The Oxford Book of English Verse

Here is a treasure-house of over seven centuries of English poetry, chosen and introduced by Christopher Ricks, whom Auden described as 'exactly the kind of critic every poet dreams of finding'. The Oxford Book of English Verse, created in 1900 by Arthur Quiller-Couch and selected anew in 1972 by Helen Gardner, has established itself as the foremost anthology of English poetry: ample in span, liberal in the kinds of poetry presented. This completely fresh selectionbrings in new poems and poets from all ages, and extends the range by another half-century, to include many twentieth-century figures not featured before -- among them Philip Larkin and Samuel Beckett,Thom Gunn and Elaine Feinstein -- right up to Ted Hughes and Seamus Heaney. Here, as before, are lyric (beginning with medieval song), satire, hymn, ode, sonnet, elegy, ballad . . . but also kinds of poetry not previously admitted: the riches of dramatic verse by Marlowe, Shakespeare, Jonson, Webster; great works of translation that are themselves true English poetry, such as Chapman's Homer (bringing in its happy wake Keats's 'On First Looking into Chapman'sHomer'), Dryden's Juvenal, and many others; well-loved nursery rhymes, limericks, even clerihews. English poetry from all parts of the British Isles is firmly represented -- Henryson and MacDiarmid, forexample, now join Dunbar and Burns from Scotland; James Henry, Austin Clarke, and J. M. Synge now join Allingham and Yeats from Ireland; R. S. Thomas joins Dylan Thomas from Wales -- and Edward Taylor and Anne Bradstreet, writing in America before its independence in the 1770s, are given a rightful and rewarding place. Some of the greatest long poems are here in their entirety -- Wordsworth's 'Tintern Abbey', Coleridge's 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner', and Christina Rossetti's 'Goblin Market' --alongside some of the shortest, haikus, squibs, and epigrams. Generous and wide-ranging, mixing familiar with fresh delights, this is an anthology to move and delight allwho find themselves loving English verse.

“'updated for the millennium, this anthology has been expanded to include awider, more eclectic selection of earlier verse'The Scotsman, 2/10/99”

handsome version...'Sally Emerson, Independent on Sundayreveals a whole nations's literature indelibly saturated with Christianity.'Christopher Idle, New Directions, Nov. 2000.Here is a book for believers to prize, unbelivers to ponder, and budding writers of hymns and songs to study compulsorily for a year, learning as much as they can by heart.'Christopher Idle, New Directions, Nov. 2000.Ricks must be one of the few people on the planet both famous enough to be asked to remake this book and widely enough read to do it well ... such anthologies stand or fall on findings from minor authors, and Ricks offers a bounty of obscure poems ... Long after reviewers stop debating how Ricks chose each item, readers will keep returning to these pages to find yet another good poem they've not before seen.'Publishers Weekly, 25/10/99dramatic verse appears in this new edition in all its majestic sonority, including some of the greatest English poetry ever written.It's simply the best anthology of English poetry we have, from our best editor and critic.'David Sexton, Evening Standard 6/12/99In his many books ... he has shown a grasp of English poetry scarcely matched by anyone since his great mentor William Empson ... this is a book that deserves to gather plaudits, not dust. Whatever the geographical quibbles over his title, Ricks has restored at least some of its glory to that ragged entity, the canon.'David Wheatley, Irish Times, 16/10/99Christopher Ricks's introduction and preface are worth the investment. He argues modestly and well for his choices and also for the criteria he set himself ... This is just the kind of resolutely unfashionable, impolitic, ambitious, fusty and intelligent anthology we need.'Lavinia Greelaw, New Statesman and Society 29/11/99it is hard to fault this massive work ... there is such wealth here ... vast expanse of brilliance in this new age of growing poetic appreciation.'Beverly Davies, The Lady 30/11/99The selection represents a solid and dependable view of the past.'Michael Glover The Independent 4/12/99Christopher Ricks, in his new version of the Oxford book, tends to steer a shrewd, eclectic course half-way between those taken by his two precursors ... Ricks's book is altogether more reader-friendly than either of its two forerunners.'Ian Hamilton, The Sunday Telegraph 3/10/99Christopher Ricks ... has produced a thoroughly revised and updated version of one of the most famous, if more staid, Oxford anthologies ... Ricks has done very well. He has made perfect selections ... richly entertaining, with enough surprises among the familiar moments to keep me happy. If you want, or want to give, one single big anthology of English verse, then this is the obvious one to go for.'Andrew Marr, The Observer 10/10/99It comes with an air of having been there in the first place and of planning to be around when everything else stops ... Ricks has opened this anthology to hymns and nursery rhymes, as well as extracts from dramatic poetry.'Sean O'Brien, Guardian 2/10/99The most exacting and lucid close-reader of poetry, his critical virtuosity has allowed him to escape the narrow historical specialisms of other professors ... He has done the job beautifully.'John Mullan, Evening Standard and Yorkshire Post 27/9/99The inclusion of a much higher number of women poets than in previous editions and such undervalued genres as limericks and nursery rhymes makes for a brave and comprehensive selection.'Ned Danny, Daily Mail 8/10/99updated for the millennium, this anthology has been expanded to include a wider, more eclectic selection of earlier verse'The Scotsman, 2/10/99marvellous new Oxford Book of Poetry'David Sexton, Sunday Telegraph 10/10/99a marvellous celebration of the English language, perhaps this country's greatest contribution to civilisation ... His selection brings in new poems and poets from all ages and extends the range by another 50 years to include many 20th century figures not featured before.'Richard Foster, Yorkshire Evening Press, 19/10/99Not only does Ricks deploy the kind of iridescent critical intelligence that lights up unexpected corners: many of the great central texts are there ... It seems to me that Ricks has got it just right.'Keith Mitchell, The Tablet, 19/2/00combining range with wit and some splendid surprises'Jasper Griffin, Spectator, 27/11/99A completely new millennium edition of this foremost anthology featuring over 850 poems drawn from seven and a half centuries of English verse ... delightful collection.'Northern Echo (Darlington) 30/11/99`The first and best of the verse anthologies is 'The Oxford Book of English Verse.' It made its first appearance in 1900 ... Now Christopher Ricks, a distinguished critic, has updated the book once more and made it better ... Not all of the verse is serious. There is comic charm in many ... Comic or serious, this collection is the best of the best.'Roger Harris, Newark Star Ledger

One of the best-known living literary critics.The W. H. Auden quotation (see Full Description) is from a review of Ricks's Longman edition of Tennyson. He writes: 'Reading Professor Ricks's comments and observations convinces me that he is exactly the kind of critic every poet dreams of finding. No poet wants either uncritical admirers or decoders who discover in his poems secret symbols and meanings which never entered his mind. But every poet thinks of himself as a craftsman, a maker of verbal objects: what he hopes for is that criticswill notice the technical means by which he secures his effects. Alas, so few critics do. Professor Ricks is a happy exception.'

Here is a treasure-house of over seven centuries of English poetry, chosen and introduced by Christopher Ricks, whom Auden described as 'exactly the kind of critic every poet dreams of finding'. The Oxford Book of English Verse, created in 1900 by Arthur Quiller-Couch and selected anew in 1972 by Helen Gardner, has established itself as the foremost anthology of English poetry: ample in span, liberal in the kinds of poetry presented. This completely fresh selection brings in new poems and poets from all ages, and extends the range by another half-century, to include many twentieth-century figures not featured before -- among them Philip Larkin and Samuel Beckett, Thom Gunn and Elaine Feinstein -- right up to Ted Hughes and Seamus Heaney.
Here, as before, are lyric (beginning with medieval song), satire, hymn, ode, sonnet, elegy, ballad . . . but also kinds of poetry not previously admitted: the riches of dramatic verse by Marlowe, Shakespeare, Jonson, Webster; great works of translation that are themselves true English poetry, such as Chapman's Homer (bringing in its happy wake Keats's 'On First Looking into Chapman's Homer'), Dryden's Juvenal, and many others; well-loved nursery rhymes, limericks, even clerihews. English poetry from all parts of the British Isles is firmly represented -- Henryson and MacDiarmid, for example, now join Dunbar and Burns from Scotland; James Henry, Austin Clarke, and J. M. Synge now join Allingham and Yeats from Ireland; R. S. Thomas joins Dylan Thomas from Wales -- and Edward Taylor and Anne Bradstreet, writing in America before its independence in the 1770s, are given a rightful and rewarding place. Some of the greatest long poems are here in their entirety -- Wordsworth's 'Tintern Abbey', Coleridge's 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner', and Christina Rossetti's 'Goblin Market' -- alongside some of the shortest, haikus, squibs, and epigrams. Generous and wide-ranging, mixing familiar with fresh delights, this is an anthology to move and delight all who find themselves loving English verse.

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