Best Remembered Poems

The 126 poems in this superb collection of 19th and 20th century British and American verse range from the impassioned "Renascence" of Edna St. Vincent Millay to Edward Lear's whimsical "The Owl and the Pussycat" and James Whitcomb Riley's homespun "When the Frost Is on the Punkin." Famous poets such as Wordsworth, Tennyson, Whitman, and Frost are well-represented, as are less well-known poets such as John McCrae ("In Flanders Fields") and Ernest Thayer ("Casey at the Bat"). Includes 10 selections from the Common Core State Standards Initiative: "The Owl and the Pussycat," "Casey at the Bat," "Jabberwocky," "O Captain! My Captain!," "Paul Revere's Ride," "Ozymandias," "The Raven," "Because I Could Not Stop for Death," "Mending Wall," and "Ode on a Grecian Urn."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 048627165X
• ISBN13: 9780486271651
• Release Date: December 1992
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.63 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.4" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Doggerel, Rhymes, Lyrics, Verses, and Revered Poetry

Martin Gardner, a noted author, editor and anthologist, compiled this collection of memorable poems by nineteenth and twentieth century American and British poets. This poetry is memorable in the sense that many readers will recognize the poems and may have even memorized some of these verses in their school days. Gardner admits that some entries he cares not a rap about and even considers them doggerel. Others he remembers from childhood and still cherishes. Gardner's anthology, Best Remembered Poems, does not pretend to be the best poems in the English language, but this collection does make entertaining reading. Some poems once widely popular now seem atrocious. Others still resonate despite the passage of generations. I appreciated Gardner's short and often amusing introduction to each poem. For much of this poetry Gardner has the audacity to provide humorous parodies. This is obviously poetry to have fun with, not poetry to be intimidated by.You may be familiar with similar anthologies. How does this collection of 123 poems compare with other collections that claim to be the 100 best loved poems, the 100 best poems, and the 101 most famous poems?The little Dover edition, 100 Best-Loved Poems (edited by Philip Smith), overlaps significantly with Gardner's anthology. They share 39 poems. Phillip Smith offers more poetry from Shakespeare, Donne, Jonson, Milton, Marvell, Hardy, Hopkins, Housman, Yeats, and other famous poets.In his introduction Gardner pokes fun at the most successful of all anthologies, One Hundred and One Famous Poems (compiled by Roy J. Cook, 1929), for its high proportion of outdated and discarded poets. And yet, Gardner also shares 39 poems with Cook's collection, suggesting more affinity than Gardner might have recognized.The third comparison is with 100 Poems by 100 Poets, the finest poetry in the English language, so say its three authors: Harold Pinter, Geoffrey Godbert, and Anthony Astbury. The overlap with this more scholarly collection is hardly noticeable as only five poems are shared.Gardner's collection includes the rather lengthy poem Thanatopsis, a favorite of high school literature classes in the early decades of the twentieth century. Unexpectedly, a few years ago as my wife's mother lay dying of cancer, she quoted the second half of Thanatopsis in full and without any errors. She had remembered this poem for more than sixty years.

Lots of Wonderful Poetry

This is an enjoyable grouping of over 100 poems. There are many that most of us will remember but a few that I had never read before. Some of these poems are the very ones that were read to us as children: "THE OWL AND THE PUSSYCAT," "THE DUEL," and "LITTLE ORPHANT ANNIE." Reading these old favorites again brings back memories of my sister, Joan who always had time to read to me.I also enjoyed encountering a few of the poems that my teachers made me study: "THE LOST CHORD," which was turned into a hymn and often song by Enrico Caruso; the very inspiring "INVICTUS," and the sad but lyrical "ANNABEL LEE." It's rather amazing how much more meaning you can take from the poems when you read them as an adult.There are also very interesting short biographies of each author and these are not the versions that we learned in school. They make the poets seem real and not quite so lofty. Unfortunately, many people never learn to appreciate poetry, but I think that perhaps they may not have realized that the key to poetry is their own imagination.

Echoes and Memories

Open the book to any page, and you will read phrases you've heard all your life but never knew, or now can't remember, from where they came. It's a great English language poetry course in a single volume. The only book in it's class is "The Top 100 Poems" (which costs 5 times as much).