Oxford Book Of 20th Cent English Verse

Larkin, Philip

£24.99

Philip Larkin’s Oxford Book of Twentieth-Century English Verse provoked controversy and dispute on first publication in 1973. Warmly welcomed by fellow poets John Betjeman and W. H. Auden, it was also considered a quirky and idiosyncratic collection by some critics. Today it is recognized as a fine and wide-ranging selection of modern English verse. The successor to W. B. Yeats’s Oxford Book of Modern Verse, Larkin’s collection radically re-assessed the century’s achievement in poetry, introducing many less well-known poets among the acknowledged greats. As Larkin writes in his Preface, in choosing poems rather than individuals he has brought together `poems that will give pleasure to their readers both separately and as a collection’.For this latest reissue, the poet’s biographer Andrew Motion has written a new Foreword in which he considers the nature of Larkin as editor.

In stock

Publish Date: 29/03/1972

Description

Philip Larkin’s Oxford Book of Twentieth-Century English Verse provoked controversy and dispute on first publication in 1973. Warmly welcomed by fellow poets John Betjeman and W.H. Auden, it was also considered a quirky and idiosyncratic collection by some critics. Today it is recognized as a fine and wide-ranging selection of modern verse, valuable not least because it reflects the tastes of one of the best, and best-loved, English poets of the twentiethcentury. As the successor to W.B. Yeats’s Oxford Book of Modern Verse 1892-1935, this anthology made a radical re-assessment of the century’s achievement in poetry; it represented verse that was `lighter in tone, more understated, more casual, more conversational, more colloquial, in a way more democratic and more domestic than it was for Yeats’. It also introduced many little-known poets whose names have not entered the canon, and whose contributions add colour and depth to the anthology. AsPhilip Larkin writes in his Preface, in choosing poems rather than individuals he has brought together `poems that will give pleasure to their readers both separately and as a collection’. For this latest reissue, the poet’s biographer Andrew Motion has written a new Foreword in which he considers the nature of Larkin as editor.

Additional information

Weight 811 g
Dimensions 225 × 137 × 38 mm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Hardback

Pages

692

Language

English

Edition

New Edition

Dewey

821.908 (edition:21)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K