Зарубежные стихи
Различные книги в жанре Зарубежные стихиThe Selected Poetry of Lord Byron
Lord George Gordon Byron was the flamboyant aristocratic poet who is as renowned for his personal life as he is for his poetry. The victim of an untimely death, Lord Byron lived from 1788 to 1824. Despite this relatively short life he still managed to create a volume of poetry that achieved him the status as one of the greatest of all English poets. This representative selection includes such classics as “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage”, a sweeping narrative poem which relays the story of a world-weary young man who abandons a life of pleasure for distraction in foreign lands, and a selection from “Don Juan”, generally considered by critics as Byron’s masterpiece, which tells the legend of Don Juan as a man who is easily seduced by women instead of the more common womanizing portrayal. A leading figure of the Romantic movement, Lord Byron’s poetry is still widely read and admired to this day. Fans of English Romantic poetry would be remiss in skipping this fine collection of over one hundred of Byron’s classic poetic works. This edition includes a biographical afterword.
The Selected Poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay (Renascence and Other Poems, A Few Figs from Thistles, Second April, and The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver)
Edna St. Vincent Millay’s childhood was a life of transient poverty. Her mother Cora, who was separated for many years from, and finally divorced in 1904, her father Henry Tolman Millay, moved Edna and her two sisters constantly from town to town during their upbringing. The family would finally settle in a small house on the property of Cora’s aunt in Camden, Maine. It was here that Edna would write some of her first lines of poetry. Edna would first gain recognition when her 1912 poem “Renascence” garnered a fourth place prize in a poetry contest for “The Lyric Year”. Edna would go on to win the highest prize for poetry, the 1923 Pulitzer Prize, for her work “The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver”. Noted for its lyrical beauty and at times controversial depiction of female sexuality, the poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay marks some of the best of the early 20th century. Contained in this volume are some of her most important works: “Renascence and Other Poems,” “A Few Figs From Thistles,” “Second April,” and “The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver.”
The Poems of Sappho and Others
The nine lyric poets were a canon of ancient Greek composers esteemed by the scholars of Hellenistic Alexandria as worthy of critical study. The most famous of which is probably Sappho, who was born sometime between 630 and 612 BC on the Greek island of Lesbos. The famous Library of Alexandria collected Sappho’s poems into nine books, unfortunately these editions have been lost. Today only fragments of the poetess’ work remains. These fragments are collected together here in this volume of “The Poems of Sappho and Others” along with fragments of the other Greek monodist lyric poets contemporary to Sappho. Altogether we find the poetry of Alcaeus, Pythermus, Anacreon, Anacreontea, Corrina, Telesilla, Praxilla, Erinna as well as Sappho in this volume of poetry translated by Walter Petersen.
The Collected Poems of William Wordsworth (with an introduction by John Morley)
Along with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, late 18th century and early 19th century English lyricist William Wordsworth was one of the most prominent poets of the Romantic era. His first work “Lyrical Ballads, with a Few Other Poems” was penned with Coleridge, though most of the volume is by Wordsworth, and its publication in 1798, is generally considered to mark the beginning of the English Romantic movement in literature. Second editions of “Lyrical Ballads” were released in 1800 and 1802. The entirety of the “Lyrical Ballads” are collected together here in this volume along with his 1807 publication “Poems, in Two Volumes” and numerous other miscellaneous poems. Wordsworth lines evoke the beauty of both nature and the commonplace everyday world. A description of Wordsworth’s work may best be found in his own famous definition of poetry: “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility”. This edition collects together nearly the entirety of Wordsworth’s non-narrative lyrical work in a truly representative volume with an introduction by John Morley.
The Collected Poetry of William Butler Yeats
Born and educated in Dublin, Ireland, William Butler Yeats discovered early in his literary career a fascination with Irish folklore and the occult. Later awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923, Yeats produced a vast collection of stories, songs, and poetry of Ireland’s historical and legendary past. This compilation includes a vast number of works, pieces that have earned Yeats the recognition as one of the greatest poet of his time. The Collected Poetry of William Butler Yeats includes the following collections: “Crossways”,” The Rose”, “The Wind Among The Reeds”, “In The Seven Woods”, “The Green Helmet and Other Poems”, “Responsibilities”, “The Wild Swans at Coole”, “Michael Robartes and the Dancer”, and several other narrative and dramatic poems. This edition includes a biographical afterword.
Spoon River Anthology (with an Introduction by May Swenson)
Originally published in “Reedy’s Mirror” from May 29, 1914 until January 5, 1915 and then first in book form in 1915 with an expanded edition in 1916, “Spoon River Anthology” is a collection of poetry inspired by the tombstones of the dead in a small rural American town. There is no real Spoon River as the entire town and its inhabitants are fictional but much of the town and its deceased occupants are based in part on Masters’ own childhood growing up in small towns in Illinois. “Spoon River Anthology” is Edgar Lee Masters’ masterpiece, a collection of poetry that weaves a tapestry of the lives of a group of small-town Americans, which taken together reads like a novel critiquing the notion of the idyllic rural American life. A critical and financial success from its first publication, “Spoon River Anthology” is a truly original work of American literature, the likes of which there has not been before or since. This edition follows the expanded 1916 edition with its additional thirty-five poems, “The Spooniad”, and the epilogue; includes an introduction by May Swenson; and a biographical afterword.
Beowulf (Translated with Annotations by John Lesslie Hall and an Introduction by Kemp Malone)
Literary scholar, professor, and poet J. Lesslie Hall is best known for his 1897 translation of the Old English epic poem “Beowulf.” The story focuses on the titular character of Beowulf, a Scandinavian hero who comes to the aid of the Danes to save their land from a human-demon monster named Grendel. After defeating Grendel, Beowulf must then kill Grendel’s mother. He returns to Scandinavia with more fame and accord and eventually becomes king. Then fifty years later, a dragon attacks his kingdom, and the hero must fight once again to defend his title and his honor. What makes “Beowulf” a lasting classic is its depiction of Norse traditions and culture. The people have strong connections inherent within a kinship society; if someone was killed it was the family’s duty to exact justice or receive payment for the death. “Beowulf” also shows an interesting dichotomy between the Norse pagan religion of when the story is set versus the monotheistic Christian storytellers who likely first related the tale during the Middle Ages. Many scholars debate the epic poem’s true stance on religion, but the tale gives an accurate depiction of how paganism deteriorated as monotheism flourished. A classic of Anglo-Saxon literature, “Beowulf” remains one of the greatest epic poems ever written. This edition includes an introduction by Kemp Malone and a preface and annotations by the translator, J. Lesslie Hall.
Leaves of Grass: The Death-Bed Edition (with an Introduction by John Burroughs)
In response to Ralph Waldo Emerson’s call for the United States to have its own unique poetic voice, Walt Whitman rose to the challenge to create what would ultimately be his most profound work. Taking its title from the colloquial term “grass”, meaning a work of minor value, Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass” is anything but that. Over his lifetime Whitman would continue to expand and revise his most famous work up until his death in 1892. The first edition contained just twelve poems, significantly smaller compared to the final “deathbed” edition, reproduced here, which included over 400. “Leaves of Grass” is unique for its celebration of the sensual pleasures of life in a time when such an attitude was considered immoral. A departure from a poetic tradition which relied on symbolism, allegory, and meditation on the religious and spiritual, “Leaves of Grass” instead focused on nature and the individual’s role in it. Initial reception of the work was quite controversial, but over time this collection of poetry has come to be acknowledged as one of the truly great American works of literature. This edition includes an introduction by John Burroughs.
The Odyssey (Translated into verse by Alexander Pope with an Introduction and notes by Theodore Alois Buckley)
Generally attributed to the ancient Greek poet Homer, “The Odyssey” is considered one of the most important works of classical antiquity, an epic poem about the events at the end of the Trojan War which is generally thought to have been written near the end of the 8th century BC. The story centers on Odysseus and his ten year journey to reach his home in Ithaca. Because of his long absence, Odysseus is presumed dead, leaving his wife Penelope and son Telemachus to deal with a group of suitors, the Proci, who compete for Penelope’s hand in marriage. After seven years of captivity by the nymph Calypso, Odysseus undergoes an arduous journey home. Along the way he encounters, the witch-goddess Circe, the land of the Sirens, the six-headed monster Scylla, and the sea monster Charybdis. “The Odyssey” is at once the story of an ordinary man’s struggle of will against forces beyond his control which keep him from being reunited with his family and a classically epic mythological tale. This edition follows the verse translation of Alexander Pope and includes an introduction and notes by Theodroe Alois Buckley.
Leaves of Grass: The Original 1855 Edition
In response to Ralph Waldo Emerson’s call for the United States to have its own unique poetic voice, Walt Whitman rose to the challenge to create what would ultimately be his most profound work. Taking its title from the colloquial term “grass”, meaning a work of minor value, Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass” is anything but that. Over his lifetime Whitman would continue to expand and revise his most famous work up until his death in 1892. The first edition, which is reproduced here, contained just twelve poems compared to the final “deathbed” edition which included over 400. “Leaves of Grass” is unique for its celebration of the sensual pleasures of life in a time when such an attitude was considered immoral. A departure from a poetic tradition which relied on symbolism, allegory, and meditation on the religious and spiritual, “Leaves of Grass” instead focused on nature and the individual’s role in it. Initial reception of the work was quite controversial, but over time this collection of poetry has come to be acknowledged as one of the truly great American works of literature.