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Dancing By The Light of The Moon: Over 250 poems to read, relish and recite by Gyles Brandreth
naomijoycerivers's review
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
slow-paced
5.0
richard_morrow's review
5.0
If you feel that you don’t ‘get’ poetry then this will bring poetry to life for you! It is filled to the brim with poems for every person or occasion and the commentary from Gyles Brandreth makes the poems become more accessible and relatable for the casual appreciator of poetry.
This will inspire you to select some poems to learn off and, if you’re like me, set you on a journey to find more poems to read and appreciate.
This will inspire you to select some poems to learn off and, if you’re like me, set you on a journey to find more poems to read and appreciate.
raelovestoread's review
4.0
PopSugar Reading Challenge 2020: An anthology
I should probably be nice about this book because Gyles Brandreth is a big promoter of poetry and I'm an aspiring poet. Luckily, this won't be hard!
This is a pleasant collection of poetry, mostly rhyming and structured. Gyles Brandreth and I have different tastes (I prefer more freestyle, stream of consciousness stylings - think Simon Armitage) but there is lots of overlap.
Highlights for me included:
Meditation XVII (p73)
What lips my lips have kissed and where and why (p97)
Anthem for doomed youth (p201)
When you are old (p208)
Phenomenal woman (p300)
Death is nothing at all (p362)
Funeral blues (p369)
The road not taken (p386)
There were, of course, others that I enjoyed too!
I doubt Mr Brandreth reads his reviews on here, but on the offchance... he should Google "I had a hippopotamus"... it's one of the most excellent rhyming poems on the planet and would have fitted in perfectly between Pobbles.
Also, I hate the Walrus and the Carpenter. (Always have!) Those poor little oysters. As Rizzo the Rat once said "mother always said: never eat singing food!"
I recommend this edition for beginners: people new to poetry who are looking for some of the best to peruse and keep. There are some gems here.
I should probably be nice about this book because Gyles Brandreth is a big promoter of poetry and I'm an aspiring poet. Luckily, this won't be hard!
This is a pleasant collection of poetry, mostly rhyming and structured. Gyles Brandreth and I have different tastes (I prefer more freestyle, stream of consciousness stylings - think Simon Armitage) but there is lots of overlap.
Highlights for me included:
Meditation XVII (p73)
What lips my lips have kissed and where and why (p97)
Anthem for doomed youth (p201)
When you are old (p208)
Phenomenal woman (p300)
Death is nothing at all (p362)
Funeral blues (p369)
The road not taken (p386)
There were, of course, others that I enjoyed too!
I doubt Mr Brandreth reads his reviews on here, but on the offchance... he should Google "I had a hippopotamus"... it's one of the most excellent rhyming poems on the planet and would have fitted in perfectly between Pobbles.
Also, I hate the Walrus and the Carpenter. (Always have!) Those poor little oysters. As Rizzo the Rat once said "mother always said: never eat singing food!"
I recommend this edition for beginners: people new to poetry who are looking for some of the best to peruse and keep. There are some gems here.
iamahmedkhalifa's review
challenging
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
3.75
The purpose of the book is to encourage you to memorise some poems to keep your mind sharp. I get the premise of that, but that wasn't my plan. I wanted to get a variety of different poems, across various eras and themes, the old and the new...all in one book. You have to take your time with a book like this, and that's what I purposely did (it took me around 9 months to read it page by page, but it's because I have reread many poems and took my time with it). It will also be a great 'coffee table' book to pick up and pick a random page. For the beginners, many of the poems might be a tad too challenging to understand. But that's part of the beauty...to decipher it.
I may attempt to memorise the poems that I liked...but not the entire book.
I may attempt to memorise the poems that I liked...but not the entire book.
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