" The Winged Word"- David Green

In my Graduation syllabus, I had a book named “ The Winged word”. This anthology is edited by David Green. It is anthology of poems compiled for the students of English literature in the B.A courses of Indian Universities. The chronological order, in which the poets are arranged in this book, helps the students to note the development of English poetry from one age to another.

Referring to this book after a long time span, gives me a immense joy.

There are many poems in this book. We were given some selected poems to study during three years of graduation. The poems which were in my syllabus are as follow:-

   1.)  I Find No Peace – Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503-42)

   2.) My Friend, the Things That Do Attain –Henry Howard (1517- 47)

   3.) The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd –Sir Walter Ralegh (1552-1618)

   4.) The Nightingale – Sir Philip Sidney (1554- 86)

   5.) Since There’s No Help – Michael Drayton (1563- 1613)

   6.) Sonnet No.116 – William Shakespeare  (1564-1616)

   7.) To His coy Mistress – Andrew Marvell  (1621-78)

   8.) A Red,Red Rose – Robert Burns (1759-96)

   9.) Three years She Grew – William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

 10.) Ode to the West Wind – P.B.Shelley (1792- 1822)

 11.)  Ode to Psyche – John Keats (1795-1821)

 12.)   Break,Break,Break – Alfred,Lord Tennyson (1809-92)

 13.)  The Wild Swans at Coole – William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)

 14.)    Insensibility – Wilfred Owen (1893- 1918)

 15.)    Wants – Philip Larkin (1922)

The poems included in this anthology cover a wide area of human experience and a rich variety of style. These 15 poems were included in my syllabus of three years of B.A.

The note at the end of the book is very helpful to understand the difficult passages and allusions and also provides information about the individual contribution of each poet to the development of English poetry.

Reading these poems again at P.G level gives a wider understanding. The above poems will be discussed in other blog.