Everyman's Book of Victorian Verse

by Donald Serrell Thomas

Book Overview

Nourished by the macabre, the exotic and the aberrant, their art was practiced on what Browning called 'the dangerous edge of things'. Landscape and introspection characterize Tennyson. Browning's... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0460875264
• ISBN13: 9780460875264
• Release Date: March 1995
• Publisher: Orion Publishing Group
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.1" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

Enjoyable Anthology - Tennyson, Browning, Arnold, Clough, and Swinburne

The Everyman Book of Victorian Verse: The Post-Romantics offers selections from five major poets: Alfred Tennyson (100 pages), Robert Browning (100 pgs.), Matthew Arnold (40 pgs.), Arthur Clough (20 pgs.), and Algernon Swinburne (10 pgs.). This anthology, edited by Donald Thomas, includes a helpful introduction and chronology section (Lives, Literary Context, and Historical Context). But what I especially valued was Thomas's short introduction to each poem. Alfred Lord Tennyson, poet laureate from 1850-1892, was the foremost poet throughout the long Victorian period. In contrast, Robert Browning's early poetry was viewed as obscure, even incomprehensible; public acceptance and recognition came late in his career. Matthew Arnold, Arthur Clough, and Algernon Swinburne produced comparatively little poetry, and their work received mixed reviews and little attention. Arnold's rather restrained, philosophical poetry has since gained greater appreciation and respect from modern readers. Today, Tennyson's narrative poetry remains familiar largely from assigned reading for high school and college literature classes: Lady of Shallot, Morte d'Arthur, Locksley Hall, Godiva, etc. Although Tennyson's shorter poems in this anthology are quite good, I particularly enjoyed the extractions taken from his longer poetry. Having had my appetite wetted, I added Tennysons In Memoriam, Maud: a Monodrama, and The Idylls of the King to my priority reading list. In Memoriam, an introspective poetic commemoration to the death of a close friend, deeply resonated with the Victorian audience. Contrastingly, Maud is a fascinating dramatic monologue by an individual teetering on the edge of madness. The well-known The Idylls of the King is a series of long poems based on the Arthurian legends. Browning makes even greater use of dramatic monologues, and we readers find ourselves looking through the eyes of psychopaths, murderers, and the mentally ill. Within just a few lines he surprises us, even shocks us with unexpected revelations. I found much of Browning's poetry to be fascinating, sometimes almost mesmerizing in its intensity. Robert Browning's The Ring and the Book, a recounting of an Italian murder case dating from 1698, is especially intriguing. The twelve books comprising this lengthy poem tell of the murder from different perspectives, including that of the murderer himself. The poetry of Matthew Arnold is more reflective, expressing philosophical and religious doubt in a restrained, meditative manner. (Many readers may be familiar with his acclaimed, short poem, Dover Beach.) His contemporary, Arthur Clough, made indecision the subject of many of his poems. I had difficulty relating to Swinburne's poetry, perhaps in part because the sampling is limited to a few pages. This anthology warrants five stars for the poetry alone. But I must commend the editor, Donald Thomas, for the extremely useful introduction to each poem. I quite enjoyed this introduction to Vic