Pocket Book of Romantic Poetry

by Various

This compact compendium contains the best work by the nineteenth-century British Romantic poets including William Blake, William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and John Keats. It includes some of the greatest poems in the English language, among them Keats's Ode on a Grecian Urn, Shelley's Ozymandias, Wordsworth's Tintern Abbey, and Coleridge's Kubla Khan.

Genres: Poetry, Classics, Romance, Collections

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2018

About the author

Various 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.

Reviews

[Loretta · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can never go wrong with reading poetry! Especially romantic poetry! Lovely selection! 🥰

[The Aspie Author · Rating 4 out of 5]

William Blake's poems are absolutely beautiful. My favorite's of his were The Echoing Green, The Blossom, A Cradle Song, The Divine Image, Spring, Earth's Answer, The Garden of Love, and The Fly. His works really highlight how nature played a big role in the Romantic Era of literature.

[Ellie Hawkins]

Fav era.

[Sarah Main · Rating 4 out of 5]

The poems in this little collection were very well chosen. I enjoyed something from each of the six poets represented. It’s made me want to read Songs of Innocence and Experience, pairing the matching poems together, as well as really dig into The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

Some of my favorites were:
William Blake
-The Lamb
-The Divine Image
William Wordsworth
-“Three Years She Grew in Sun and Shower”
-“I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
-The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Lord Byron
-The Prisoner of Chillon
Percy Bysshe Shelley
-Ode to the West Wind
John Keats
-Ode on a Grecian Urn
-La Belle Dame Sans Merci
-“When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be”

[clarissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

some poets were fantastic (william blake, lord byron) some were…. less than enjoyable … (samuel taylor coleridge) but mainly i loved the beautiful language throughout this collection. wish there had been at least one woman included, but oh well

[Aleksy · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all, the edition is astoundingly beautiful, and the selection of poems is on point to showcase the general essence and range of each author. Maybe Blake didn’t need 44 poems here… (while others got 2-8) but oh well. Now my impressions of each author:

Blake: his poems seem to imitate the naïveté of a child on purpose, but the style doesn’t speak to me. His subjects of choice - innocence, old age and Biblical themes aren’t that appealing to me. LOVE his graphic works though.

Wordsworth: a positive suprise! His poems were very reflective and complex, while maintaining an easy to read levity. Subtle bridge before Classicist and Romantic.

Coleridge: deeply original works, and quite „non typical” for a Romantic - which makes sense, but it made his work stand out! I disliked his rendition of surreal dreamscapes but got really invested in the Marineer’s tale.

Byron: I hate to say it, but he really is THAT good :/ Everybody talks so highly of him and then it’s actually true. Horrible… But seriously; I loved the dark and melodic atmosphere of his poems. It’s not without flaws, but most poems are enjoyable nevertheless.

Shelley: his poetry connects the „regular” sentimental Romantic with a rational thinker (typical Shelley, the edgy atheist that he is). It was a little too on the nose for me, sometimes he tries too hard. But he still has very charming verses!

Keats: what a nerd. I didn’t notice earlier just how much of his work is connected to the antiquity. I find him the most fragile of all of them, the theme of fleeting youth and beauty seeps through the pages. In my opinion, he’s a little too verbose for the words to trully stick with you. And sometimes he’s brilliant.

[María Eva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Le hubiese dado 4 de 5 pero hay un detalle que considero sumamente importante. De todas formas, primero iré por lo positivo: al estar en inglés, tuve que mover otras partes del cerebro (además de buscarme un diccionario para algunos términos) pero el viaje fue placentero. La selección responde "poesía romántica" ya que se observan muchísimos elementos de la naturaleza, lo efímero, los sentimientos y , en algunos, la influencia griega de ciertos motivos. Fue placentero y la edición es muy bella: hojas gruesas y un tamaño de letra acorde (¿podría haber sido más grande? Sí)-

¿Lo malo?
Este es el listado de poetas:
-William Blake
-William Wordsworth
-Samuel Taylor Coleridge
-Lord Byron
-Percy Bysshe Shelley
-John Keats

NO HAY NINGUNA MUJER.

¿Dónde está Mary Robinson?¿Anna Laetitia Barbauld?¿Dorothy Wordsworth? (si estaba su hermano, podría estar ella)¿Charlotte Smith?¿Mary Lamb?¿Felicia Dorothea Hemans?¿Letitia Elizabeth Landon?¿Charlotte Richardson?¿Hannah More?

Aquí es donde falla esta selección y lo considero un error grave.

[Rae V · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with the other pocket edition books, this was a fun read! I always appreciate something of smaller works, especially when it’s in a smaller physical form. So easy to take with me places so I can read easier pieces and zone in and out as needed.

Honestly felt like there was a lot of variation in “romantic” poetry and would have understood the collection better if it was “love” and not explicitly romantic. Agape, parental, platonic, and sort of nature/worldly love was heavily featured as well!

[Marilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm loving these pocket editions from Fall River Press. Well designed, pretty well curated collections. You're not gonna be surprised by their selections, but the poems they've chosen are good ambassadors. Definitely the kind of "staples you should have readily available" collection you would want in a pocket edition.

Note to the design team though - you should have saved the literal hearts on the cover for the collection of love poetry 🤦🏻‍♀️

[Jasmin Hansen]

A nice, pocket-sized book, perfect for travelling with. The book gives a great, diverse insight into some of the poets from the Romantic Age and shows some of their most famous poems. It has a short introduction in the beginning to the movement, but I did miss a more in-depth introduction to the individual authors . Furthermore, I found most of the poems mediocre, but I did love Coleridge, Keats and Byron. So I will probably check out more of these poets works in the future.

[Jordan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is so hard to review a collection from a group of authors, but I did enjoy this one quite a bit. I was expecting the poetry to be more romantic than what it is, but I did enjoy it anyway. My favourite poems of this collection (and more or less all time) are: My Pretty Rose-Tree by William Blake, The Garden of Love by WIlliam Black, The Fly by William Blake, "I Wandered loney as a Cloud" by William Wordsworth, and "When we two parted" by Lord Byron.

[Nick Zuniga · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well damn. Don’t read this. It is a waste of time. The old English is super difficult to understand, and the poetry is all sort of mundane and boring. It is sort of biblical is that makes sense? Idk, i was confused throughout like half the book.

[Mari · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF'd at page 85

The poetry is objectively well-written, but this book was honestly putting me to sleep, and I don't think I can keep going. I enjoyed Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poetry, but aside from that, this style of poetry isn't for me.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Has my favorite poem in it, or at least, one of the poems I like a lot. The Tiger.

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

Who am I to give Blake, Keats and Wordsworth two stars? This form is just not for me. I tried. I swear.

[Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great overall compilation and I found some new favorites, but the first section dragged a bit for me and there were some printing errors and formatting issues.

[Rūta · Rating 3 out of 5]

anyway

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as romantic as I thought. Perhaps I need to find one written by women.

[Liselotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok! Great way to learn what poets I do like to read about and which ones i don't. :)

[Kylee Barnaj · Rating 4 out of 5]

“…and then I’ll stand, and stroke his silver hair, and i’ll be like him, and he will then love me” The Little Black Boy.

“…Can I see another’s grief, and not seek for kind relief?” On Another’s Sorrow.

“While the lily white shall fall in love delight, nor a thorn nor a threat stain her beauty bright” The Lily.

“Then am I, a happy fly. If I live or if I die” The Fly.

“My soul in agony… that slid into my soul” The Rime of Ancient Mariner.

“A heart whose love is innocent” She Walks in Beauty.

“Though the heart will be still as loving, and the moon be still bright… For the soul wears out the breast, and the heart must pause to breath, and love itself have rest. Though the night was made for loving, and the day returns too soon, yet we’ll go no more roving by the light of the moon” So we’ll go no more roving.

“The hope, the fear, the jealous care, the exalted portion of pain and the power of love, I cannot share…” On This Day I Complete My Thirty-Sixth Year.

“Like a poet hidden in the light of thought, singing hymns unbidden, till the world is wrought to sympathy with hopes and fears it heeded not…” To a Skylark.

[Eloise Hampson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I might sound stupid for saying this, which I have read little poetry so I probably am by saying this... but I expected it to be ROMANTIC poetry... like love type of romance, not the romantic period which doesn’t have anything to do with love😭...after all that is the title of the book, and idk if it’s misleading or I’m dumb or just new to poetry and need to do more research before buying. Still beautiful poems, but if your a raging hopeless romantic like me and want something that will make your heart ache, this isn’t for you!

NOW DONT HATE ME, I DID READ THE INTRODUCTION AND IM AWARE ROMANTIC IS REFERRING TO THE SIX PRIMARY POETS IN THE ROMANTIC PERIOD!!! Just coming from someone who is new to poetry I literally thought it would be romantic😭😭😭 idk if it’s misleading or I’m dumb, but either way I wanted to share in case this helps anyone else out :)

[Squiggly Miggly · Rating 4 out of 5]

7/10

[Sam Goldberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

A perfectly curated anthology; comprising some of the finest late 18th century and early to mid 19th century Romantics!