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The New Faber Book of Love Poems
James Fenton, a Whitbread-winning poet praised for his own love poetry, gathers together the best lyric poems originating in the English language. Ranging from the sixteenth century to the present day, The New Faber Book of Love Poems contains a fantastic mix of classics and popular favorites, as well as blues lyrics, American folk poetry, Elizabethan lyrics and Broadway songs. There are poems by men about women, women about men, men about men and women about women - in short, something for everyone, and a must-have for everyone's bookshelf.
496 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
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Various
455k books1,339 followersVarious is the correct author for any book with multiple unknown authors, and is acceptable for books with multiple known authors, especially if not all are known or the list is very long (over 50).
If an editor is known, however, Various is not necessary. List the name of the editor as the primary author (with role "editor"). Contributing authors' names follow it.
Note: WorldCat is an excellent resource for finding author information and contents of anthologies.
If an editor is known, however, Various is not necessary. List the name of the editor as the primary author (with role "editor"). Contributing authors' names follow it.
Note: WorldCat is an excellent resource for finding author information and contents of anthologies.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
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November 24, 2024Şairleri kronolojik değil de alfabetik sıralamak kimin fikriyse yargılanmasını talep ediyorum
April 14, 2016
Shakespeare's Sonnet 130 wasn't included??? When it's amazing??
March 2, 2022
How do I love anthologies of love poetry? Let me count the ways. Actually, let me not, as this review would far exceed this platform's character limit. In the case of this collection, however, I'm disappointed to report that I found as much to annoy as to delight. On one hand, this is a satisfyingly dense anthology, which includes a large number of my favourite poems, and also afforded me the opportunity to extend that list with a few new discoveries. Nonetheless, I can't help feeling that this collection simply isn't well curated.
First, it is quite unbalanced: Fenton includes far too many selections from certain poets (e.g. Auden) and far too few from others of significant merit (e.g. Duffy). In fact, I was somewhat outraged to discover that only a single of Duffy's poems is included here (and I don't think that one is particularly well-chosen). If the reason for such omissions is a lack of space, my frustration is compounded by the fact that Fenton has seen fit to include seven of his own poems in the anthology (which feels rather arrogant, in any case).
Second, I dislike the organisation of this collection: Fenton has consciously chosen not to organise this anthology by theme (which would be my preference), but by poet. Conditional on such a choice, I wish the collection were, at least, arranged chronologically by poet; Fenton's organisation feels arbitrary. Last, a number of song lyrics are included and, while I certainly acknowledge that this medium can produce work of poetic merit, many of these don't really feel as though they belong in this anthology, and I find their inclusion jarring.
Thus, this is not my favourite anthology of love poetry, but I did enjoy chunks of it.
First, it is quite unbalanced: Fenton includes far too many selections from certain poets (e.g. Auden) and far too few from others of significant merit (e.g. Duffy). In fact, I was somewhat outraged to discover that only a single of Duffy's poems is included here (and I don't think that one is particularly well-chosen). If the reason for such omissions is a lack of space, my frustration is compounded by the fact that Fenton has seen fit to include seven of his own poems in the anthology (which feels rather arrogant, in any case).
Second, I dislike the organisation of this collection: Fenton has consciously chosen not to organise this anthology by theme (which would be my preference), but by poet. Conditional on such a choice, I wish the collection were, at least, arranged chronologically by poet; Fenton's organisation feels arbitrary. Last, a number of song lyrics are included and, while I certainly acknowledge that this medium can produce work of poetic merit, many of these don't really feel as though they belong in this anthology, and I find their inclusion jarring.
Thus, this is not my favourite anthology of love poetry, but I did enjoy chunks of it.
May 19, 2019
After struggling through a long stretch of Robert Browning I realised I don't particularly like anthologies arranged alphabetically by author. I much prefer collections ordered by title, or even better where poem is matched to poem (the 'Staying Alive' trilogy being an excellent example of this).
I've also learned that I'm not really into love poems as a genre. I like the sad ones and the sexy ones (what does that say about me?) but there were many that I just passed by unmoved. There are a number of song lyrics included in this anthology, and I don't think they all worked on the page.
So this book was never going to captivate me. That said, it was a nice reminder of those poets that I really like - Auden, Gunn, Donne, Lawrence - and made me realise I like some poets much more than I thought - Dickinson, Graves, Housman, Muldoon. Plus I'd quite like to read the whole of Tennyson's 'In Memorian A. H. H.'.
A generally nice collection, but not the easiest to read cover-to-cover.
I've also learned that I'm not really into love poems as a genre. I like the sad ones and the sexy ones (what does that say about me?) but there were many that I just passed by unmoved. There are a number of song lyrics included in this anthology, and I don't think they all worked on the page.
So this book was never going to captivate me. That said, it was a nice reminder of those poets that I really like - Auden, Gunn, Donne, Lawrence - and made me realise I like some poets much more than I thought - Dickinson, Graves, Housman, Muldoon. Plus I'd quite like to read the whole of Tennyson's 'In Memorian A. H. H.'.
A generally nice collection, but not the easiest to read cover-to-cover.
February 25, 2020
Of the many books in my shelf, this might be the oldest. I got this book as a gift in 2010 from a blogger friend who I was meeting for the first time and who knew of my passion for poems.
I read this over the last few days. The poems are collected from the works of many poets, and as such have varying styles. I couldn't understand many of them, but loved a few. There's one in particular about avoiding jealousy that caught my eye. And one where a lover speaks to his dead beloved.
Meant to be read a few poems at a time, not at a go.
I read this over the last few days. The poems are collected from the works of many poets, and as such have varying styles. I couldn't understand many of them, but loved a few. There's one in particular about avoiding jealousy that caught my eye. And one where a lover speaks to his dead beloved.
Meant to be read a few poems at a time, not at a go.
August 5, 2022
wish this included more modern poems
October 13, 2022
I mean, first poetry book! It killed honestly. Not sure what his organizational strategy was and it made me laugh that he put his own poems in here but some of these are great!
August 25, 2014
I was given this collection of love poems as a gift from someone I'd never met before. It has been my sort of filing in book for those times I don't have anything else to read.
Which says something, because those books I can put down for a week or so at a time aren't usually the ones I can recommend, because they're not keeping my attention, are they? No. No they are not.
Quite a few of my pet peeves when it comes to poetry anthologies are met in this collection. One is when the editor chooses to stick songs in with the poems. Songs are not poems. They're songs. They don't read very well because they're not meant to be read, they're meant to be sung. Reading something that goes to a chorus and seeing a few words followed by etc.? No. Not poetry. Want to put together a collection of love songs? Go ahead, but please, for the love of God, don't stick them in a book of poems.
Another pet peeve is when the editor him (or her) self is a poet, and they decide to put their own poems in the book. An editor needs to make unbiased decisions on what to include and what not to include. Putting one's own poems is simply not good editing. Shame on you James Fenton.
Finally, if you're going to put together a collection of love poems, make sure that all of the poems you choose are, in fact, love poems. Poems about love, being in love with one other person, that sort of thing. Not poems about a generalized love of women, or men. Not falling out of love poems or poems that hate love. Not poems about lust or sex with no love or even a specific person in mind. Not poems that might mention in a line or two being in a relationship but the poem is, as a whole, about something much larger. (Tennyson's Circumstance comes to mind.)
There's some gender inequality here too. 21 females poets, most of which only have just one or two poems included. 87 male poets, many who have ten or more poems.
In other words, while I appreciate the thoughtful gift, this isn't something I'd spend my own money on. A disappointing and unimaginative collection.
Which says something, because those books I can put down for a week or so at a time aren't usually the ones I can recommend, because they're not keeping my attention, are they? No. No they are not.
Quite a few of my pet peeves when it comes to poetry anthologies are met in this collection. One is when the editor chooses to stick songs in with the poems. Songs are not poems. They're songs. They don't read very well because they're not meant to be read, they're meant to be sung. Reading something that goes to a chorus and seeing a few words followed by etc.? No. Not poetry. Want to put together a collection of love songs? Go ahead, but please, for the love of God, don't stick them in a book of poems.
Another pet peeve is when the editor him (or her) self is a poet, and they decide to put their own poems in the book. An editor needs to make unbiased decisions on what to include and what not to include. Putting one's own poems is simply not good editing. Shame on you James Fenton.
Finally, if you're going to put together a collection of love poems, make sure that all of the poems you choose are, in fact, love poems. Poems about love, being in love with one other person, that sort of thing. Not poems about a generalized love of women, or men. Not falling out of love poems or poems that hate love. Not poems about lust or sex with no love or even a specific person in mind. Not poems that might mention in a line or two being in a relationship but the poem is, as a whole, about something much larger. (Tennyson's Circumstance comes to mind.)
There's some gender inequality here too. 21 females poets, most of which only have just one or two poems included. 87 male poets, many who have ten or more poems.
In other words, while I appreciate the thoughtful gift, this isn't something I'd spend my own money on. A disappointing and unimaginative collection.
September 5, 2016
I have a great respect for James Fenton, and I adore Love Poems. However, this particular collection did not manage to strike a chord with me.
In the preface it is noted how the Faber version sets itself up against the Penguin version, listing the poems alphabetically rather than thematically. Somehow this just took the entire joy out of the collection for me. There were some good poems, but for the majority listed in discreet authored sections there was no sense of actually engaging with the poems in the same creative way that Penguin managed it. The very collection of poems seemed to me at times to be taking the theme of love exceedingly tenuously.
Overall, there were just too many jarring episodes, whether it was the choppiness of change between poets or the very choice of the poems themselves that ensured I didn't really appreciate this collection very much.
In the preface it is noted how the Faber version sets itself up against the Penguin version, listing the poems alphabetically rather than thematically. Somehow this just took the entire joy out of the collection for me. There were some good poems, but for the majority listed in discreet authored sections there was no sense of actually engaging with the poems in the same creative way that Penguin managed it. The very collection of poems seemed to me at times to be taking the theme of love exceedingly tenuously.
Overall, there were just too many jarring episodes, whether it was the choppiness of change between poets or the very choice of the poems themselves that ensured I didn't really appreciate this collection very much.
February 28, 2008
Bought as a lucky charm cos of the imminent publication of my own Love Poems and because James Fenton came over as such a nice person when giving his talk on Coleridge at the Bath Literature Festival I regret that this book is far too gay and jazz-bluesy for me. Although with its length there are numerous good things in it but how anybody can leave out Thomas Hardy's greatest love poem The Voice beats me.
April 13, 2008
bij nader inzien staan er toch ook wel een hoop zwijmel en flair gedichtjes in - maar blijft toch een fijne collectie!
gedoseerd innemen en appreciatie zeer afhankelijk van persoonlijke state of being natuurlijk :-)
gedoseerd innemen en appreciatie zeer afhankelijk van persoonlijke state of being natuurlijk :-)
August 6, 2011
A collection of love poems that I believe has something for everyone. I'm very particular about poetry and generally dislike most of what I read but I found a great many poems in this book that I have been very pleased with.
January 3, 2012
Well I wanted a book of poems, so it certainly delivered. Wouldn't consider them all must-reads though. Took me a year to read, as I couldn't commit to it full-time.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews