The Poet’s Pen
Tag: poet
The Poet’s Pen
a growing collection…
I’ve been thinking about doing this type of post for awhile now and I have been trying to keep busy in light of the recent sadness that has befallen our Family this week.
My love for Poetry dates back to my school years and I always enjoyed borrowing Poetry books from the Library but often thought it would be great if I had some on my own bookshelf. I know I can look up the Internet at any time and view some but I’m also a ‘real book’ lover and love to curl up with one. I love the feel, the smell and conciseness of a single book in the hands.
That being said, I also have a couple of Poetry apps on my phone, ‘Poem Hunter’, which provides a daily Poem; ‘Famous Poetry’, which offers the Poetry of 36 different Poets. The apps are for those times when I cannot or do not have a book with me.
I also have a few books on the mechanics of Poetry and how to write them and I thought I would share a list of my Poetry books with you.
- The Australian and Other Verses by W.H.Ogilvie
- Poetical Works of Henry Lawson
- Selected Poems of Adam Lindsay Gordon
- The Collins Book of Australian Poetry
- Collected Verse – John Manifold
- The Poet’s Word – An Anthology of English Poetry
- Chaucer to Gray – The Harvard Classics
- The Golden Treasury of English Verse
- Morla el Do (Tomorrow Will Do) – A Collection of Norfolk Island Poems
- William Blake – Selected Poems
- Quatrains of Omar Khayyam
- The Poetical Works of John Keats
- Poetical Works of Mrs Browning Volume 1
- A Book of Poetry – Anthology of English Poetry (Textbook 1961)
- Collected Shorter Poems 1930 -1944 of W.H.Auden
- A.D.Hope – Selected Poems
- Selected Poems & Letters of Emily Dickinson
- Leaves From Australian Forests – Poetical Works of Henry Kendall
- Yet More Comic & Curious Verse – The Penguin Poets
- Enjoying Poetry 1 – Silver and Gold
- Matthew Arnold – A Selection Of His Finest Poems
- The English and Scottish Popular Ballads Volume 1
- Seven Centuries of Poetry in English
- The Great Modern Poets – An Anthology of the Best Poets & Poetry since 1900
- Collected Poems of Henry Thoreau
- James McCauley – Collected Poems 1936 – 1970
- The Golden Book of Modern English Poetry – Everyman’s Library – 921
- The Poet’s Pen – A Historical and Chronological Anthology – 13th to 20th Century
- Walt Whitman – Leaves of Grass
- Judith Wright – Collected Poems
- Poems and Poets – David Aloian – Headmaster, Concord Academy (Textbook 1965)
- Country Verse – 16th to 19th Century
- Introduction to Poetry: British, American, Canadian
- Writing and Enjoying Haiku – A Hands-on Guide
- The Making of a Poem – A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms
- How To Read A Poem and Fall in Love with Poetry
- Poetry: Tools & Techniques – A Practical Guide to Writing Engaging Poetry
- Mary Oliver – A Poetry Handbook – A Prose Guide to Understanding & Writing Poetry
It would be very hard for me to pick out a favourite Poet or Poem so I’m not going to try. There are some of my favourite Poets missing from the list, though. Some are contained within the anthologies and it would be nice to have them in their own separate books. I know I can go out and purchase brand new books but I prefer to hunt out second-hand books as they have more character than a brand new book and there is something about ‘the hunt’ in a second-hand bookstore that makes it all the more exciting when you ‘uncover some book treasure…’.
Till next time!
Written by David Johnson
28 November 2021
A Trip To The Country – Part 2 – Book Treasure
In my last post (in this series), I mentioned that we stopped off in Boorowa, NSW for a spot of afternoon tea. Prior to our scrumptious Devonshire Tea, we popped into a ‘charity bookshop’ at the other end of town.
We had only visited this bookshop once before and basically (at that time) stumbled upon it just before closing time. That was three years ago…so we were keen to check it out this time around and we were so glad we did, for there was certainly some ‘Book Treasure’ to be uncovered!
I purchased five books, as follows:
- Leaves Of Grass – Walt Whitman
- Collected Poems 1936 – 1970 – James McAuley
- Enjoying Poetry 1 – Silver and Gold – Chosen by E.W.Parker
- Paint Luxurious Textures In Watercolor – Jennifer Sheffer
- Creative Watercolour Artist – Readers Digest
Leaves of Grass – Walt Whitman
I had heard about this anthology a while ago and have wanted to get a copy of it for a while now. This is the ninth edition, the first having been written in 1892. Walt Whitman’s name first came to my attention when I saw, ‘Dead Poet’s Society’ starring Robin Williams. I am thrilled to add this to my Poetry Collection.
I look forward to delving into more of Walt Whitman’s work.
Collected Poems – James McAuley
I would to say that I had heard of this Australian Poet, however, I would be fibbing. Perhaps I have heard his name before but had forgotten it… It turns out that he was born in Lakemba (where I grew up). My research shows that he was a ‘Australian academic, poet, journalist, literary critic and a prominent convert to Roman Catholicism.’
Flipping through the pages at the bookshop I was not aware of who he was but quite liked his style of Poetry.
Enjoying Poetry 1 – Silver and Gold – Chosen by E.W.Parker
I already have a few ‘collections of Poetry’ so it can be a bit tricky sometimes buying, ‘another collection’ as one doesn’t want to be merely, ‘buying the same Poems all the time…’ It is inevitable that some will be repeated, however, I quite liked the format and illustration of this book. It turns out that there are three in the series and I shall ‘keep my eye out’ for the other two.
It is only a small, thin book that can be easily tucked into a bag so it will be a great book to ‘dip into’ from time-to-time.
Paint Luxurious Textures In Watercolor – Jennifer Sheffer
I am just about to do a ‘book cull’ and started off with a five or six ‘general-type’ Watercolour books. In recent times, I’m not looking at these generalist books much at all and have been looking for specific things/techniques within the Watercolour medium. This is where this book fits in.
It looks well-written and inspiring. An easy decision to buy it.
Creative Watercolour Artist – Readers Digest
I happened across a Goldmine in this book! It is a book, small easel and comes with a ‘Watercolour Wheel’ as well. The Paint Set was not with the book but that’s no problem as I already have paints. It says it has, ’12 Sunning Watercolour Projects’ and it is true to it’s word. It also has split-page/cross-referencing to (as it says), ‘giving you instant access to all the techniques you need to create each of the projects). 94 techniques are displayed, demonstrated and discussed!
This was a ‘no-brainer’ purchase as well.
Five pieces of ‘Book Treasure’ from one second-hand bookshop in a Country town we love to stop at. It is roughly three hours drive from where we live. Looking forward to our next visit!
In Part 3 of ‘Trip To The Country’ I will be focusing on Millthorpe, where we stayed for the wedding.
Till next time!
Written by David Johnson
17 April 2021
A Sound That Will Ring
Uncovering Treasure
As mentioned previously, last week, I visited the Argyle Emporium in Goulburn, NSW, Australia. It is home to over 500,000 books plus records and other curios.
As those of you would know who follow my blog, I am an avid reader, book-lover and in particular, I love Art and Communication. I also love visiting second-hand bookstores, though unfortunately, there are not so many around these days.
I spent just under an hour at the Argyle Emporium and really only looked at 3 different sections, ‘Classics’, Poetry and Art.
Recently, I read my first John Steinbeck novel, ‘The Pearl’ and was quite taken with his writing so I was keen to find some of his books. I know we can easily get re-prints/re-issues from bookstores, however, there is something extra-special about reading an older copy of these books. I can’t really explain it but it just feels great.
I was thrilled to pick up 3 John Steinbeck novels (in two books) and managed to add another 4 books to my Poetry collection and also picked up the best book I have seen to-date, on Watercolour.
The ‘treasure’ I uncovered last week is listed below:
- Cup of Gold – John Steinbeck
- Of Mice and Men & Cannery Row – John Steinbeck
- A Farewell To Arms – Ernest Hemingway
- The Old Man and The Sea – Ernest Hemingway
- The Poet’s World – An Anthology of English Poetry – 350 pages
- Collected Poems of Henry Thoreau – 380 pages
- Poems and Poets – 420 pages
- Introduction To Poetry: British, American, Canadian – 690 pages
- The Essence of Watercolor – Hazel Soan
All bought for a combined total of $40.00.
I’ve started reading, ‘Cup of Gold’ and am enjoying it immensely. Also, at various times this past week I have enjoyed dipping into the Poetry books, savouring the words, thoroughly enjoying the experience and have already begun being inspired by, ’The Essence of Watercolor.’
I’m sure that (within the pages) there is even more treasure to be uncovered. Till next time!
Written by David Johnson
September 2020
A Pleasant Surprise!
Recently, I was thinking about which book to read next and I have decided that I would like to read some of the classic titles from yesteryear, by authors such as Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck and the like.
I was scanning my own bookshelves to see what I could find (in that vein) and came across a few such books by other authors.
In my travels I came across a Poetry book that was not with my Poetry collection. It was tucked away in the Biographical section and I must admit that I had forgotten all about it. It is now back in its rightful place.
The book in question is, ‘Quatrains of Omar Khayyam’ translated by E.H. Whinefeld. It is quite a small, thin book and in fact measures 10 cm high, 15 cm wide and 8 mm thick.
Omar Khayyam was a Persian mathematician, astronomer, philosopher, and poet who was born on 18 May 1048 and passed away on 4 December 1131.
What is a Quatrain? It is a stanza of four lines, especially one having alternate rhymes.
The Introduction goes for 26 pages with the balance of the book containing no less than 395 Quatrains and was printed in 1920.
I thoroughly enjoyed flipping through the pages this afternoon, sampling some of the poems. I’m sure I will be revisiting it again soon.
Written by David Johnson
23 August 2020
Communicating Creatively 