Poem a Day: Vol. 1: 366 Poems, Old and New - One for Each Day of the Year

by Nicholas Albery

Book Overview

"This book is a dream, a revivalist campaign, a challenge, a book of days, and an anthology, all in one." -- The Guardian

This perfect bedside book offers the easiest way to fill your life with more poetry, every day of the year

Poems are meant to be voiced, and Poem a Day includes 366 poems old and new -- one for each day of the year -- worth learning by heart. It contains many of the most beloved poems...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1883642388
• ISBN13: 9781883642389
• Release Date: June 1998
• Publisher: Steerforth Press
• Length: 496 Pages
• Weight: 1.56 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Linger With Old Favorites And Discover The New

This book, "Poem A Day", edited by Karen McCosker and Nicholas Albery has become a permanent fixture on my nightstand. It is filled with long forgotten favorites and new(to me) poetry that always stir me in some way.There are odes, sonnets, play excerpts and wonderful poetry to find a little escape and add something special to your day or night. Several from giants like Shakespeare, Shelley,Kipling,Bronte,Browning(Elizabeth and Robert),Emerson,Dickinson,Wordsworth,Tennyson,Plath are sprinkled throughout, and have a note pad and pencil ready, because you are sure to find new favorites, you will want to check out more closely as well. Whatever your mood, you'll find just the right verse here. Romance, humor, deep thoughts, dirges,song lyrics, great play quotes and much more. The poems, which range from olden days to contemporary, follow the calendar. Each day has it's own special entry, and has notes on the Author or the poem itself and usually has some special meaning for that particular day. For example, from Hamlet - Act III, Scene I, the great and celebrated soliloquy("To Be or Not To Be....") is given the March 16th page - "On this day in 1976, a performance with Albert Finney in the lead role opened the National Theatre in London, some 25 years after work on the building first started....." Or on February 11th..Sylvia Plath's poem "Words", you not only get to drink in the beautiful poem but also learn that -"On this day is 1960, exactly three years before taking her own life Sylvia Plath had written to her mother and brother with news of her first book of poems, 'The Colossus', being accepted by Heinemann. 'Amaze of Amaze', she wrote. So the book, not only serves to give the reader the beauty of the words of the Author's themselves, but on every page, you'll learn something new about your favorite. It will also open new doors to others you may be just discovering. The editors encourage you to study your favorites and make them your own. You can take just one a day,linger with your favorites, enjoy the pleasures to be found in the words, and maybe even take the time to memorize it. Or read several a day, whenever the mood strikes. There are treasures inside you can savour and then return to anytime. A year's worth of wonderful poems, a lifetime to cherish. And yes, you even get one for February 29th - "Time Is..." by Alan Beam, born Feb 29th 1948 Enjoy....Laurie here is a beautifuly anthology and great intro to poetry for the little ones:Side By Side: poems to read together

A fine collection

I have been very pleased with this anthology, which is absolutely for people who love good poetry in a variety of forms and styles. Great selections by Yeats, Hopkins and Blake, and many poems that you may - like me - have loved once and lost, plus some that are less familiar but great finds. Happily no Rod McKuen or Susan Polis Schulz and also, happily, no T.S. Eliot. In other words, nothing mediocre, but also nothing effete and academic. McCosker is obviously very widely read, very open-minded, and has a love for the musical, the meaningful and the memorable. The notes on the poets are very good reading. Let's hope it will inspire some good poetry writing in the next generation!

This book is a treasure!

If you like to read, you will delight in the book. If you enjoy words, you will revel in this book. "A Poem A Day" should be the next book in your library!It does not matter if you have enjoyed poetry before today, because this is a splendid collection of poems especially selected to touch and tickle you. Poems of love and nature and joy and mundane; you will find yourself in these words.The editors, Karen McCosker & Nicholas Albery, have done a wonderful job of selecting interesting and intriguing poems. The footnotes alone make the book worth the price because they only serve to draw you into the poets life, or experiences, or work. I do not own or write poetry. I like words and reading. I love this book. Read 'A Poem A Day.' You will regret not having this book yesterday.

A JOY TO READ! SOMETHING FOR EVERY WORD LOVER!

I simply LOVE this book and pick it up every day to read a poem---that's how good it is. It's turned me on to many new poets and renewed my acquaintances with the old favorites. I was happy to see this gem on page 278 by Raymond Carver:"And did you get what--- you wanted from this life, even so?--- I did.--- And what did you want?--- To call myself beloved, to feel myself--- beloved on the earth."The power of the words shine through: the power of words to heal, strengthen, uplift, comfort, hurt, wound, enrage, succor and rejuvenate! This book is a celebration and a joy to read.I enjoyed reading the words to Leonard Cohen's, "Suzanne Takes You Down", a favorite song from my past. The poem, "from Jubilate Agno" written by Christopher Smart in the 1700's while in an insane asylum (about his cat!) was awesome and a must read for EVERY cat lover."The Falcon to the Falconer" by Jonathan Steffen blew me away. Here's a few lines:"Unleash me from your hand--- And I will lance the light for you--- I'll cut a swordblade on the wind--- And pennant it with flight for you--- To signal I am yours--- If you will free me to be true to you. . ."I could go on and on! I'm so happy that I found this book and recommend it highly!

One of the best investment you'll ever make...

Extremely well written poems from all the best poets in history. Students who have attended my seminars will recall that I strongly recommend to every aspiring writer that they invest two minutes a day in reading a well-written poem. (No other investment of time will do as much to add color and electricity to your words or enhance your powers of persuasion.) It's almost as if Karen McCosker and Nicholas Albery compiled this book specifically to accomplish that directive! A Poem a Day features 365 brilliantly chosen poems and assigns one to each day of the year. (Month and Day are prominently emblazoned at the top of each page, much like a calendar. A very handy feature for keeping "on schedule" in your reading and for getting "caught up" when you fall behind. Invest in yourself. Make this book yours. NOTE TO THE PUBLISHER: Considering the handling this book will receive, why not publish it in hardback? Please?