Poetry 1380 to 1900: From Chaucer & Wyatt to Arnold & Hopkins

by Michael Owen, Jemma Lehane (Illustrator)

You'll Daffodils, Ozymandias, The Charge of the Light Brigade, Gray's Elegy, The Tiger and many more of the nation's favourite poems here. There's also a lot of useful information here too. Do you know why Keats died so young? Who were the Romantics? How did his friendship with Byron bring about Shelley's death?

Students, you will find that this book is a great tool for anyone wanting to develop an understanding of the famous poets writing in Britain before 1900. Not only does it help you to know and appreciate their work, it also shows you how to develop your critical style and ability to express your thoughts and feelings about the poems, the poets and the times they lived in. There is also a very useful section on figures of speech, rhyme and poetic form.

This book will help you to know about the context of each famous poem and the historical background that influenced each poet. It will give you an informed base for your study of English literature through to Advanced Level and beyond. You will find the historical contexts, biographical thumbprints and introductions to the poems enhance the depth of your responses to these great poems that time has tested and approved.


(Poetry 1380 to 1900 was written as a resource for English teachers when the National Curriculum made the study of pre-20th century poetry a core English requirement. This book has been very popular with teachers and has been in use in hundreds of English Departments in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

It has been revised to address student needs but will also continue to be useful to English teachers. With this in mind we have retained the Explanatory Notes to the Teacher at the beginning of Section C.)


Now, we are delighted to be able to offer this book direct to students at a fraction of the original price.


The book is organised in five easy to use
Section A contains over seventy poems or extracts. The poets are arranged chronologically and a short biography is provided for each poet. Poets covered Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, Pope, Blake, Keats, Emily Dickinson and Christina Rossetti. To help place the poets in their historical and social context pages of historical and literary information introduces each The Middle Ages, The Renaissance, The Seventeenth Century, The Eighteenth Century and The Nineteenth Century. Each selection of poetry has a short introduction to help students in their appreciation of the poem.
Section B gives an explanation of literary terms. This covers figures of speech and poetic forms, the explanations given are illustrated by examples taken from the poems in Section A.
Section C offers ten reading and understanding papers with answer schemes. These papers are differentiated and stepped and provide good practice for examinations and as preparatory exercises for coursework. Full answers are provided. You complete a question, self-assess your own work and then use these ideas when you write an essay on the poet.
Section D explains how to develop a style of literary criticism, showing how to analyse an image, present quotations and structure a strong critical response.
Section E contains suggestions for further work – literary research topics, language work and imaginative and creative tasks ranging from drama to art work.


This publication was orginally produced as a resource for professionals and has been used by hundreds of specialist English teachers. It is now revised and available to the wider public in this beautifully illustrated, student-friendly handbook.

The idea behind this book is that you can travel from 1380 up through time enjoying great poems and insights along the way, whilst learning so much.

165 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 11, 2017

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