The Bard's Verse Beautifully Illustrated
Written: Oct 30 '05 (Updated Nov 02 '05)
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Pros: beautiful illustrations accompanying some of the most lyrical, magical, witty, excerpts of the Bard's verse
Cons: none
The Bottom Line: A lovely present for all Shakespeare-philes or the young and unsuspecting Shakespeare-phile-to-be nestling in your midst
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| jc_hall's Full Review: A Treasury of Shakespeare's Verses Books |
Review of A Treasury of Shakespeare’s Verse selected by Gina Pollinger and illustrated by Emma Chichester Clark
Here is a jewel-bright selection of verse from the plays and poetry of the world’s greatest playwright. Words of wit, wisdom, and tenderness, mischief, magic, and merriment dance across the pages of this unique anthology.
For once, the blurb does not lie. This treasury is indeed a lively one, and the various attributes of wit, wisdom, tenderness, mischief, magic and merriment are all well-represented, with choice excerpts from a wide range of the Bard’s plays, from his comedies (‘As You Like It’, ‘Twelfth Night’, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, ‘Much Ado About Nothing’) to his tragedies (‘Romeo and Juliet’, ‘Macbeth’, ‘Hamlet’, ‘King Lear’), to the historical plays (‘Henry V’, ‘Henry VI’, ‘Henry VIII’, etc.).
Not only are the famous ones (e.g. ‘The Merchant of Venice’, ‘Anthony and Cleopatra’, ‘Othello’) represented, but the lesser-known plays (such as ‘Coriolanus’, ‘Troilus and Cressida’, ‘The Winter’s Tale’) are also included. There are even excerpts from his lyric poems, ‘Venus and Adonis’ and ‘The Rape of Lucrece’, as well as lines from some of his sonnets.
The verses are loosely organized into sections or themes, under the headings ‘Power to Charm’ (magic, nature), ‘Youth, I Do Adore Thee!’ (childhood, friendship, youth, love), ‘It Was A Lover and His Lass’ (love, romance), ‘The Envious Court’, ‘The King is but A Man’, ‘Fierce Civil Strife’ (war, power), ‘Our Life is of a Mingled Yarn’, and ‘Our Revels Now are Ended’ (death, grief, tragedy).
On the frontispiece is a quote from Poetry for You by Cecil Day-Lewis, poet laureate father of actor Daniel Day-Lewis:
Poetry has the same effect on words as wet sand on pennies. In what seems almost a miraculous way, it brightens up words that looked dull and ordinary.
“Don’t let the playground bullies tell you that poetry is soft…a good poem is just about as hard as a diamond…think of the things you know that have the longest lives—yew trees, tortoises, marble temples, ancient castles. Well, a good poem can live on for centuries longer than a tortoise or a yew tree.”
In the introduction, Gina Pollinger likens her selections to ‘a single composition, an overture that would pave the way and make access to Shakespeare that much easier’, and hopes that ‘the selection will prove more than a browser’s delight: that some of you will be encouraged to look beyond it to even more spectacular discoveries—this time in the theatre. For there you will hear the poetry—and much more, on themes now familiar—happily restored to character, plot, and stage. Shakespeare in action, Shakespeare in the round, Shakespeare in all his glory.’
I applaud her goal and agree whole-heartedly that the Bard’s work should be watched as it is performed on the stage (or, failing that, the screen) rather than read, though of course a familiarity with the written work adds enormously to its enjoyment.
My paperback copy of A Treasury of Shakespeare’s Verse is slim but beautifully illustrated throughout, including the cover pages. Often there are several illustrations on each page, all relevant to the text. Apart form the main illustrations, there are smaller decorations (flower panels, miniature leaves, flowers, even little swords and snails) at both the top and the bottom of each page. All are beautifully coloured and add to the beauty and symmetry of the page layout as well as the enjoyment of the text.
I highly recommend this book to all Shakespeare aficionados, but especially to the youngster in your life (from the age of eleven through the teens) who is about to read Shakespeare at school and is perhaps dreading it, or, in the odd case, looking forward to it.
This is a great introduction to the beauty, wit, drama, and lyricism of Shakespeare’s verse. It will capture the imagination of a budding Shakespeare-phile and serve as a great foundation from which to explore the heady world of Shakespearean drama.
The illustrations and decorations (some of which take up almost a whole page or sometimes a two-page spread, e.g. a very romantic one of the death-scene from Romeo and Juliet; the balcony scene is also featured in a different section) are sure to appeal to youngsters with an interest in art.
I would go so far as to say the book itself is a work of art and it is certainly a wonderful addition to the groaning bookshelf that I have dedicated to the works by and about the Bard. Highly recommended as a lovely present to yourself or to the youngster in your life.
“There is a real art involved in presenting the Bard’s work to the younger reader, but it is hard to imagine a more beguiling and intelligently chosen anthology than this one.”
--Publishing News
“Many of these great passages have entered our language and our culture…they ring with poetry and touch universal feelings”
--Booklist
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
jc_hall
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Member: JC Hall
Location: Toronto, Canada
Reviews written: 199
Trusted by: 53 members
About Me:
Going back to Vancouver for Christmas! Happy Holidays, everyone!!
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