Favourite Poems of England

by Jane McMorland Hunter (Editor)

Shakespeare's 'This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle' launches an illustrated celebration of England and English eccentricities and humour that features all its greatest poets.

Genres: Poetry

176 pages, Hardcover

First published May 6, 2014

Reviews

[Jessie Pietens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not great, not bad. This anthology had some lovely poems in there that I will probably go back to every now and again, but there were a lot of poems that I didn’t really connect to - which is always the gamble with an anthology I guess. Nevertheless, the design of the book, with its beautiful illustrations, was lovely.

[Summer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this collection of poems about England. And the imagery placed throughout was perfect.

[Jonny Parshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

The poems aside are wonderful, beautiful, but the real joy in this book is their selection, the order they're presented, and the themes in which they are arranged. Add to that the beautiful art and you'll find this book is beyond better than what it should be. It is an overachievement. Five stars, would recommend to any lover of England, poetry, but especially both.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful little book filled with lovely poems..

[Merle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I expected more from the poems. Two stars for the illustrations.

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well selected and diverse choice of works epitomising some of the aspects of English life - very nostalgic for someone living overseas!

[Dianne · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a pretty little book, but I didn't enjoy the poems as much as I'd hoped. I had recognized a number of the author's names so was looking forward to what might be offered, but most of the selections simply didn't appeal to me. There's no explaining my relationship with poetry. The ones I love mean the world to me but there is so much of it that I don't like at all. Who knows why?

I did have one good laugh somewhere in the middle of the book. It had all been fairly serious up till that point, then I came across A Hand In The Bird, by Roald Dahl. I can't reprint it for you here because of copyright law, but do find a copy if you can. It cracked me up.

Some of the poets whose works are included are Thomas Hardy, William Blake, A. E. Houseman, John Keats, William Wordsworth, Percy Byshe Shelley, Christina Rossetti and William Shakespeare. Quite an elite group, isn't it? I feel rather ashamed of myself that I couldn't find anything to love.