Ron Padgett: Collected Poems

The Best Poems of the English Language: From Chaucer Through Robert Frost

"To read Bloom's insights here is to bask in the emanation of genius. As entertaining and erudite as his choices of the works he most loves are, the book's overriding strength is the guidance it gives, in context and comprehension." - Baltimore Sun This comprehensive anthology offers renowned critic Harold Bloom's choice of the best of six centuries of great British and American poetry, selected in accordance with his three absolute criteria: aesthetic splendor, intellectual power, and wisdom. In Bloom's introductory essay "The Art of Reading Poetry," he presents his critical reflections of more than half a century devoted to reading, teaching, and writing about great verse, the literary achievement he loves most. Throughout this volume, Bloom includes extensive introductions to each poet and to many of the individual poems. More than any other anthology, this book provides readers who desire the pleasures of sublime art with nearly everything they need in a single volume.

Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales

Lively, absorbing, often outrageously funny, Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales is a work of genius, an undisputed classic that has held a special appeal for each generation of readers. The Tales gathers twenty-nine of literature's most enduring (and endearing) characters in a vivid group portrait that captures the full spectrum of medieval society, from the exalted Knight to the humble Plowman. This new edition includes a comprehensive introduction that summarizes some of the most important historical events and movements that defined the world of Chaucer and his pilgrims; two additional tales (Reeve's and Shipman's); introductions for each tale designed to prepare the reader for a better understanding and enjoyment of the tale; newly written and conveniently placed explanatory notes; and a new, more easily understood system for learning to pronounce Chaucerian Middle English.

Frederick Rebsamen

Beowulf: An Updated Verse Translation

The acclaimed verse translation of the timeless epic tale of bravery and battle--the enduring saga of the hero Beowulf and the monster Grendel--the first true masterpiece of English literature. "There are lots of translations of Beowulf floating around, some prose, some poetry, but none manages to capture the feel and tone of the original as well as this one." -- Dick Ringler, Professor of English and Scandinavian Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison "No self-respecting college professor will want his students to be without it. . . . Renditions in modern English haven't taken the poetry of the original very seriously--but what a shock now that someone has! With the subtle rules of alliteration, stress, and pause in place--and with a translator bold enough to invent his own vigorous and imaginative compound nouns--the poem suddenly takes flight and carries us to the highest mountains of achievement." ( Booklist)