - at their pictures; not only that, but to forget some of the abstract theorizing of the school books, and to follow them in their actuality'. His finely judged collection allows the reader to do just that. Coleridge, Keats and Shelley of course form the core of the book, but are supported by Gainsborough and Palmer, Edgar Allan Poe and Herman Melville, and Polidori and Dorothy Wordsworth. It is not just the wide range of writers, but the careful selection of their pieces that makes The Romantics a richly rewarding and illuminating volume.

356 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Grigson was educated at St John's School, Leatherhead, and at St Edmund Hall, Oxford. He first came to prominence in the 1930s as a poet, then as editor from 1933 of the influential poetry magazine New Verse. A teacher, journalist and broadcaster, later in life he was a noted critic, reviewer (for the New York Review of Books in particular), and compiler of many inventive and innovative anthologies. He published 13 collections of poetry, and wrote on travel, on art (notably works on Samuel Palmer, Wyndham Lewis and Henry Moore), on the English countryside, and on botany, among other subjects.
Geoffrey Grigson's first wife was Frances Galt (who died in 1937 of tuberculosis). With her, he founded New Verse. They had one daughter, Caroline (who was married to the designer Colin Banks). Grigson's second marriage was to Berta (Bertschy) Emma Kunert, who bore him two children, Anna and Lionel Grigson, the jazz musician and educator. Following their divorce, Grigson's third and last marriage was to Jane Grigson, née McIntire (1928–90), the writer on food and cookery. Their daughter is the cookery writer Sophie Grigson.
Geoffrey Grigson in his later life lived partly in Wiltshire, England, and partly in Trôo, a village in the Loir-et-Cher département in France, which features in his poetry. He died in Wiltshire in 1985.