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Underwoods
Poetry. According to ""Robert Louis (Balfour) Stevenson ( 1850 - 1894), was a Scottish novelist, poet, and travel writer, and a leading representative of Neo-romanticism in English literature. He was the man who ""seemed to pick the right word up on the point of his pen, like a man playing spillikins"", as G. K. Chesterton put it. He was also greatly admired by many authors, including Jorge Luis Borges, Ernest Hemingway, Rudyard Kipling, Vladimir Nabokov, and J. M. Barrie. Most modernist writers dismissed him, however, because he was popular and did not write within their definition of modernism. It is only recently that critics have begun to look beyond Stevenson's popularity and allow him a place in the canon.""
- GenresPoetry
140 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1887
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About the author
Robert Louis Stevenson
6,861 books6,949 followersRobert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, and travel writer, and a leading representative of English literature. He was greatly admired by many authors, including Jorge Luis Borges, Ernest Hemingway, Rudyard Kipling and Vladimir Nabokov.
Most modernist writers dismissed him, however, because he was popular and did not write within their narrow definition of literature. It is only recently that critics have begun to look beyond Stevenson's popularity and allow him a place in the Western canon.
Most modernist writers dismissed him, however, because he was popular and did not write within their narrow definition of literature. It is only recently that critics have begun to look beyond Stevenson's popularity and allow him a place in the Western canon.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 28, 2020
Lovely book of poems by R.L. Stevenson. My edition only collects Book I of the original, which features 38 poems written in English (Book II has 16 poems writting in "Scots"). Poems go from fantasizing about the brooks and seasons of Stevenson's native Scotland to celebrating his literati friends, like William Henley and Henry James, to reflecting on illness and death (going as far as to pen his own epitaph).
Stevenson was in poor health for the majority of his life and set sail for the Pacific not long after publishing Underwoods, which is prevalently melancholic. He spent the rest of his days sailing the Pacific on a sort of nomadic healing quest before passing away in Samoa at the age of 44. His posthumous Prayers Written at Vailima stands in stark contrast with the more baroque Underwoods, offering a more serene, peaceful rumination on mortality with haiku-grade simplicity. I enjoyed both of them, but "Vailima" got the most out of me.
Stevenson was in poor health for the majority of his life and set sail for the Pacific not long after publishing Underwoods, which is prevalently melancholic. He spent the rest of his days sailing the Pacific on a sort of nomadic healing quest before passing away in Samoa at the age of 44. His posthumous Prayers Written at Vailima stands in stark contrast with the more baroque Underwoods, offering a more serene, peaceful rumination on mortality with haiku-grade simplicity. I enjoyed both of them, but "Vailima" got the most out of me.
February 27, 2013
I'm not normally a great fan of poetry because I feel I don't understand it; but I am a great fan of Stevenson, so I read this. And it was very good. This man was a very prolific and versatile writer, he wrote novels, poetry, essays, travel books and short stories. This is the first contact I've had with his poetry and I found it beautiful: very evocative, colorful and rich. The managing of language is masterful and he uses rhyme nearly always.
Stevenson wrote this book in his long years of illness so recurent topics are death and the passing of life with its different stages, as if his illness had made him more aware of these things. He uses great metaphores and writes with sublime skill. I found his poems in Scots a bit hard to follow but it is not as difficult to do so as in some of his narrative. Underwoods is a collection to be carefully read and appreciated. Every fan of poetry will know its value better than I.
Stevenson wrote this book in his long years of illness so recurent topics are death and the passing of life with its different stages, as if his illness had made him more aware of these things. He uses great metaphores and writes with sublime skill. I found his poems in Scots a bit hard to follow but it is not as difficult to do so as in some of his narrative. Underwoods is a collection to be carefully read and appreciated. Every fan of poetry will know its value better than I.
June 13, 2013
Poetry tends to not be my kind of thing, and if I actually had this book of Stevenson's poems I probably wouldn't keep it. As it is, it's part of a collected works volume so I've no choice.
These poems are mostly either to friends or about some specific event (as opposed to being ornate flights of fancy or contemplations of nature...though those are represented here too), so a great deal of their relevance seems to be lost over the time between us and them. They're nicely written enough, although Stevenson does indulge himself with an occasional lost or arcane word just to make a rhyme work.
I'm glad this was a short collection, and though I may read Child's Garden of Verse, I'll probably otherwise avoid any other Stevenson poetry. Besides, his prose is so excellent, why would I want anything else of him?
These poems are mostly either to friends or about some specific event (as opposed to being ornate flights of fancy or contemplations of nature...though those are represented here too), so a great deal of their relevance seems to be lost over the time between us and them. They're nicely written enough, although Stevenson does indulge himself with an occasional lost or arcane word just to make a rhyme work.
I'm glad this was a short collection, and though I may read Child's Garden of Verse, I'll probably otherwise avoid any other Stevenson poetry. Besides, his prose is so excellent, why would I want anything else of him?
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews