The Golden Books Family Treasury of Poetry

by Louis Untermeyer (Editor), Joan Walsh Anglund (Illustrator)

A collection of poems about innocence, animals, famous people, and holidays by such authors as William Blake, Robert Frost, William Wordsworth, and David McCord

Genres: Poetry, Childrens, Anthologies

312 pages, Hardcover

First published July 22, 1998

About the author

Louis Untermeyer was the author, editor or compiler, and translator of more than one hundred books for readers of all ages. He will be best remembered as the prolific anthologist whose collections have introduced students to contemporary American poetry since 1919. The son of an established New York jeweler, Untermeyer's interest in poetry led to friendships with poets from three generations, including many of the century's major writers. His tastes were eclectic. Martin Weil related in the Washington Post that Untermeyer once "described himself as 'a bone collector' with 'the mind of a magpie.'" He was a liberal who did much to allay the Victorian myth that poetry is a high-brow art. "What most of us don't realize is that everyone loves poetry," he was quoted by Weil as saying, pointing out the rhymes on the once-ubiquitous Burma Shave road signs as an example.

Untermeyer developed his taste for literature while still a child. His mother had read aloud to him from a variety of sources, including the epic poems "Paul Revere's Ride" and "Hiawatha." Bedtime stories he told to his brother Martin combined elements from every story he could remember, he revealed in Bygones: The Recollections of Louis Untermeyer. When he learned to read for himself, he was particularly impressed by books such as Alfred Lord Tennyson's Idylls of the King and Dante's Inferno. Gustave Dore's illustrations in these books captivated him and encouraged his imagination toward fantasy. Almost fifty years later, Untermeyer published several volumes of retold French fairy tales, all illustrated by the famous French artist.

In addition to children's books and anthologies, Untermeyer published collections of his own poetry. He began to compose light verse and parodies during his teen years after dropping out of school to join his father's business. With financial help from his father, he published First Love in 1911. Sentiments of social protest expressed in the 1914 volume Challenge received disapproval from anti-communist groups forty years later; as a result of suspicion, Untermeyer lost his seat on the "What's My Line" game show panel to publisher Bennett Cerf. During the 1970s, he found himself "instinctively, if incongruously, allied with the protesting young," he wrote in the New York Times. In the same article he encouraged the spirit of experiment that characterized the decade, saying, "it is the non-conformers, the innovators in art, science, technology, and human relations who, misunderstood and ridiculed in their own times, have shaped our world." Untermeyer, who did not promote any particular ideology, remained a popular speaker and lecturer, sharing criticism of poetry and anecdotes about famous poets with audiences in the United States and as far away as India and Japan.

Untermeyer resigned from the jewelry business in 1923 in order to give all his attention to literary pursuits. Friendships with Robert Frost, Ezra Pound, Arthur Miller, and other literary figures provided him with material for books. For example, The Letters of Robert Frost to Louis Untermeyer contains letters selected from almost fifty years of correspondence with the New England poet. The anthologist's autobiographies From Another World and Bygones relate as much about other writers as they do about his personal life. Bygones provides his reflections on the four women who were his wives. Jean Starr moved to Vienna with Untermeyer after he became a full-time writer; Virginia Moore was his wife for about a year; Esther Antin, a lawyer he met in Toledo, Ohio, married him in 1933; fifteen years later, he married Bryna Ivens, with whom he edited a dozen books for children.

In his later years, Untermeyer, like Frost, had a deep appreciation for country life. He once told Contemporary Authors: "I live on an abandoned farm in Connecticut ... ever since I found my native New York unlivable as well as unlovable.... On these green and sometimes arctic acres I cultivate wha

Reviews

[Sally]

This edition is a reprinting of an earlier version that I received for Christmas from my mother when I was nine years old. I loved the illustrations that accompanied the poems, and I can honestly say that my love for poetry stemmed from receiving this book. It is truly a "treasure."

[Inspiration Station]

This is a favorite book of poetry that I had growing up and I absolutely love the illustrations.
In 7th grade, I memorized this particular poem because the title was similar to my name.
Minnie by Eleanor Farjeon
Minnie can't make her mind up,
Minnie can't make up her mind!
They ask her at tea
"Well, what shall it be?"
And Minnie says, "Oh,
Muffins, please! no,
Sandwiches--yes,
Please, egg-and-cress--
I mean a jam one,
Or is there a ham one,
Or is there another kind?
Never mind!
Cake
Is what I will take,
The sort with the citron-rind,
Or p'r'aps the iced one--
Or is there a spiced one,
Or is there the currant kind?"
When tea is done
She hasn't begun,
She's always the one behind,
Because she can't make her mind up,
Minnie can't make up her mind!

[Danielle]

1. No awards
2. Preschool- grade 3
3. This book includes a large variety of classic poems in one anthology. The poems are organized by topics, from rhyme, creatures, Christmas, around the world, and funny poems, it offers a selection of poems for anyone to choose from, along with illustrations with most poems.
4. This anthology has poems for everyone at every age. From classic poems from T.S. Elliot to silly and funny poems, this book demonstrates the wide variability of poetry for students to learn from in a variety of topics for everyone to enjoy.
5. This text can be used to demonstrate multiple types and genres of poems to young students. In a classroom it can serve as a guide for students to find poems they are interested in and as a model when writing their own poems.

[Cheryl]

Ugh. So dated. Yes, even the bowdlerized updated edition has, for example, an homage to Andrew Jackson, and another to the Pilgrims. And a superstitious rant against a so-called witch.

The best bits, like the selections from Poor Richard's Almanack, and those by Emily Dickinson are widely available elsewhere.

I actually chose it for the artist. Her signature style is seldom evident here; the majority of the sketches could have been drawn by any student.

Got tired of turning pages and being frustrated about halfway. November 2021.

[Karen Dransfield]

I'm teaching a poetry class so I've been reading through lots of poem books. This is the latest one. I am always interested in finding different versions of the same poems. And finding more verses. I have enjoyed reading some of these poems out loud to my poetry group.

[Johanna Cormier]

Growing up this may have been my favorite poetry book after The Real Mother Goose and my grandmother's copy of Longfellow. My aunt had an earlier edition of this book and I spent many hours pouring through it on visits to her home. This edition expurgated five poems.

[Shannon]

11/10: Fast becoming a family favorite.