The New Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250-1950 (Oxford Books of Verse) [Hardcover]

Helen Gardner (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 26, 1972 | Series: Oxford Books of Verse

The New Oxford Book of English Verse is now firmly established as a classic anthology of English poetry. Chosen by the distinguished scholar and critic, Dame Helen Gardner, the book makes available in one volume the full range and variety of English non-dramatic verse. Dame Helen Gardner reflected the critical consensus of the day in broadening her choices beyond those of Quiller-Couch's lyrical tastes, and the anthology balances poems that deal with public events and historic occasions with poems of private life, and religious, moral or political verse with satire and light verse. All the major poets are fully represented, and there are also superb works by lesser known poets, and many surprises among the favourites.

Editorial Reviews

Review

`If one had to say where can you find in fewer than 1,000 pages the best of English poetry, here it is. Daily Telegraph

`by far the most balanced and most wide-ranging [anthology] we have, offering superlative value to almost every taste' The Times

`Dame Helen has seen through this enormous task with affection, wit and wonderful thoroughness.' Times Literary Supplement

`Her knowledge of English poetry is both extensive and intensive; her critical standards are eminently worthy of respect...The reading public has every reason to be grateful to her.' Critical Quarterly

`The book remains a continuous and rewarding pleasure...It is a cause of wonder how easily poems of the recent past fit with those written centuries ago without jarring or disturbance.' New York Times

About the Author

Dame Helen Gardner was Emeritus Professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford, a distinguished scholar and author of books including The Metaphysical Poets, In Defence of the Imagination, and The Art of T. S. Eliot.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 992 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (October 26, 1972)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198121369
• ISBN-13: 978-0198121367
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.9 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #110,885 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Old "New" vs. New "Old", March 25, 2001

By 

James A. Boa (Woburn, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The New Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250-1950 (Oxford Books of Verse) (Hardcover)

The appearance of the 1999 Oxford Book of English Verse, edited by Christopher Ricks, makes us ask about the 1972 New Oxford Book of English Verse, edited by Helen Gardner. Since they are both anthologies of centuries of poetry, there is a lot of overlap. But there are a lot of differences too. In order to include modern poems (Gardner stops at 1950), Ricks has had to cut, and some of my favorite poems did not make the cut: Tennyson's "Crossing the Bar", Keats's Last Sonnet, and Yeats's "An Irish Airman Foresees his Death", to name just three.

With "Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift", both books excerpt, and just what is excerpted is instructive. I prefer Ricks here. And Ricks's preservation of spelling and punctuation is in my opinion a better choice, though he then goes and leaves out Coleridge's marginal notes in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner."

So, if you care about poetry, you need both books. Where they are different, they are both valuable. Where they are the same, they are not quite the same, and a comparison proves instructive. Or at least it has so proved to me.

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An old favorite, a good beginning, January 17, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The New Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250-1950 (Oxford Books of Verse) (Hardcover)

My nightstand is small, so only a few books can fit. The space is reserved for those trusted friends that I turn to late at night, or when I'm sick. Gardner's volume is among them.

This anthology covers 900 pages of verse from Great Brittain, in a variety of styles and subjects. As an introduction to the deep range of English poetry, it had very few peers, and the only rival in taste in selection (both what is included and excluded) is the 5-volume anthology Auden & Pearson did for the Viking/Penguin Portables. Buy it; read it, a little at a time or straight through; reread it. You won't be disappointed.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pleasing Poetry, November 11, 2010

By 

Patrick Kennedy "Good Tongue." (Kildare,Ireland) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The New Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250-1950 (Oxford Books of Verse) (Hardcover)

If you like poetry in any degree, you will enjoy this book, it's a pleasure and a treasure to own. I would recommend it to my friends. It contains a selection of poems from the principle poets of English literature. pádraic, Kildare, Ireland