W. H. Auden's Book of Light VerseAuden's celebrated anthology of light verse is packed with surprising finds while also offering a striking rethinking of the poetic canon. Commissioned by Oxford University Press in the 1930s, when Auden's own work was at its boldest, the book caught its original publisher off guard. For it is less a collection of humorous verses than a celebration of the popular voice in English, in which the work of great satirists like Swift and Byron keeps company with ballads, chanteys, ditties, nursery rhymes, street calls, bathroom graffiti, epitaphs, folk songs, vaudeville turns, limericks, and blues. Turning away from the post-Romantic cult of the sentimental lyric, Auden features poetry that is clear, enjoyable, and, no matter its age, absolutely modern. This new edition includes previously censored poems, together with Auden's remarkable introduction and a new preface by his literary executor, Edward Mendelson. |
From inside the book
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Page xxiv
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Page 45
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Page 69
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Page 96
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Page 108
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Contents
Section 1 | 51 |
Section 2 | 52 |
Section 3 | 80 |
Section 4 | 82 |
Section 5 | 83 |
Section 6 | 87 |
Section 7 | 103 |
Section 8 | 110 |
Section 17 | 202 |
Section 18 | 205 |
Section 19 | 207 |
Section 20 | 211 |
Section 21 | 212 |
Section 22 | 235 |
Section 23 | 248 |
Section 24 | 258 |
Section 9 | 112 |
Section 10 | 123 |
Section 11 | 142 |
Section 12 | 156 |
Section 13 | 184 |
Section 14 | 186 |
Section 15 | 190 |
Section 16 | 193 |
Section 25 | 259 |
Section 26 | 265 |
Section 27 | 270 |
Section 28 | 279 |
Section 29 | 280 |
Section 30 | 282 |
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Common terms and phrases
ANON bells better cause Chorus comes dance daughter dead dear death devil doth drink eyes face fair fall fool friends gave give gold gone green grow hand hath head hear heart horse I'll John keep kind king Knaves knew lady land leave light live look Lord maid mind Miss morning mother never night nose o'er once play poems poet poetry poor rose round sailing sing song soon stand sure sweet tell thee ther there's things thou thought told took town tree true turn verse wish wolde write wrong young