The Mentor Book of Major British Poets

by Oscar Williams, Various

Offers representative selections from the works of major British poets, from the eighteenth through the mid-twentieth century.

Genres: Poetry, Classics, Anthologies, Nonfiction, Literature, School, British Literature

576 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 1, 1963

Reviews

[Adam Corvo]

from The Boston Years

[Marshall A. Lewis]

This book has been a growing tool for me over the past two years. I got into writing poetry before I got into reading poetry, mostly because the poetry I read in high school was of little interest to me, and the poetry I read in university, with the exception of Christian Bök, followed the same suit. It wasn't until I started reading some more modern poetry, the likes of Allen Ginsberg, Charles Bukowski, Ocean Vuong and Micheal Symmons Roberts that I started to really pursue poetry - including older poetry.
I really enjoyed the introduction to this collection and the comments on the editors' choices. I was pleasantly surprised to find some poetry that I quite enjoyed by the likes of Tennyson, Thomas Hardy, John Davidson and D.H. Lawrence; as well as most of the poetry by Dylan Thomas whom is my newly found favoured poet from the collection.
I wouldn't recommend this collection to anyone who's picked up a book of poetry off the best-sellers shelf or to someone just freshly wanting to get into poetry, as a lot of the early stuff I found was hard to appreciate and there were a few poets whom I found altogether uninteresting. As someone who already has some poetry background and interest, I feel this helped me get a feel for some of the major old British poets' work, for good or ill.

[Books, Brews, and Tunes]

As good as anything for a starting point for British and Irish poetry.

[Space Orlando]

Amazing collection, great introduction to 18-19th century british poetry.

[Nicole]

Christina Rosetti - Overall (3/5)
A Birthday (3.25/5) - When I Am Dead, My Dearest (4/5) - Echo (3.5/5) - Good Friday (3/5) - Up-Hill (2.5/5) - Passing Away (3/5) - Remember (4.5/5) - Rest (3/5) - A Life's Parallels (1.5/5) - Spring Quiet (3/5) - Eve (3/5) - Amor Mundi (5/5) - The Convent Threshold (4.5/5)

John Davidson - Overall (4/5)
Thirty Bob a Week (3.25/5)- A Runnable Stag (4/5)- A Ballad of Hell (4.75/5) - In Romney Marsh (4/5)- London (4/5)- Holiday at Hampton Court (3.5/5) - Imagination (4/5) - The Outcast (4.25/5) - The Unknown (2.5/5) - A Ballad of a Nun (4.75/5) - War-Song (5/5) - Battle (4.5/5) - The Testament of a Vivisector (5/5)

D.H. Lawrence - Overall (4/5)
Song Of A Man Who Has Come Through (3/5) - Bavarian Gentians (4/5) - Humming-bird (5/5) - How Beastly The Bourgeois is (4.5/5) - Don'ts (3/5) - Won't It Be Strange? (4/5) - When I Went To The Circus (4/5) - The Mosquito Knows (3/5) - The Elephant Is Slow To Mate (4/5) - Baby Tortoise (4.5/5) - Tortoise-shell (4/5) - Snake (5/5) - Kangaroo (4.5/5) - Retort To Whitman (5/5) - Whales Weep Not! (4/5) - The Ship Of Death (5/5) - The End The Beginning (4/5)

Robert Graves - Overall (4.75/5)
Rocky Acres (4/5) - Warning To Children (4.5/5) - The Bards (4/5) - Pure Death (4.5/5) - Traveller's Curse After Misdirection (5/5) - The Reader Over My Shoulder (4.5/5) - The Legs (5/5) - Sea Side (4/5) - Welsh Incident (3.5/5) - Interruption (5/5) - Lost Acres (5/5) - Recalling War (5/5) - Down, Wanton, Down (4.5/5) - Ogres And Pygmies (4/5) - History Of The Word (4.5/5) - To Juan At The Winter Solstice (4.5/5) - Welcome, To The Caves Of Arta (4.5/5) - The White Goddess (5/5) - The Naked And The Nude (5/5) - Leaving The Rest Unsaid (5/5)

[Leslie]

Always keep this one within reach and fall in love with a new old poet at least once a week. Yesterday I discovered a.e. Housman and barely stopped myself from ordering his complete works online....what a story his personal life was...unrequited life long love...sigh. This book has a very decent sampling of alot of the majors, even Emily Bronte who wrote some surprisingly good poetry. But why should i be surprised at anything written by a member of that fascinating family.

[C.]

Having studied British poetry in high school as part of the IB program, I really discovered a love for Wordsworth, Coleridge, Keats, and Yeats. My favorite of all time ~ Intimations of Immortality (William Wordsworth). Great collection of some of the greatest British poets. And compact enough to travel in a backpack or purse.

[Martinray2]

My introduction to Blake, Keats, Wordsworth, Rosetti... all the way to Dylan Thomas

(I always felt a little unsophisticated for really, really liking Shelley...)

Essential fodder for any Romantic!

[James Henderson]

An exquisite collection of some of the best poetry written in the English language. Many of my favorite poems and ones that are still relevant in the literary world today are included in this collection, which includes poems by Blake to Thomas.

[Jason]

Same review as the Mentor Book of Major American Poets, but with Limeys.

[Emmanuel Macias]

The best poets in a one handy book, excellent for any weather.