BRITISH AUTHOR CHALLENGE - POET LAUREATES

Talk 75 Books Challenge for 2017

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BRITISH AUTHOR CHALLENGE - POET LAUREATES

1PaulCranswick
Oct 31, 2017, 5:23 am

2PaulCranswick
Oct 31, 2017, 5:24 am

For November 2017 we turn to the Poets honoured by the accolade of Poet Laureate either for the UK or as Children's Laureate or each constituent nation's national poets.

4PaulCranswick
Oct 31, 2017, 6:06 am

What I'll be reading:



Mean Time by Carol Ann Duffy

5amanda4242
Edited: Oct 31, 2017, 3:14 pm

>1 PaulCranswick: The latter is for those who just don't do poetry!

It's funny you say that as I've found works of several of the regular laureates in the children's section! The only works my library has by Carol Ann Duffy and Gwen Thomas are children's books, there are several books of poetry for children by Ted Hughes in the collection, and I've found poems by Southey and Wordsworth turned into picture books.

6SandDune
Oct 31, 2017, 3:41 pm

>3 PaulCranswick: I’m not really a poetry person, but even so there are a surprising number of poets in the Laureate section that I’d never heard of!

7amanda4242
Edited: Sep 28, 2018, 11:35 pm

I'm sure nobody will be surprised to learn I started early and have already gotten through a handful of laureates.

Cecil Day-Lewis: The Whispering Roots and Other Poems

Sometimes wry and occasionally touching.

A favorite:

Apollonian Figure

Careful of his poetic p's and q's,
This self-possessed master of circumspection
Enjoyed a mariage blanc with the Muse,
Who never caught his verse in an erection.

Some praise the lapidary figure: but
With due respect to the attendant's spiel,
That fig-leaf there, so elegantly cut--
Just what, if anything, does it conceal?

Robert Southey: The Cataract of Lodore, illustrated by David Catrow

With its thrilling description of the water rushing through the countryside, Southey's poem really works well as the text for this children's book. Catrow's lovely illustrations, featuring a father and his three children taking a whimsical trip by armchair down the waterfall, make this book quite the charmer.

William Wordsworth: Lucy Gray; or, Solitude, illustrated by Gilbert Riswold

Not sure why anyone thought a poem about a little girl disappearing in a snow storm would make a good children's book; however, Riswold's pastel drawings do an excellent job of illustrating this haunting poem.

Nicholas Rowe: The Tragedy of Jane Shore

Now I know why Rowe has fallen into obscurity. A dreadful blank verse play in which Jane Shore, despite being brave and (mostly) virtuous, dies in the gutter.

Carol Ann Duffy: The Tear Thief, illustrated by Nicoletta Ceccoli
The Gift, illustrated by Rob Ryan

A pair of mediocre children's books by the current British poet laureate. The Gift is worth looking at for Rob Ryan's intricate cut paper illustrations, but the art in The Tear Thief reminds me of this puffs tissue commercial.

Mrs. Scrooge: A Christmas Poem

In this vile little volume Mrs. Scrooge is an environmentally-conscious killjoy who is visited by three spirits who tell her how wonderful she is.

Gwen Thomas: Tales from the Mabinogion by Gwyn Thomas and Kevin Crossley-Holland, illustrated by Margaret Jones

Nice intro to Welsh myths and legends, although a more detailed pronunciation guide would have been nice. Margaret Jones's illustrations are stunning, with rich earth-tones making up most of the palette.



Michael Rosen: Bananas in my ears: a collection of nonsense stories, poems, riddles & rhymes, illustrated by Quentin Blake

The text is alright, but it's Quentin Blake's illustrations that steal the show.

Nahum Tate, Laurence Eusden, and Colley Cibber: Selected writings of the laureate dunces, Nahum Tate (laureate 1692-1715), Laurence Eusden (1718-1730), and Colley Cibber (1730-1757) edited by Peter Heaney

Barring one youtube video, this book was the only place I found any of Eusden's poetry. Although none of them were great (or really even good) poets, it was an interesting read. My full review, where I've included a few poems, can be found on the work page.

8PaulCranswick
Oct 31, 2017, 5:48 pm

>6 SandDune: Well Rhian, I am supposed to be something of a poetry buff and there are nine poets in the list above that I have read nothing of. Dryden, Tennyson, Masefield, Day-Lewis and Hughes are poets I admire and are very familiar with. Wordsworth and Southey and Bridges I also know quite well and like less. Duffy and Motion I have work by but haven't read too much so I will probably correct that just a little this month.

9PaulCranswick
Oct 31, 2017, 5:52 pm

>7 amanda4242: Wow, Amanda, you have been busy! Not in the least bit surprised though!

10amanda4242
Oct 31, 2017, 6:07 pm

>9 PaulCranswick: It helps that I started back in September!

11PaulCranswick
Oct 31, 2017, 6:12 pm

12PaulCranswick
Oct 31, 2017, 6:13 pm

I have also added the Scottish Makar poets in the list above as these are the equivalent of a Scottish National Poet.

13amanda4242
Oct 31, 2017, 10:36 pm

Went to the library today and discovered my local branch had works by half of the Children's Laureates.

Lauren Child: Slightly Invisible

Clever picture book about a boy trying to avoid playing with his little sister and how she sneakily hijacks his game.

Julia Donaldson: Stick Man, illustrated by Axel Scheffler

The trials and tribulations of Stick Man who goes out for a jog and is picked up by a dog to use in a game of fetch. Things just go downhill from there for poor Stick Man. Silly fun.

Malorie Blackman: Jack Sweettooth

I picked this one up because of the adorable cover and was happy to find the story lived up to it.

14amanda4242
Nov 2, 2017, 9:33 pm

Michael Morpurgo: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, illustrated by Michael Foreman

Great prose adaptation of one of my favorite poems.

Anne Fine: The Diary of a Killer Cat

Fun book about a cat who is just as smug as I know all cats (not so) secretly are.

Chris Riddell: Ottoline Goes to School

Full of that cutesy quirkiness I loathe.

Ted Hughes: The Cat and the Cuckoo, illustrated by Flora McDonnell

I wasn't much taken by it, but this collection of poems about animals would probably be great for very young readers.

One I liked:

Pig

I am the Pig.

I saw in my sleep
A dreadful egg.

What a thing to have seen!
And what can it mean

That the Sun's red eye
Which seems to fry
In the dawn sky
So frightens me?

Why should that be?
The meaning is deep.

Upward at these
Hard mysteries

A humble hog
I gape agog.

15amanda4242
Edited: Nov 3, 2017, 6:45 pm

William Whitehead: A Charge to the Poets

A long poem full of good advice to poets, including the way older than we thought "don't feed the trolls" rule.

16amanda4242
Nov 3, 2017, 10:31 pm

Henry James Pye: Faringdon Hill

I'm torn on whether to sum this one up as pastoral patriotism or patriotic pastoral-ism.

18PaulCranswick
Nov 4, 2017, 9:32 pm

>17 amanda4242: Duffy, Gillian Clarke, Lochhead and Kay are very easy to find in the UK, Amanda, as they remain popular living poets. It is very noticeable too that ladies dominate the 'profession' at home lately. Don Paterson and Simon Armitage are two of my favourite poets but Alice Oswald, Julia Copus, Wendy Cope and the ladies named above are certainly formidable.

19amanda4242
Nov 4, 2017, 9:49 pm

>18 PaulCranswick: It's good to see the tide turning to include more female poets! I've been unable to find anything by Clarke or Lochhead through my surprisingly well-stocked local library, and few works by many of the other 20th-21st century laureates.

20amanda4242
Edited: Nov 30, 2017, 11:04 pm

Quentin Blake: Loveykins

The story seems to exist just to hang the illustrations on, but the illustrations are by Blake, so who cares?

Anthony Browne: Into the Forest

Neat illustrations but not good enough to make me look past the so-so story.

Jacqueline Wilson: The Suitcase Kid

Very good book about a girl who goes from being an only child in one house to having five step-siblings in two houses when her parents get divorced. I love that Wilson gives an upbeat, but realistic ending.

21amanda4242
Edited: Nov 8, 2017, 5:28 pm

Ted Hughes: The Mermaid's Purse

Another fair collection of poems for children.

Andrew Motion: Selected Poems 1976-1997

Pretty good, but just didn't do much for me.

John Betjeman: A Nip in the Air

Doesn't inspire great passion, but easy to enjoy and admire.

22Familyhistorian
Nov 30, 2017, 9:48 pm

Poetry is not my thing but I read one of the poets laureate for this month anyway. Not having any preference, I chose the first poet on the list. Dryden is probably more difficult than most because his time was centuries ago but I found a book which gave clues to what he was writing about Selected Poems: John Dryden.

23m.belljackson
Nov 30, 2017, 10:12 pm

I'm starting Andrews and Percival's VICTORIAN POETRY.

from Tennyson
(how can you not love a poet who penned the cheerful "Mariana?")

to A.E. Housman
("I Hoed and Trenched and Weeded").

Copyright 1924.

24amanda4242
Dec 1, 2017, 2:16 pm

>22 Familyhistorian: Dryden can be difficult, but I think he was the best poet on the list.

25amanda4242
Dec 1, 2017, 2:17 pm

John Masefield: Salt-Water Ballads

Nothing very memorable, but it wasn't awful.

26Familyhistorian
Dec 1, 2017, 9:23 pm

>24 amanda4242: I thought he might be the best on the list. I am pretty sure that I read Dryden's poetry before, because - English major. LOL

27amanda4242
Dec 1, 2017, 9:33 pm

>26 Familyhistorian: I remember him being assigned in one of my Brit lit classes, although I don't think I actually read him then.

I was looking through some of my old lit textbooks and discovered that between the half dozen or so I own, only four laureates are included: Dryden, Wordsworth, Tennyson, and Hughes.

28PaulCranswick
Dec 2, 2017, 11:02 am

>27 amanda4242: I think Southey and Bridges and Masefield are reasonable poets and Day-Lewis somewhat underrated. I always enjoy Betjeman but he is decidedly light verse.

Apart from those and the four laureates you list - the rest are a pretty mediocre bunch.

29m.belljackson
Dec 2, 2017, 4:44 pm

>28 PaulCranswick:

Was Coleridge ever considered for laureate?

30amanda4242
Edited: Dec 8, 2017, 3:20 am

Alfred Lord Tennyson: Idylls of the King



Okay, it wasn't *that* bad. It's just so...Victorian.

31amanda4242
Dec 8, 2017, 7:07 pm

I just went over my checklist and discovered I've now read something by all of the poets, although in some cases it was just what few poems I could track down online. There are very few I'd call bad poets (*cough*Laurence Eusden*cough*) and a few I found enjoyable (Morgan, Day-Lewis, Betjeman), but, excluding Dryden, I wouldn't go out of my way to read any of them again.

The Children's Laureates, on the other hand, were almost all fun reads.

32PaulCranswick
Dec 8, 2017, 7:25 pm

>29 m.belljackson: I would imagine both he and Wordsworth were considered when Robert Southey was appointed in 1813 but Coleridge didn't outlive Southey and Wordsworth got the honour despite advancing age. Wordsworth is the only one of the Laureates not to write any official verse.