Thoughts on...Great Short Poems

I never saw a purple cow... sound familiar? How about "Cinq Ans Apres"?

Ah, yes! I wrote the "Purple Cow" -
I'm sorry, now, I wrote it!
But I can tell you, anyhow,
I'll kill you if you quote it!

Which may lead you to believe that the book is full of silly poetry but that is not true. I just liked that G. Burgess wrote the second poem!

This has everything from "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" to "There Was a Little Girl" (you know, the one with the curl). I enjoyed reading laugh and the world laughs with you in the proper context. I marked several to share but was thinking I'd limit it to one but am now having a hard time deciding on one.....how about Longfellow's "The Arrow and the Song"?

I shot an arrow into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For, so swiftly it flew, the sight
Could not follow it in its flight.

I breathed a song into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For who has sight so keen and strong,
That it can follow the flight of song?

Long, long afterward, in an oak
I found the arrow, still unbroke;
And the song, from beginning to end,
I found again in the heart of a friend.

I originally picked this up because I wanted to read poetry this year (I'm not a fan) and it was full of short ones. I'm still not a fan but the collection is nice and I'll keep the book. And I won't shy away from the other poetry collections.

Grade: C


Disclaimer:Personal book. The opinions expressed in this post are mine and may differ from yours. Book information courtesy of publisher.


Title: Great Short Poems
Edited by Paul Negri
publisher: Dover Publications (Dover Thrift Edition)
ISBN: 978-0468411057
date published: February 2000
format: Trade size
genre: poetry
pages: 64
Ages: 14+

Product Description:

This outstanding anthology of short verse offers poetry lovers an impressive sampling of more than 150 masterpieces spanning over 400 years of English and American literary history. Although short in length (the longest are 24 lines, most 16 lines or less)., these poems are long on beauty, power, imagination, and originality.

Attractive and inexpensive, this compilations of carefully chosen verse contains many of the most loved, most anthologized poems in the English language. Students, teachers, and any lover of great poetry will treasure this splendid collection

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