The New Oxford Book of Eighteenth Century VerseRoger H. Lonsdale, Roger Lonsdale Anthologies of eighteenth-century verse have tended to confirm traditional notions of the period as one of untroubled elegance, urbanity, and decorum. Offering over 550 poems and extracts by more than 250 poets, The New Oxford Book of Eighteenth-Century Verse presents a truer picture of this age as a much less stable and decorous time. This extraordinarily comprehensive volume includes not only a generous selection of verse by such renowned poets as Swift, Pope, Johnson, Gray, Smart, Goldsmith, Cowper, Blake, and Burns, but also a large number of poems by lesser-known and previously ignored poets. Intermixing the familiar styles and preoccupations of "polite" taste with much less familiar verse from all social levels, it reveals the willingness of the century's poets to respond graphically, humorously, or unconventionally to all aspects of rural and urban life. Topics range from golf and hypnotism to amorous adventure and marital discord, from growing sensitivity to natural beauty to fear of the effects of the Industrial Revolution, and from the anguish of poverty and unemployment to animated political exchanges in the wake of the French Revolution. Taken together, these poems reveal that both unpredictability and familiarity played as significant a role as Augustan reason played in the world of eighteenth-century poetry. The anthology also includes a helpful introduction, notes, and a glossary. |
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Page 337
... tell thee who I am , My misery or sin declare ; Thyself hast called me by my name , Look on thy hands , and read it there . But who , I ask thee , who art thou ? Tell me thy name , and tell me now . In vain thou strugglest to get free ...
... tell thee who I am , My misery or sin declare ; Thyself hast called me by my name , Look on thy hands , and read it there . But who , I ask thee , who art thou ? Tell me thy name , and tell me now . In vain thou strugglest to get free ...
Page 338
... Tell me , I still beseech thee , tell ; To know it now resolved I am . Wrestling I will not let thee go , Till I thy name , thy nature know . ' Tis all in vain to hold thy tongue , Or touch the hollow of my thigh : Though every sinew be ...
... Tell me , I still beseech thee , tell ; To know it now resolved I am . Wrestling I will not let thee go , Till I thy name , thy nature know . ' Tis all in vain to hold thy tongue , Or touch the hollow of my thigh : Though every sinew be ...
Page 733
... Tell them I say that's all my eye . ' " They wish you'd go and see the state They're in , before it is too late : And then you'll see it wants a spout . ' ' Tell them , my dear , I've got the gout . ' " They want a knocker and a scraper ...
... Tell them I say that's all my eye . ' " They wish you'd go and see the state They're in , before it is too late : And then you'll see it wants a spout . ' ' Tell them , my dear , I've got the gout . ' " They want a knocker and a scraper ...
Contents
JOHN POMFRET 16671702 | 1 |
THOMAS DURFEY 16531723 | 5 |
JOHN PHILIPS 16761709 | 6 |
Copyright | |
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