The Oxford Book of Narrative Verse
Select Format
Select Condition 
Book Overview
Succinctly called "a book of tales of various kinds, romantic, humorous, ghostly, and gory, written at any time over the past six hundred years" by the compilers, Iona Opie and the late Peter Opie, this universally-appealing collection of 59 poems illuminates the literary tradition of narrative verse from Chaucer to Auden.
The anthology includes Pope's "The Rape of the Lock," Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott," Poe's "The Raven," and Carroll's "The Hunting of the Snark," along with such twentieth-century narrative classics as G.K. Chesterton's "Lepanto," Robert Frost's "The Code," Marriott Edgar's "The Lion and Albert," and W.H. Auden's "The Ballad of Barnaby." Abridgements and extracts from book-length narratives such as Spenser's The Faerie Queen and Milton's Paradise Lost add to the richness and variety of the collection. The Opies also provide extensive notes which trace the source of the poet's inspiration, whether fact or fiction, and demonstrate how the creative process has transformed that source into a work of art.
The anthology includes Pope's "The Rape of the Lock," Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott," Poe's "The Raven," and Carroll's "The Hunting of the Snark," along with such twentieth-century narrative classics as G.K. Chesterton's "Lepanto," Robert Frost's "The Code," Marriott Edgar's "The Lion and Albert," and W.H. Auden's "The Ballad of Barnaby." Abridgements and extracts from book-length narratives such as Spenser's The Faerie Queen and Milton's Paradise Lost add to the richness and variety of the collection. The Opies also provide extensive notes which trace the source of the poet's inspiration, whether fact or fiction, and demonstrate how the creative process has transformed that source into a work of art.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:0192822438
ISBN13:9780192822437
Release Date:April 1989
Publisher:Oxford University Press, USA
Length:432 Pages
Weight:0.80 lbs.
Dimensions:1.1" x 5.1" x 7.7"
Customer Reviews
2 ratings
Oxford Book of Narrative Verse
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 19 years ago
Thus is a useful collection of longer poems for those in search of longer poems which are not generally found in anthologies.
Could include more light-hearted poems
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 25 years ago
This book of narrative verse is one of the best collections out in the market. The popular poems are included, from "The Pied Piper" to "Horatius," and the reader will be very pleased with this book. All the poems are presented in their entirety, but poems like Horatius have been shortened mercilessly. However, there is one negative point about this book. Most of the poems are serious poems and I think that the authors should include more light-hearted stuff, especially two narrative poems from T.S. Eliot's "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats," the inspiration for the hit musical "Cats." These two poems are "Growltiger's Last Stand" and "The Awefull Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles." These are the two poems that can make the book more light-hearted.
Copyright © 2025 Thriftbooks.com
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information | Cookie Policy | Cookie Preferences | Accessibility Statement
ThriftBooks ® and the ThriftBooks ® logo are registered trademarks of Thrift Books Global, LLC
ThriftBooks ® and the ThriftBooks ® logo are registered trademarks of Thrift Books Global, LLC
