Best-Loved Poems

by Neil Philip (Editor), Isabelle Brent (Illustrator)

This highly accessible collection gathers together the best-loved gems of English language verse, from the deeply moving to the hilariously silly. The poems span the entire range of verse from high drama to stuff-and-nonsense and are presented in nine Poems of Childhood and Youth; Poems of Love and Marriage; Poems of Life; Poems of Loss and Comfort; Poems of War and Peace; Poems to Read Aloud; Poems to Read Quietly; Poems of Animals and Nature and Poems of Magic and Mystery.

The anthology includes works by William Blake, Dylan Thomas, Seamus Heaney, Robert Burns, T S Eliot, Rudyard Kipling, W B Yeats and many, many more. The poems have all been chosen and arranged by Neil Philip and the volume is illustrated throughout with watercolour borders and decorative motifs by Isabelle Brent, glowing with her trademark gold leaf.

Genres: Poetry, Fiction, Classics, Anthologies, Childrens, Reference

224 pages, Paperback

First published May 24, 2000

About the author

Neil Philip is a writer, folklorist and poet. He is married to the artist Emma Bradford, and lives in the Cotswolds, England. Neil loves words, poetry, and the art of storytelling in all its forms. Among his many books are A Fine Anger, Victorian Village Life, The Cinderella Story, The Penguin Book of English Folktales, Mythology (with Philip Wilkinson), The Great Mystery, War and the Pity of War, The New Oxford Book of Childrens Verse, The Tale of Sir Gawain, Horse Hooves & Chicken Feet, and The Adventures of Odysseus. Neil has contributed to numerous journals, including The Times, and Signal: Approaches to Childrens Books, and has also written for stage, screen, and radio. His work has won numerous awards and honours, including the Aesop Award of the American Folklore Society and the Literary Criticism Book Award of the Childrens Literature Association. Outside of the storied world, Neil is passionate about cats, art, music, France, food & wine, and friendship.

Reviews

[J.D. Estrada · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful collection I took my sweet time to read. Never any rush, never any desperate need to finish the collection, just the desire to pick up the book for a quick read here, and a little read there. It was a book that often shared some interesting poems, some classics to revisit, and plenty of new material for me to take note of the poets who so enticed me with but a few words on a page. Some of the pieces in this collection are honestly timeless. Others have aged well. And some do actually feel dated. But there are so many lovely surprises. The artwork is also a highlight and the glossy pages actually felt silky to the touch. This is a lovely collection, perfect to have lounging about whenever the eye demands some verses to compliment your daily life.

[Vanessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a really pretty collection of poetry, with poets ranging from throughout the centuries, some well-known and some I'd never heard of. This collection is separated into nine themed sections: Of Childhood and Youth, Of Love and Marriage, Of Life, Of Loss and Comfort, Of War and Peace, To Read Aloud, To Read Quietly, Of Animals and Nature, and Of Magic and Mystery.

I'm not a massive poetry reader, mainly because I am so used to thinking of poetry in terms of analysis due to my English Literature degree - I always feel like I'm not appreciating poetry fully if I'm not looking for hidden meaning and metaphor. However, I was able to go back and forth with this collection over the course of a week, and although I didn't enjoy all of the poems, there were some definite standouts that I felt were incredibly beautiful and I will have to come back to and re-read. This has also made me really want to buy a book of Robert Frost's poetry because his writing is beautiful.

My main enjoyment of this volume came from the beautiful illustrations by Isabelle Brent. Each section's title page bore a beautiful themed illustration, and there are beautiful drawings scattered throughout that link in with the various poems. The edging of each section's page is different too, which was an unexpected and beautiful addition.

If you are a poetry fan, or are not sure where to start, I would recommend this collection, particularly if you like beautiful books.

[lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't particularly like the poems that were in this poetry book only because they aren't the type of poems I like

[✿ Natalie ✿ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is beautiful, not only in its choice of poems but in it's presentation. I was bought a copy of this book many years ago as a gift and 'Best Loved Poems' does make a wonderful gift. The illustrations and layout of pages are extremely appealing. I can look through this book for hours, taking in both the drawings and motifs aswell as the stories the words create, all parts calling to the artist in me. Even the page borders are pretty! Delightful.

[Danielle Palmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a bit hard for me to rate, as the artwork of “the owl and the pussycat” on the front misled me into thinking this was poetry for children. Which it most certainly was not. Many of my favorites (daffodils, piebald beauty) are included here, as well as ones that seem to appear in nearly every anthology (the eagle, the bells). There were multiple poems included that took some internet sleuthing to find out what their meanings were (lots of references to mythology that were not plainly evident to me). I did find a new favorite called “the skip.” The first couple sections of this poetry book were especially difficult for me to get through, I even considered abandoning ship! As always with difficult poetry books, I’m glad I persevered. The illustrations are very nice.

[Charlotte · Rating 2 out of 5]

This collection of poetry was quite good and I recognised some of my favourites such as the Jabberwocky, remember and daffodils. The best of the best are included in this book and split in to several different small categories/chapters. A quick and fun read, with lots of different emotions.

[Stormclouds · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the selection of poems and the illustrations are beautiful.

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's Just lovely.
A Nice variety of poems lovely quality illustrated book; laugh, cry, reminisce, enjoy.
Highly recommended.

[Anamaria Koeva · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is what I needed :)

[Angel Serrano · Rating 3 out of 5]

Antología de poemas ingleses escrito por poetas conocidos, como Emily Dickinson, T.S. Eliot, John Keata, Dylan Thomas, W. B. Yeats, William Shakespeare, Rudyard Kipling, etc. De Henley destaca 'Invictus' que acaba con "It matters not how strait the gate/ How charged with punishments the scroll / I am the master of my fate:/ I am the captain of my soul." Y de Kipling 'Common from 1914-1918': "If any question why we died,/ Tell them, because our fathers lied."

[Stephanie Fox · Rating 3 out of 5]

Possibly one of the most beautifully illustrated books that I have ever seen!
It's contains a nice selection of poems which have been organised into sections such as 'childhood' and 'magic and mystery'. However, it is extremely dude- heavy, which is especially grating when some of the poems by said male authors are not what I would describe as the best.
All in all, this book contains very few poems that are to my taste but it's always good to have a copy of such classics..

[Gawain_the_Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a lovely lovely collection of highly accessible poems. Suitable for all ages.

I, and others, have used this book to read poems to people in the final stages of their lives when hearing is the only sense left, they might be in a coma, you are dreading their final breath but you have run out of things to say …. you may feel that is a bit morbid but I literally keep multiple copies on my shelf to give to people in similar situations - I cannot recommend this book more strongly!

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such an enjoyable collection of poems. I've finished the book, but will continue to browse through it from time to time. So many poems deserve to be savoured over and over again ... they really never lose their taste, or their enjoyment. Being classified by subject means the ability to easily wander through particular themes, as fancy dictates.

[Stephen Hoffman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great selection of poems, which enveloped me like a hug.

I loved the poems on nature, animals, life and war in particular.

It would have been in five, but I'm not a fan of love poems, so that section was not for me!

Definitely a selection I will constantly go back to and provides a lift in mood during dark times.

[Judith · Rating 3 out of 5]

El llibre de l'insomni. La majoria dels poemes m'han semblat mediocres. Tot i així sempre estaré agraïda a aquest llibre per presentar-me a Emily Dickinson, tots els poemes d'ella que hi havia aquí m'han encantat. Definitivament llegiré més d'ella. Thomas Hardy sincerament m'ha sorprès, m'esperava un intensito a seques i sí, però m'ha agradat molt més del que m'esperava.

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bookmarked the ones I liked best as I read, and today when counting, the total came to 47. Not important to my review of course! Just something that intrigued me. Anyway, I quite enjoyed this book. It's a great mix of poems, geared toward adults and children/teens alike and I definitely recommend it (especially to poetry enthusiasts such as myself).

[Lorraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favorite books of poetry I’ve read in a very long time. Two of my favorite poems were ‘Leisure’, by W. H. Davies and of course the classic;
Sonnet: “How do I love thee?” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, which will forever be one of my all time romantic poems.

[Jolene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful book of poems separated into genres. I loved the artwork and how colourful this book was, it's a pretty read and I marked out some poems I really enjoyed from this book. Nice book to have on the bedside table.

[mrs t j hunt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely little book. I don't usually read poetry, but this was easy to read, with some very well known poems.
Each poem is categorized into a chapter, nine in all. You can choose to read in which order you wish.
Joyful, Serious, Funny, Melancholy, a poem for all emotions
Enjoy!

[Gracie:) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stunning variety of different poets, with favourites such as Dickinson, Wordsworth, and Shakespeare, as well as some more modern poets. Each poem was apt and this was such a lovely and gentle read. The illustrations were gorgeous - a true masterpiece of poetry!

[Kirsten T]

Not overwhelmingly good, but some nice poems mixed in.
Despite the look, this book is not kid-friendly.
The illustrations were beautiful but mostly decorative page lining. I wish they had added more meaning to the poetry.

[V · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely selection of poems, great for the bedtime, when you want just to relax and fly away to the land of dreams, where there's space for perfect romantic high spirited reality...😊💕💕💕

[Charlie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated poety book I like to dip into now and then

[tima! · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated and sorted!
My favourite poem out of the list was “Song of the Lower Classes”

[Morvling Bookink · Rating 3 out of 5]

The illustrations were very adorable but there were a lot of boring old poems in here.

Some beautiful poems though too

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautifully presented but missing many of my best loved poems.

[Jay Pearson-Jenkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful bedtime books of poems.

[Chelsea lovell · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was interesting to read old stories. And found out the truth of twinkle twinkle little star

[Giki · Rating 5 out of 5]

really nice poetry compilation. A good selection of poems, some very well known and some undiscovered gems. Well organised into themed chapters. The thing about a poetry compilation is that you take from it what you need at any particular point in time, someone else has selected the poems - you won't like them all, but they will sit there waiting for you when you do need them. The pages look beautiful with the decorative edging and small illustrations. The text is nicely spaced and easy to read. I do feel an opportunity was missed though for a truly illustrated book of poetry, the illustrations in this book are more often decorative than illustrative of the text, many (but not all) having little relation to the text on the page. As I read poems to my kids every night They would love illustrations which reflected the text in some way. Having said this we do love this book and will get a lot of use from it. There is so much good stuff crammed in here.

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely collection of poems that encompass a wide range of styles, subjects and perspectives. The editor (Neil Philip) has also collated the poems very well into similar sections so that fun poems, sad poems, love poems etc. are grouped nicely together (each section still providing a good range of differing rhymes).
The poems in themselves I would give maybe 4 stars but with what gives the collection that added vibrancy and a rating of 5 stars are the the lovely illustrations by Isabelle Brent which add again to the poems'. The illustrations include both wonderful drawings for the poems as well as lovely page decorations, with both blending artistically to give the book a real feel of one that should be owned, held, read and shared!