Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.
Loading... The Oxford book of narrative verse (original 1983; edition 1983)by Iona Opie, Peter Opie (Author)The Opies write in their preface that they have chosen (for the most part) poems that tell a straightforward and complete story. They also "....point out that narrative verse needs a different reading technique from lyric and reflective poetry." Of course! You really have to read it out loud. This selection, running from Chaucer to Auden, should convince the reader of this truth. Personal favourites are Robert Service's The Cremation of Sam Magee, Chesterton's Lepanto (with its stanza-closing motif - Don John of Austria has set his people free!), Browning's Pied Piper, Macaulay's Horatius, Cowper's John Gilpin and, of course, Marriott Edgar's The Lion and Albert (the only one I would venture from memory). These works have much more to do with ballad than poesy and are a long way from the works of most modern poets who are much more inclined to investigate emotion and intellect than to tell a story. Read them around the fire. |
Current DiscussionsNonePopular covers
Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)821.03Literature English & Old English literatures English poetry English poetry {by more than one author} Narrative poetryLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. |
These works have much more to do with ballad than poesy and are a long way from the works of most modern poets who are much more inclined to investigate emotion and intellect than to tell a story. Read them around the fire. ( )