The Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250-1900

by Arthur Quiller-Couch

The Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250–1900 is an anthology of English poetry, edited by Arthur Quiller-Couch, that had a very substantial influence on popular taste and perception of poetry for at least a generation. It was published by Oxford University Press in 1900; in its india-paper form it was carried widely around the British Empire and in war as a 'knapsack book'. It sold close to 500,000 copies in its first edition.

Genres: Poetry, Classics, History

1084 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1924

About the author

Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch was a Cornish writer, who published under the pen name of Q. He is primarily remembered for the monumental "Oxford Book of English Verse 1250-1900" (later extended to 1918), and for his literary criticism. He guided the taste of many who never met him, including American writer Helene Hanff, author of 84 Charing Cross Road, its sequel, Q's Legacy, and the putatively fictional Horace Rumpole via John Mortimer, his literary amanuensis.

Reviews

[Richard S · Rating 5 out of 5]

To really, truly understand a poem, you may need to read it several times. At that pace, it's also difficult to do more than a few pages of poetry a day. When faced with this 1,200 page collection, it seemed like a near-impossible task. However, each morning as I woke up to face the day, knowing that my little blue book of poetry was waiting for me, it actually became a long, pleasurable experience that I wished would never end.

This is a famous poetry collection: it might in fact be viewed as the "original" of such, 500,000 copies were printed, and were carried by the British throughout their early 20th century empire. If you are a fan of "Rumpole of the Bailey", this is the book that he would quote poetry from. It is a beautiful little thing with a blue cover, famously printed on incredibly thin yet opaque "India paper". So 1,200 pages still meant an amazingly thin book, but you had to be careful turning the pages, not only did they tear easily but they also stuck together.

I found I could do about 10 pages a day, which meant it took about 4 months to get through it. Sometimes with particularly difficult poetry, like Shakespeare's sonnets, I could only do two sonnets a day. My goal was to try to get a real appreciation for each poem before moving on.

The collection itself reflects the critical mind of 1912; there is no way this collection would be put together today, and this book has gone through many editions since. As a result, there were a large number of poems and poets that I'd never heard of before, and yet this happened to be the great joy of reading it - one of the first things to be removed in later editions apparently were the English ballads, which was a whole genre of literature I'd never even been aware of.

English poetry, taken as a whole, is the ultimate garden of delights, and there can be no better use of one’s time than to read things like this. My list of highlights is very long - the poems from the Scottish renaissance, the large number of women poets I'd never heard of, a lot of poems by mysterious authors that were simply enjoyable to read. There were a large number of poems - mostly the ballads - by "Anonymous." The poems get weaker by the end (which is not a surprise, I think it takes 100 years to figure out what a good poem is). Overall, there is a larger focus on poems about love and religion. The poetry tends towards the beautiful and musical. As a result, the experience is far more pleasurable than the typical collection. Collections put together today (such as the Norton anthology) reflects more poetry which is viewed as "important" critically or historically, for "English majors" rather than the general public.

Perhaps that is the problem with the popularity of poetry today - there's not enough poems like "Invictus"; or rather, when we talk about poetry, we say this is a great poem because of the language, because of the subtle, sublime feeling it produces, but not, this is a poem because it is beautiful and "fun" to read (like the aforementioned ballads). Perhaps poetry should be sold first as something fun and enjoyable, and then we can subject it to deconstructionism and modern critical theory.

The internet was very useful, because the footnotes in the book define only about half the words that you don't understand. For incredibly difficult poems like Shakespeare's sonnets, it was helpful to find on-line what was effectively a line-by-line translation. What I liked to do for the poets I hadn't heard of was to looking them up on Wikipedia afterwards. This of course led to endless discoveries about English poetry that I had been completely unaware of.

This book is sort of an "everyman's" collection and so I recommend it to everyone, particularly for non-literary types who just want to read something enjoyable. It is poetry for living more than poetry for study. If you try it, please enjoy.

[Magdelanye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rhyming fairy tales read to me at bedtime may have started my passion for poetry, but this book, a gift from my grandfather, confirmed it. It never occurred to me to read the whole thing from cover to cover in a methodical way. Rather, I wandered through its pages stopping here and there at what took my fancy. Later, it was an invaluable reference and companion. When I left home, defiant and with only one suitcase, it came with me.

I have it still, in pretty good condition since its over half a century old, only a few loose pages near the beginning. The opening poem slips out. Cuckoo Song c 1226. This simple praise poem had activated intense fantasies in my impressionable youth and although there is a nice selection of Shelley and Sir Walter Scott, for me the anonymous author with his quaint phrasing was the more evocative.

I didn't quite realize it then but I was developing my own discernment. I was finding out that it was easier to say how I disliked some poets than to explain my affinity for others. This book certainly nudged me into taking more seriously my own efforts, and as well as introducing me to some lifelong companions, has become one.

[wyclif · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highest rating; an essential literary reference and bona fide classic. Rewards repeated consultation. A fantastic bedside table book.

[Lawrence Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

I erred in posting - my edition is the 1250-1918. Someday I will find a copy of the 1250-1900 and note the differences.

But what a pilgrimage! One fully understands why this book was for many, and surely for some remains, an essential vade mecum.

[Bookatrin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book for expanding your vocabulary and gaining an understanding of the history of language. I really enjoyed reading this collection — it’s like a compilation of hundreds of lives and stories.erfect book

[James S · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve only read the first third of this 1100-page anthology, from early English up until John Milton. Now I’ll take a break before tackling the next third of this book.

15th and 16th C poetry is often breathtakingly beautiful: complex, subtle, surprising, ennobling. What I especially enjoyed is how much one picks up of the spirit of the age, moving chronologically through 400 years of English poetry. The next third of the book will take me another 250 yrs, through to Wm Blake.

[Chris Gager · Rating 4 out of 5]

English class at Yale freshman year. Date is approximate.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

[Sidney אוֹר · Rating 5 out of 5]

Original Is Excellent This Ebook Is Excrement

QCs selection can not be read in this the worst ebook
that was ever made. Why does Amazon allow this awful
Ebook to be distributed?

[Sadia Mansoor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoy this exhaustive collection of poetry here...
http://djm.cc/library/The_Oxford_Book...