Garden Poems

by John Hollander (Editor)

The splendid poems in this collection both represent and glorify the cultivating instinct, and each of them succeeds in "annihilating all that's made," as Andrew Marvell puts it in one of the most famous of all English poems, "to a green thought in a green shade." Contents include poems on Paradises, Gardens of Love, Gardens in the Mind, Gardens and Seasons, Flowers, Gardeners, The Work of the Garden, Gardens of the Wild, City Gardens, Public Gardens, Ruined Gardens, and A Garden of Gardens. Contributors include John Milton, Ovid, E.E. Cummings, Thom Gunn, John Donne, James Merrill, Wallace Stevens, Robert Browning, Shakespeare, and many others.

Genres: Poetry, Classics, Gardening, Reference

256 pages, Hardcover

First published April 23, 1996

Reviews

[Elisabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although there weren't that many real gems in this collection, overall it was a nice enough read.

[Dana ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this anthology of poems; I discovered many writers and poems I had never heard of. I tabbed a lot of pages. As a word of caution, majority of these lean towards being classic poems, few are that modern, so if you don't enjoy that style of writing I would pick up another collection. I'll go ahead and share one of my favorites from this collection!

The Garden of Joy - Isaac Rosenberg

In honey essenced bliss of sleep's deceit

My sense lay drowned, and my soul's eyes saw clear,

Unstranged to wonder, made familiar

By instant seeing. Eden's garden sweet, Shedding upon mine eyelids odorous heat

Of the light fingered golden atmosphere

Shaken through boughs whose whispering I could hear

Beneath, within the covert's cool retreat

Of the spread boughs stood shapes who swayed the

boughs,

And bright fruit fell, laughing to leave green house;

While gleeful children dabbled with the sun Caught the strange fruit, then ran with smiles of love

To earth, whose peoples as they ate thereof Soft sank into the garden, one by one.

They lie within the garden, outside Time.

The ripened fulness of their soul's desire

Glad on their tranquil faces. No fanged fire

Of hot insatiate pleasure, no pulsed chime

To summon to tusked orgy of earth's slime, Flickers the throne of rapture's flushed empire That glows, mild rays of the divine attire

Upon each face, sun of this day-spring clime.

They seem forever wondering - listening

Unto some tale of marvel, music told,

That the flowers weep in jewelled glistening With envy of the joy that they must hold,

While in the dewy mirrors lady Spring

Trims herself by their smiles, their happy mould.

[Caitlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't be fooled by its small size, this is quite packed full of poems on all sorts of gardens, gardeners, and flowers. Poetry is so personal it's impossible to say what one person might like, but for me, other than a few stand out gems, these poems felt strained and a bit dull--plain flower wallpapers, instead of a vibrant bouquet.

[Tristán Saldáña · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gorgeously yet modestly made anthology, expanding the notion of a garden as an imaginative, poetic tool to explore infinite realms of interority. Of the many "flowers" in this "garden," so far I am finding most gratifying Hart Crane's "Garden Abstract" and William Cowper's "On Pruning," yet one poem in this John Hollander "bouquet" I find particularly enthralling to my imagination—"Design in Living Colors" (Adrienne Rich).

[Dorian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Handful of them were very beautiful, but there was a lot of repetition that I couldn’t help but notice. I found myself having to reread because I was losing focus from some of the similarities between poems that were next to each other.
But overall, a good little poetry book and I’m glad I gave it a read through.

[Crystal M · Rating 2 out of 5]

My biggest peeve is that it’s male-dominated. And these poems feel like something I’d read in an English class and dissect for an hour, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, just not my taste. Also, lots of rhymes. Anyways, not for me.

[E J · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute enough but nothing special. No stand outs for me.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this is more about me than the poems: I've discovered that pure descriptive poems are of less interest to me.

[Grace · Rating 1 out of 5]

I find poetry to be dull sometimes, especially when I can't make sense of what is being said ... but I continue to buy these books just in case I end up enjoying most of the poems.

[Kristen Helm · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice collection! Is there any poetry more ancient than a garden? The introduction was well written and delightful!

[Grady · Rating 3 out of 5]

An anthology such as this bears a challenge that a collection of poems by a single author does not: these poems all have something to do with gardens, but they are stripped from their historical and stylistic context. I suppose one could argue that a poem stands or falls on its own, but while that may be true for exceptional poems - and may account for their staying power - I find that its hard to get the full impact of a poem without understanding the resonances from its context - how it plays with an established form, or finds a way to deploy a common metaphor in an insightful way. My knowledge of poets and poetry is middling, at best, so for many of the poems in this anthology, I'm left to wonder, what made this poem special?

The grouping of poems by subtheme is helpful - "gardens and seasons', 'city gardens', 'ruined gardens' - and the poets are drawn from across world culture, although it's heavily weighted to English and American poets. This will be a collection to keep and read through in the right, rare, mood.

[Ruth · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were a few enjoyable poems in this anthology. It had promise, but it didn't deliver the way I hoped it would. It included a lot of translated poems, and although that may work sometimes if the translator has a really fine sense of the feeling of the original, overall these translations failed to move me. The selections were mosly just 'okay.' And this is from a poetry lover. Oh well, it was a good idea, and I did enjoy several.

[Liz]

Series design by Carol Devine Carson and Barbara de Wilde

[Velvetea · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tiny, adorable book to carry around of uplifting, nature poetry

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very enjoyable collection, where I found some new favorites.

[Mark McTague · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poetry for gardeners who love poems and poets who love gardens.
Yes, it makes sense.

[Sylvia Clare · Rating 2 out of 5]

interesting choices and some we liked and some we didn't. so many different poets included in this anthology - nicely sectioned but again not really working for us overall as a collection

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely lovely book.

[Angie Rhodes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyman's poetry books are beautiful, each book is different, the poems are delightful, there is always something for everyone. The perfect size to fit in a pocket or hand bag,,for any age.