Scan barcode
davybaby's review against another edition
4.0
An excellent collection of poems primarily from England and the United States, from roughly 1500 to 1950. It has its highs and lows, but even the lows are well worth reading.
gladys_enmarte's review against another edition
3.5
Este poemario, como bien dice el título, contiene los 100 poemas más queridos/conocidos. Están ordenados de forma cronológica y abarcan desde la Edad Media hasta los años 40, aproximadamente. Contiene poemas de autores estadounidenses, irlandeses, británicos y hay uno o dos que no fueron escritos originalmente en inglés pero por su popularidad fueron traducidos a este idioma e incluidos acá.
La temática varía un montón debido a las épocas abarcadas, hay poemas inspirados en guerras, en soldados que murieron defendiendo su patria, a flores, a la muerte, a la juventud, a una mujer amada, a la pérdida de un amor, a un cordero, etc. Me encontré con líneas que había visto sueltas rondando por internet, ahora sé a quién pertenecen y a qué poemas. También me encontré con una línea que Bradbury usó como título para uno de sus cuentos: "And the moon be still as bright" de "So we'll go no more a roving" de Lord Byron.
En su gran mayoría son poetas hombres pero me alegré encontrar a cinco poetisas incluidas dentro de estos 100 poemas; la más conocida es Emily Dickinson.
Este libro es una muy buena manera de acercarse a poetas clásicos, ya que en algunos casos se incluyen varios poemas, y saber si se quiere seguir incursionando en su obra. Yo sé que quiero leer más de varios autores de este poemario (menos del fascista y antisemita Ezra Pound). Encontré acá varios poemas favoritos.
La temática varía un montón debido a las épocas abarcadas, hay poemas inspirados en guerras, en soldados que murieron defendiendo su patria, a flores, a la muerte, a la juventud, a una mujer amada, a la pérdida de un amor, a un cordero, etc. Me encontré con líneas que había visto sueltas rondando por internet, ahora sé a quién pertenecen y a qué poemas. También me encontré con una línea que Bradbury usó como título para uno de sus cuentos: "And the moon be still as bright" de "So we'll go no more a roving" de Lord Byron.
En su gran mayoría son poetas hombres pero me alegré encontrar a cinco poetisas incluidas dentro de estos 100 poemas; la más conocida es Emily Dickinson.
Este libro es una muy buena manera de acercarse a poetas clásicos, ya que en algunos casos se incluyen varios poemas, y saber si se quiere seguir incursionando en su obra. Yo sé que quiero leer más de varios autores de este poemario (menos del fascista y antisemita Ezra Pound). Encontré acá varios poemas favoritos.
jenniferfrye's review against another edition
4.0
If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;I still don’t really know how to evaluate poetry. 4 stars since I felt like this gave me an excellent, manageable introduction to a variety of poets, styles, and movements, which was exactly what I was looking for, but I didn’t absolutely love all the poetry itself. (Maybe my standards are too high.)
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
- “If—” by Rudyard Kipling
Superficially, I love love LOVE the design and feel of this edition. There’s plenty of room to write in the margins, the paper is soft and with a bit of texture and so is perfect for a pencil, and the binding is flexible while still feeling sturdy. I’ll definitely be buying more of these old Dover Thrift poetry collections.
In terms of the collection itself, the overview of each poet was helpful, though I wish it were a bit more in-depth. Some of the descriptions were a bit odd, like describing Kipling as “the essential voice of late-Victorian colonialism”? I also wish the poems themselves were dated, rather than only giving the birth/death of the author. And it would have been nice if they’d had annotations like the Penguin edition of Emily Brontë’s poems, but I get that that’s too much to ask for from a budget reprint house like Dover.
Generally speaking, the earlier poetry is a bit too archaic in terms of language and (often) a bit too simplistic in terms of subject and theme for me to enjoy that much, and the more modern poetry is a bit too experimental for me to understand as poetry. It seems like the eighteenth and nineteenth century poems were generally the ones that most resonated with me.
The poets I’d like to explore further are:
- Shakespeare’s sonnets: They are very difficult to decipher (I didn’t even fully work out the three sonnets included in this volume), but the complexity is part of the appeal.
- John Donne: I think religious poetry may be one of my favorite “genres,” and in this case I think the slightly archaic language gives an added reverence that is very fitting.
- Thomas Gray: I like how his poems are very grounded in place and setting and story. I would have never believed that “Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat, Drowned in a Tub of Gold Fishes” was an actual poem from the eighteenth century.
- William Wordsworth: I really liked all the poems included, especially “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud.” I think I like the hint of romanticism and the interiority/contemplation of his poetry.
- Percy Bysse Shelley: It’s a bit over-the-top, but I like it.
- Elizabeth Barret Browning: I think I just like sonnets. Her “Sonnet XLIII” is probably the most romantic (small “r”) poem in the entire collection.
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Fantastic storytelling, completely engaging. His work definitely feels closest to a novel, and it’s very readable and fun.
- Edgar Allen Poe: I love the melancholy, gothic atmosphere.
- Walt Whitman: Beautiful nature poetry
- Gerard Manley Hopkins: Another religious poet. The included poets focused on nature, which I really enjoyed.
- William Butler Yeats: I really liked some of his turns of phrase, like “bee-loud glade.”
- Robert Frost: He feels like a “basic” poet to enjoy, but there you have it.
Favorite poems from this collection:
- “Holy Sonnet X” by John Donne
- “Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat, Drowned in a Tub of Gold Fishes” by Thomas Gray
- “The Tyger” by William Blake
- “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” by William Wordsworth
- “When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be” by John Keats
- “The Charge of the Light Brigade” by Lord Tennyson
- “A Noiseless Patient Spider” by Walt Whitman
- “Dover Beach” by Matthew Arnold
- “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson
- “Pied Beauty” by Gerard Manley Hopkins
- “If—” by Rudyard Kipling
- “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas
srogan88's review
3.0
I read this because "poetry" was a category I needed to mark off on a reading challenge for the year.
As poetry goes, it was OK. It's a nice collection of standards, many I've read before, some new. I appreciated the chronological arrangement and short explanations of why the author was included.
Overall, I'm not a huge fan of poetry and this didn't change that.
As poetry goes, it was OK. It's a nice collection of standards, many I've read before, some new. I appreciated the chronological arrangement and short explanations of why the author was included.
Overall, I'm not a huge fan of poetry and this didn't change that.
hestia30's review
Marlowe - The Passionate Shepherd to His Love
Shakespeare - Sonnet LXXIII
Marvell - To His Coy Mistress
Coleridge - Kubla Khan
Byron - She Walks in Beauty
Poe - The Raven
Browning - My Last Duchess
Dickinson - "I'm Nobody, Who are You?"
Carroll - Jabberwocky
Yeats - The Second Coming
Cummings - "anyone lived in a pretty how town"
Shakespeare - Sonnet LXXIII
Marvell - To His Coy Mistress
Coleridge - Kubla Khan
Byron - She Walks in Beauty
Poe - The Raven
Browning - My Last Duchess
Dickinson - "I'm Nobody, Who are You?"
Carroll - Jabberwocky
Yeats - The Second Coming
Cummings - "anyone lived in a pretty how town"
shaunnow38's review against another edition
3.0
Decent selection of poetry, although I would like a greater abundance of introductory materials both generally and for each poem.
crispymerola's review
challenging
slow-paced
3.0
Alternative Title - "O White Boi's, My White Boi's"
Reading poetry often brings me back to my confused upbringing, where I pored over psalms and prayers, hoping to feel or understand what it was everyone insisted was so important about Jesus and God. If I only squinted hard enough, or approached the altar of the good book with a pure enough spirit - then, THEN I'd be graced with the understanding that eluded me. I'd get the hype.
Many many days later, I grew up and realized religion wasn't for me. I found that these texts held their power not between their words, but between the people who believed the words.
This is pretty much how I feel about most poetry.
I'm giving up on trying to glean the value in everything I read. Half of these beloved poems are useless to me - empty, horny, dramatic scribblings which conjure no meaningful imagery or make any salient points beyond "gosh, milady, you're beautiful," and, "let's fuck bc we finna die," and, "golly gee, I love God and the trees he made".
Another quarter of the poems have a line or two that made an impression or gave me a thought. The last quarter were truly meaningful, and felt more like fully formed stories or arguments writ in verse. So, let's give this thing three stars and I can continue ignoring poetry until I die.
Reading poetry often brings me back to my confused upbringing, where I pored over psalms and prayers, hoping to feel or understand what it was everyone insisted was so important about Jesus and God. If I only squinted hard enough, or approached the altar of the good book with a pure enough spirit - then, THEN I'd be graced with the understanding that eluded me. I'd get the hype.
Many many days later, I grew up and realized religion wasn't for me. I found that these texts held their power not between their words, but between the people who believed the words.
This is pretty much how I feel about most poetry.
I'm giving up on trying to glean the value in everything I read. Half of these beloved poems are useless to me - empty, horny, dramatic scribblings which conjure no meaningful imagery or make any salient points beyond "gosh, milady, you're beautiful," and, "let's fuck bc we finna die," and, "golly gee, I love God and the trees he made".
Another quarter of the poems have a line or two that made an impression or gave me a thought. The last quarter were truly meaningful, and felt more like fully formed stories or arguments writ in verse. So, let's give this thing three stars and I can continue ignoring poetry until I die.
kkaste's review
5.0
What’s not to love about these best-loved poems. About half of the poems I was familiar with, so it was nice to visit others I was not familiar with. I am glad I finally read these poems. It was a gift from someone years again and I am so happy to read these lovely poems.