The Spirit of Man

by Robert Bridges

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

Genres: Poetry

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1916

About the author

Robert Seymour Bridges was Britain's poet laureate from 1913 to 1930. A doctor by training, he achieved literary fame only late in life. His poems reflect a deep Christian faith, and he is the author of many well-known hymns. It was through Bridges’ efforts that Gerard Manley Hopkins achieved posthumous fame.

Librarian note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

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Reviews

[Marcus Hobson · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting anthology for a number of reasons - it was first published in 1916, a few months before the horrors of The Somme battles. There is an interesting mix of poems and prose and some unusual choices in the selection.
Some found it a comfort in 1916, as they came to terms with the loss of their loved ones. In my copy certain lines had been marked by grieving parents, commemorating the loss of their son and lauding his heroism.
The book itself has a fascinating history - I have tried to find out exactly how many editions it went through without success, but a quick glance through all the copies for sale on Abe Books found twenty six reprints. It remained popular right through the Second War and beyond, touching a note with those who had been touched by loss.

[Lenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such an interesting book. It claims to be a collection of some of the greatest poetry and prose of Western culture. Well and good. But the subtext of it seems to be that it was written as a kind of intellectual's propaganda to exhort young British men to go fight in World War I, or perhaps to soothe their rather damaged minds while in the trenches. It is a fascinating book.