Reviews for Poems, Volume II

The average rating for Poems, Volume II based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2019-03-14 00:00:00 Tricia Ott Thackeray the poet has long been overshadowed by Thackeray the novelist. These poems are not the sort of sophisticated fare the best-known poets of his time were writing; rather they look both forward and back (as do his novels) to a simpler, more straight-forward style. In this, they certainly foreshadow the poetic work of Kipling and Hardy, and the whole movement away from Romantic excess before Modernism came in. This is not to say they are not sophisticated in their own way. Thackeray transforms common song forms into something more. Not surprisingly, there is a great deal of humor in the poems, both in subject matter and in form (with rhymes that actually made me laugh when I read them). The poems are perhaps at their worst when they slip into sentimentality, though even there the occasional gem shines through. Some are loose translations from traditional German or French songs. Some are original with Thackeray. Admittedly, one may not be able to tell the difference. There are also a number of poems written in Irish dialect that could come off as a tad offensive to some. Thackeray's attitude toward the Irish has long been a bit of mark against him (not that he could not be sympathetic toward them as well). Certainly worth a read, though in small doses as is true of poetry in general. The best pieces are quite good and even the worst have their charms. Incidentally, this book is available as a free download from Project Gutenberg.

Review # 2 was written on 2012-08-27 00:00:00 Claudio Varnerin So far, I appreciate his literary critiques on many things, however, I find him to be quite arrogant, and a little too self-reflexive for my liking. His literature is obviously grand, and very clearly scholarly, I just prefer less of a hubris element, and more of a "human"element to authors. There is something so special about humble writers writing great things in great agony that should be appreciated more than arrogant writers writing what's expected of them from themselves. ** Update - I finally finished the Milton course and had time to update, these collected works are wonderful. they are thoughtful and exceedingly intelligent and really force you to dive deep into the text and within yourself to form very personal understandings of the works. At times he may seem quite arrogant and entitled, but looking passed that, these stories were some of my absolute favorites of the semester. I was upset at his jokes toward people who at the time were uneducated due to the class system, however, I definitely appreciate his thoughts and how he composed them into these magnificent works, and how he wrote about freedom and people. I really think he said it best. We are born free, entirely in ourselves, he was and is so very right.