A book of poems and lyrical tales about school life and childhood. Suitable for children, teachers, parents and anyone else! Many of the poems are fun and funny, some are more serious. Amusing adventures delight the imagination, while the poems about bullying are sensitive and impactful. Great for the Staff Room table, 'circle time' or class discussion, lots of material for stage productions, and a super gift for school leavers. The rich and engaging style makes for a really enjoyable read.
From the Introduction: Just words of course, all just so many words. But words strung slyly, judiciously, and always lovingly one after the other in due order and in such a way as to entertain, sometimes astonish, and, the poet hopes, occasionally enlighten the literate, or even otherwise, reader; all cast in diverse poetical schemes ranging from the formal classical pentameter of Milton or Tennyson to unformed lines to satisfy even the postiest of moderns; but in fact most of the lines herein actually - can it be? - scan, and many - oh no! - even rhyme, sometimes obviously, sometimes merely hinted at in surprising ways, recalling Wallace Stevens's remark that "one writes poetry out of a delight in the harmonious and orderly"; one will find here blank verse, heroic couplets, a touch of ottava rima, numerous sonnets of various styles, even, just for fun, a limerick and a finicky double dactyl; also some rowdy cowboy poetry and other diverse schemes nearly as numerous as the pages herein.
Age Ain't Nothin' But a Number! Popular humorist Karen O'Connor (over half a million books sold) shares inspiration and practical insight, drawing from her own experiences to help you glide through your golden years with grace, humor, and anticipation. Join Karen as she shares funny yet poignant personal anecdotes to encourage you to make new choices, accept new challenges, take new chances, and open new chapters in your life. Each story concludes with a triumvirate of truth for you to take away: Wit—"I never made a mistake in my life. I thought I did once, but I was wrong." - Charles M. Schulz Wisdom—We all stumble in many ways... (James 3:2) Willpower—I will count myself human and let go of my senior moments. After all, I am a senior! Above all, know that God is with you every step of your journey and can't wait to greet you in heaven someday. But today is not that day, so live your senior life to the fullest!
In this richly detailed study, Margot Louis combines close readings of Swinburne's poetry with a wide-ranging analysis of the pressures which influenced the poet. Louis not only examines the ways in which Swinburne was affected by English and French Romantics but comments on the powerful impact on his writing of a childhood steeped in high church theology. Swinburne's ideas of alternative concepts of deity are discussed within the context of nineteenth-century radical "free thought." Louis reflects on the depth and diversity of Swinburne's intellectual interests and their effect on the development of his poetic style.
This book considers how 'affect', the experience of feeling or emotion, has developed as a critical concept within literary studies in different periods and through a range of approaches. Stretching from the classical to the contemporary, the first section of the book, 'Origins', considers the importance of particular areas of philosophy, theory, and criticism that have been important for conceptualizing affect and its relation to literature. Includes ancient Greek and Roman philosophy, eighteenth-century aesthetics, Marxist theory, psychoanalysis, queer theory, and postcolonial theory. The chapters of the second section, 'Developments', correspond to those of the previous section and build on their insights through readings of particular texts. The final 'Applications' section is focused on contemporary and future lines of enquiry, and revolves around a particular set of concerns: media and communications, capitalism, and an environment of affective relations that extend to ecology, social crisis, and war.
This book is written by an Everyman, a person who has traveled through the ups and downs of life, with his eyes wide open and his heart exposed. The eyes have seen too much. The heart has taken a few hits. It started with a poem. One poem reflecting a single thought. Then a second and a third and a fourth. The poems span a period and, in themselves, have become a reflection of the writer, me. The observations are not so unusual. It is unusual, however, I guess, to maintain a printed word of the journey.
Of all the Victorian poets, Edward Lear has a good claim to the widest audience: admired and championed by critics and poets from John Ruskin to John Ashbery, he has also been read, heard, and loved by generations of children. As a central figure in the literature of nonsense, Lear has also shaped the evolution of modern literature, and his work continues to influence and inspire writers and readers today. This collection of essays-the first ever devoted solely to Lear-builds on a recent resurgence of critical interest and asks how it is that the play of Lear's poetry continues to delight, and to challenge our sense of what poetry can be. These seventeen chapters, written by established and emerging critics of poetry, seek to explore and appreciate the playfulness embodied in the poems, and to provide contexts in which it can be better understood and enjoyed. They consider how Lear's poems play off various inheritances (the literary fool, Romantic lyric, his religious upbringing), explore particular forms in which his playful genius took flight (his letters, his queer writings about love), and trace lines of Learical influence and inheritance by showing how other poets and thinkers across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries played off Lear in their turn (Joyce, Stein, Eliot, Auden, Smith, Ashbery, and others).
The instant New York Times bestseller featured on NPR's Weekend Edition with Scott Simon! B. J. Novak (bestselling author of The Book With No Pictures) described this groundbreaking poetry collection as "Smart and sweet, wild and wicked, brilliantly funny--it's everything a book for kids should be." Lauded by critics as a worthy heir to such greats as Silverstein, Seuss, Nash and Lear, Harris's hilarious debut molds wit and wordplay, nonsense and oxymoron, and visual and verbal sleight-of-hand in masterful ways that make you look at the world in a whole new wonderfully upside-down way. With enthusiastic endorsements from bestselling luminaries such as Lemony Snicket, Judith Viorst, Andrea Beaty, and many others, this entirely unique collection offers a surprise around every corner. Adding to the fun: Lane Smith, bestselling creator of beloved hits like It's a Book and The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, has spectacularly illustrated this extraordinary collection with nearly one hundred pieces of appropriately absurd art. It's a mischievous match made in heaven! "Ridiculous, nonsensical, peculiar, outrageous, possibly deranged--and utterly, totally, absolutely delicious. Read it! Immediately!" --Judith Viorst, bestselling author of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
