The Ancient Track: The Complete Poetical Works of H. P. Lovecraft

By H.P. Lovecraft

Book Overview

H. P. Lovecraft is best known for his fiction, but he spent a great portion of his creative energy on his poetry. The Ancient Track collects the complete poetry of one of the twentieth centuries most... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1614980705
• ISBN13: 9781614980704
• Release Date: August 2013
• Publisher: Hippocampus Press
• Length: 606 Pages
• Weight: 2.42 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 7.0" x 10.0"

Customer Reviews

An Enchanting World of Posey

This is an amazing book, a wonderful tome. There is much in it that may be consider'd dull or boring, of course; but that is merely a matter of taste, and I love poetry in most of its manifestations. Even Lovecraft's Juvenilia shews a boy who had an active brain and questing soul. Here is the very early poem, "On the Vanity of Human Ambition": Apollo, chasing Daphne, gain's his prize But lo! she turn'd to wood before his eyes. More modern swains at golden prizes aim, And ever strive some worldly thing to claim. Yet 'tis the same as in Apollo's case, For, once attain'd, the purest gold seems base. All that men seek 's unworthy of the quest, Yet seek they will, and never pause for rest. True bliss, methinks, a man can only find In virtuous life, & cultivated mind. How fascinating, that poem, written by a boy who wou'd go on to live a life that one may call virtuous and cultivated. But it is section two of the book that thrills me, as an obsess'd fan of Lovecraftian horror. Lovecraft's supernatural poems have been published by themselves in various editions, and a new modern edition of just his horror poetry is something I would love to see. Many of these poems are so haunting, so beautiful and strange. He was an unusual man with a singular mind. Some of the lines are superbly macabre, such as these from the opening of "The Eidolon": When flesh upon its earthly bed Sprawls corpse-like and untenanted-- Vacant of soul, which freely flies Thro' worlds unknown to waking eyes. The horned moon above the spire With ghastly grace was crawling high'r, And in the pallid struggling beams Grinn'd memories of ancient dreams. Some poems found expression, later, as weird fiction, such as "The House," which in time was re-imagined as "The Shunned House." Some of the verse sounds very like Poe to me, and this would be natural, for a writer who so admired Poe's poetry and tales. An example is the opening of "The City": It was golden and splendid, The City of light; A vision suspended In deeps of the night; A region of wonder and glory, whose temples were marble and white. What can be more evocative than ye opening of "The Ancient Track"? There was no hand to hold me back That night I found the ancient track Over the hill, and strained to see, The fields that teased my memory. And the sonnets are, for the most part, exquisite. "Fungi from Yuggoth" is a work of which I never tire (and it may eventually be available in an annotated/illustrated edition!!!). The first three sonnets of the "Fungi" are fascinating in that they are interrelated and suggest that Lovecraft may have begun the cycle with the idea of having it tell a cohesive tale. This seems reinforced by that wee prose segment known as "The Book," which is a prose retelling of these first sonnets in the cycle. Some scholars have try'd to shew that "Fungi from Yuggoth" does indeed tell a story, has a consistent plot line -- but it doesn't. The Fantasy and Horror poetry ends at page 83, an

Lovecraft - not a bad poet!

Having read and collected everything else that lovecraft has written, I decided that it was time to invest in this collected edition of his poetry. I had heard that I shouldnt expect too much, since his prose was a lot better than his poetry. That is still true, but i was quite surprised to find that his poetry is not bad at all. I have to admit, that i have never read or cared much for poetry, and mainly bought this collection to complete my library of lovecraftian books. But i really have enjoyed nearly all of the poems that i so far have read, even though only few of them are horrific and connects to his usual wriitings.It should also be noted that the publisher Night Shade has done a fine job in producing this hardcover volume; good paper and printing and smythesewn binding that will let you read this book over and over again without the pages falling out. It is rare to see books of this kind nowadays! Buy it!!

IA!! Lovecraft master of the bizzare!!! Chutulu Ftagn!!

Absolutely amazing! I had no Idea Lovecraft had written so much poetry! 557 pages in length. Divided into 10 parts. juvenillia(poetry written as achild or just getting started in poetry),fantasy and horror(my favorite),occasional verse,satire,seasonal and topographical,amateur affairs,politics and society,personal,alfredo a tragedy( a play by lovecraft),and fragments. Very thorough. A must for the Lovecraft purist and collector.

Lovecraft waxes poetic...

The result of years of work by scholar S.T. Joshi, the fruit of Lovecraft's poetic fancy here acheives its awaited publication. Lovecraft is most known for his stories, and is important to critics not only for his inestimable contributions to horror and science fiction, but is also renowned for being one of the most voluminously self-documented figures in literary history via the sheer amount of letters he wrote (sometimes he wrote a dozen a day.) His essays, particularly his "Supernatural Horror In Literature," are also being re-assessed as time marches on.In the midst of all this Lovecraftiana, it is remarkable how little estimation his poetry seems to raise. Even Joshi himself slags it in his definitive biography of the man, considering it of only secondary importance. Indeed, Lovecraft himself seems to have taken little account of much of it as well, judging by some of his notes. However, let it be known that HPL's poetry-- whether a tossed-off rhyme as a note to his Mother on Thanksgiving Day, multiple experimental imitations of his mentor and chief influence Poe, a tart observation on the comedy of Chaplin, a humourous attack on a rival amateur, a bristling satire of T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land," or a lengthy sonnet cycle steeped in his famed "Cthulhu Mythos"-- is anything but ancillary.Here in subdivisions carefully arranged by Joshi (Juvenilia; Fantasy and Horror; Occasional Verse; Satire; Seasonal and Topographical; Amateur Affairs; Politics and Society; Personal) are to be found, in toto and for the first time, all the verse that HPL aficionados have been waiting for. This definitive edition complete with notes by Joshi at the back of the volume also includes an index of first lines, an index of titles, as well as a chronology of the poems. This is also significant for publishing Lovecraft's only play, "Alfredo." If there is anything detracting about this edition it is only the front cover, which looks a little amateurish itself, with a representation of Lovecraft that doesn't quite match the man's appearance (his face appears slightly more fleshy than it may have been, although the stare into space seems more than appropriate!) In sum, this is highly recommended to Lovecraft fans who want to experience the man's poetic license in all its manifestations.