Milton: Complete Shorter Poems (2nd Edition) [Paperback]

John Carey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 10, 1997 | ISBN-10: 0582019850 | ISBN-13: 978-0582019850 | Edition: 2

This edition contains all Milton's English poems with the exception of Paradise Lost, together with translations and texts of all his Latin, Italian and Greek poems. Since its first publication in 1968 John Carey's edition has established itself, together with Alastair Fowler's Paradise Lost (also published by Longman) as the standard edition of Milton's poetry for students and general readers alike. It has fuller explanatory notes than any other edition, and - a distinctive feature - a headnote to each poem to summarise the judgements and disagreements of modern critics. The headnotes of this updated Complete Shorter Poems concisely abstract some 700 articles and 70 books that, since 1968, have augmented the scholarly and critical debate about the greatest of England's non-dramatic poets. The result is not just an edition but a clear succinct guide through the rich but bewildering profusion of modern Milton scholarship.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This will surely become the standard working edition for student and scholars alike...a formidable task splendidly accomplished." The Oxford Magazine (of the First Edition)

From the Back Cover

Longman Annotated English Poets

Milton: Complete Shorter Poems
Edited by John Carey

General Editor
John Barnard

Founding Editor
F. W. Bateson

Reviews of the first edition:



"This will surely become the standard working edition for student and scholar alike...a formidable task splendidly accomplished." The Oxford Magazine

This major new edition contains all Milton's English poems with the exception of Paradise Lost, together with translations and texts of all his Latin, Italian and Greek poems. Since its first publication in 1968 John Carey's edition has established itself, together with Alastair Fowler's Paradise Lost (also published by Longman) as the standard edition of Milton's poetry for students and general readers alike. Hailed as "a very Bible of a Milton", it has fuller explanatory notes than any other edition, and - a distinctive feature - a headnote to each poem to summarise the judgements and disagreements of modern critics. The headnotes of this updated Complete Shorter Poems concisely abstract some 700 articles and 70 books that, since 1968, have augmented the scholarly and critical debate about the greatest of England's non-dramatic poets. The result is not just an edition but a clear succinct guide through the rich but bewildering profusion of modern Milton scholarship.

John Carey is Merton Professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford, and is acknowledged as one of the world's leading Miltonists. He has written extensively on Milton's life and poetry, and translated his treatise On Christian Doctrine for the Yale Complete Prose Works.

Product Details

• Paperback: 552 pages
• Publisher: Longman; 2 edition (March 10, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0582019850
• ISBN-13: 978-0582019850
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #716,914 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Day labor light denied, September 4, 2006

By 

Shalom Freedman "Shalom Freedman" (Jerusalem,Israel) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: John Milton: Complete Shorter Poems (Longman Annotated English Poets) (Paperback)

Milton is a poet of the deepest reflective seriousness, and of memorable moving lines of imposing length and beauty. The great dignity and depth of Milton's verse is sometimes obscured for the reader by the plethora of classical reference. The power and sense of struggle, the immense elegaic richness and Latinate elegance of this verse speaks down the ages.

I have always found the shorter poems, including the not very short one of 'Lycidas' as the most personally moving(Samson Agonistes aside) . I cannot say I know or even have read the greatest share but there are some which are with me wherever I go.

"They also serve who only stand and wait."

" Does God exact day labor light denied?"

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Necessary for serious Milton students, September 30, 2005

By 

Art Vandelay - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Milton: Complete Shorter Poems (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

This book compliments the Longman edition of Paradise Lost, and therefore gives one a complete set of Milton's poems. This, along with the other book,is easy to ready because the poetry on each page is relatively short; footnotes serve to split the text and therefore make it easy to read. The book also contains an extensive bibliography of Milton scholarship, and since this book is out of print, Amazon is one of the only companies to offer brand new copies.