The Penguin Book of Romantic Poetry

The Penguin Book of... (Penguin Classics)

by Jonathan Wordsworth

The Romanticism that emerged after the American and French revolutions of 1776 and 1789 represented a new flowering of the imagination and the spirit, and a celebration of the soul of humanity with its capacity for love. This extraordinary collection sets the acknowledged genius of poems such as Blake's 'Tyger', Coleridge's 'Khubla Khan' and Shelley's 'Ozymandias' alongside verse from less familiar figures and women poets such as Charlotte Smith and Mary Robinson. We also see familiar poets in an unaccustomed light, as Blake, Wordsworth and Shelley demonstrate their comic skills, while Coleridge, Keats and Clare explore the Gothic and surreal.

Genres: Poetry, Classics, Romanticism, Literature, Fiction, Anthologies, Read For School

1060 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 26, 2005

Reviews

[Steph De Mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

At just over 800 pages in length, this is a weighty anthology that took me a couple of weeks to get through. The collection is well curated, and I particularly like the fact that the poems are grouped into thematic sections, a feature that helped me to observe patterns, and to make comparisons across different poets' treatment of the same subject, in interesting ways. The poems themselves are, however, a mixed bag: alongside the major canon of Romantic poetry and some wonderful lesser-known gems are a number of minor poetical works that likely will only appeal to hardcore fans of the genre.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, I greatly enjoyed the section on Gothic poetry; it contains some very atmospheric works that are perfect for this time of the year. I recommend this collection to anyone seeking a deep dive into Romantic poetry, and a chance to engage more fully with some of its key themes.

[Sammy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A marvelous and all-encompassing anthology. Compiled by Romantic era scholar (and poet's descendant) Jonathan Wordsworth and his academic wife Jessica, this seems to me one of the most comprehensive introductory tomes on Romantic poetry.

The poems are arranged neither chronologically nor by author but instead by subject, allowing the editors to present to us explorations of the poems in conversation, attempting to create a sense of the role these pieces played in the popular (if not always mainstream) culture of the time. The endnotes are fairly extensive to ensure that there are very few issues of clarity for readers, regardless of their background. And the size of the book (around 1,000 pages in paperback, and densely typed) ensures that there's a lot of odes for one's buck.

There are just two notes I would make. The first is that the Wordsworths are content to include minor poems - and even sometimes clear ephemera - in an attempt to present the entire era. This is admirable and, I would argue, correct, but it does lend a slight manic air at times when we fly from one of Keats' greatest hits to an obscure female author writing in a different vein to some doggerel by Scott and on to something else entirely. The second is that I rather wish each section were preceded by a longer essay. While there are rather short biographies of each poet in the back of the book, and the introduction competently lays out the purpose of this edition, this does not have the (for example) Norton Anthology's sense of wonder and historical understanding. Instead - deliberately - the authors seek to throw you into this volume much as if it were an anthology of contemporary poets. Savour the experience, they say, and look things up in another volume if you wish for more understanding. I don't think it's an issue, but it perhaps prevents this from being an eternal masterpiece, merely reducing it to an exceptionally good tome.

[Sara 🦷 · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a WHILE to get through this profound romantic anthology. Many sections were included, fair enough to go through the whole romantic period, my favourites were: The Gothic & Surreal/ On Poets & Poetry
Many of the poems impressed me ALOT knowing that the book is over 1000 pages… anyways here are some of my faves:

“He thought about himself, and the whole earth,
Of man the wonderful, and of the stars,
And how the deuce they ever could have birth;
And then he thought of earthquakes, and of wars,
How many miles the moon might have in girth,
Of air-balloons, and of the many bars
To perfect knowledge of the boundless skies —
And then he thought of Donna Julia’s eyes,”
— Lord Byron, Juan and Julia
from romantic comedy and satire

“Twas in autumn, and stormy and dark was the night,
And fast were the windows and door;
Two guests sat enjoying the fire that burnt bright,
And, smoking in silence with tranquil delight,
They listened to hear the wind roar.
‘Tis pleasant’ cried one, seated by the fireside,
To hear the wind whistle without.
‘A fine night for the Abbey!’ his comrad replied,
Methinks a man’s courage would now be well tried
Who should wander the ruins about.

— Robert Southey, Mary the Maid of the Inn

[Jack Caulfield · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice 'greatest hits' of the Romantic period, with the main figures generously represented and good selections from lesser-known figures too. Most of the great classics are here, at least in extract, although it's strange that Burns's 'To a Louse' and 'Auld Lang Syne' are both missing. Also bothersome is the distinctly sloppy editorial work on the book; the book is riddled with typos, including in the poems themselves; it seems as though no proofreading done. The frank, pithy biographies of the poets at the end are quite enjoyable (Hannah More is 'do-gooder to end all do-gooders'; Mary Robinson has a 'worthless lawyer-husband'), but here too there are mistakes: some authors' bios are simply missing, for no obvious reason. Whatever happened to editorial oversight?

[Joe Davidson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Obviously, in a book this big you're going to come across some poems that really light your fire and some that are only so so. DO NOT MISS "Darkness" by Lord Byron. Also, if it were somehow possible for Charolotte Smith's poems (overwrought though they may be) to take on a human form and then do me, well I'd totally sign up for that.

[& · Rating 3 out of 5]

Time for my unsolicited opinion. Yay.

On Romanticism: I think Romanticism is really fun to read about, and any work that was from the Romantic era, or has Romantic influence is usually beautiful. The idea of protest by resorting to nature and melodrama is something so poignant and hard hitting. I also think that I learnt quite a bit about Romanticism through this anthology. Anyways, even though its beautiful and melodramatic and all, I think it has some weak points. Firstly, some of the poetry gets to a point where it becomes corny and unrealistic. I admit I don't like ballads so its just a me thing. But anyways, secondly, we also have Romanticism to blame for the atrocity that is Leaves Of Grass so.... Last comment... My favorite Romantic poet has been established as Wordsworth.

On this anthology: Too long. While a lot of the poems included were beautiful, yes, most were just.. Not necessary. Yes, this included a lot of what Romanticism is at its core, but so much unnecessary stuff was here. If you want to read Romantic poetry, pick a compact, precise anthology, preferably with some notes on history and the poets themselves.

While I did enjoy this collection, a lot of it was just slogging through poems that were 100% unnecessarily added. Some sections are definitely worth reading. I've listed them below:

Romantic Hallmarks
Romantic solitude, suffering and endurance
Poets in relationship
The Romantic Sonnet

[Kitty · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a book I read for university, so I only read the works of Wordsworth, Keats, and Shelley.
Wordsworth: there were a few of his poems that I enjoyed but to be honest I'm just not entirely sure that the Romantic works are something I enjoy. It may also be that I don't enjoy his works because I have just read a great many of them in one go, meaning that after a while it becomes apparent that there are many similarities within each work.
Keats: I enjoyed Keat's work slightly more. There is a sense of clarity within Keats work that in some ways makes his poetry feel more approachable than that of Wordsworth.
Shelley: I have always enjoyed Shelley's work so it was no hardship to read his poetry.

[Eleanor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I studied this anthology as part of my A Level English course.
We focused on Coleridge, Wordsworth, Smith, More, Keats, Blake, Landon, Shelley etc. I thoroughly enjoyed the depths that these poems provided us to analyse, and the poems themselves were really fun to read through (English geek over here).
I look forward to reading the other poems in the collection.

[Tom B · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this for a school course, although the required reading was just a few dozen of poems. I decided to read the rest of it, and that has been a rather frustrating experience. I'd say 90% of it is horrible. I'm giving it 2 stars because of the 10% that was quite ok. You can skip everything from page 682, that's all junk, and the last 180 pages are notes.

[Artyom Semenov · Rating 3 out of 5]

Turns out poetry is not my thing. I fancied myself reading this on a rainy Sunday, tucked into a blanket. Or quoting lines while walking in the hills. Turns out it's really rather boring, and it's all about this woman or that doing a thing or another and the poet being blown away by her grace. The one fun one was by Burns about a bird he saw on the roadside.

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lengthy anthology and a time consuming read but very well-curated. Although you’ll come across some slow poems that could bore you, you’ll find gems that light a unique fire within you, and could be different for everyone.

[Dash C · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some poems were nice.. however the poems were way too long. Like… do I really wanna read a poem that goes for 8 pages: no.

[Rowynn Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is for uni. Can you blame me

[emma]

did I read all of this? no, absolutely not. but I read what I needed to for class so its getting marked as read

[Owen Toro · Rating 1 out of 5]

They got a titty on tha cover

[Holly Foley (Procida) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally finished this tome. I am shocked by the amount of poetry that doesn't rhyme (around 70 percent) I am also amazed by the elaborate vocabulary used throughout the late 17 , early 1800 to describe fairly simple settings and situations. Poems have so many fewer words than novels or stories but seem to use too many words to capture the feeling or instant or thought or scene that they are designed to portray. It is also noted how very much all the romantic poets influenced each other and sounded similar. I got into this to read Percy Blythe Shelley's work to try to relate it to Mary Shelley. But Shelley sounded just like Coleridge , Wordsworth and the rest. Did a lot of skimming!

[Mark Valentine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Obviously I have not read every poem in this anthology but I read most of them (for my Romantic Lit class). I think Wordsworth and Wordsworth (sic) have a phenomenal success in this collection and I especially like the way that they have organized it.