What do you think?
Rate this book
The Rattle Bag
The Rattle Bag is an anthology of poetry (mostly in English but occasionally in translation) for general readers and students of all ages and backgrounds. These poems have been selected by the simple yet telling criteria that they are the personal favorites of the editors, themselves two of contemporary literature's leading poets.
Moreover, Heaney and Hughes have elected to list their favorites not by theme or by author but simply by title (or by first line, when no title is given). As they explain in their "We hope that our decision to impose an arbitrary alphabetical order allows the contents [of this book] to discover themselves as we ourselves gradually discovered them--each poem full of its singular appeal, transmitting its own signals, taking its chances in a big, voluble world."
With undisputed masterpieces and rare discoveries, with both classics and surprises galore, The Rattle Bag includes the work of such key poets as William Shakespeare, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Lewis Carroll, Dylan Thomas, Wallace Stevens, Elizabeth Bishop, and Sylvia Plath among its hundreds of poems. A helpful Glossary as well as an Index of Poets and Works are offered at the conclusion of this hefty, unorthodox, diverse, inspired, and inspiring collection of poetry.
Moreover, Heaney and Hughes have elected to list their favorites not by theme or by author but simply by title (or by first line, when no title is given). As they explain in their "We hope that our decision to impose an arbitrary alphabetical order allows the contents [of this book] to discover themselves as we ourselves gradually discovered them--each poem full of its singular appeal, transmitting its own signals, taking its chances in a big, voluble world."
With undisputed masterpieces and rare discoveries, with both classics and surprises galore, The Rattle Bag includes the work of such key poets as William Shakespeare, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Lewis Carroll, Dylan Thomas, Wallace Stevens, Elizabeth Bishop, and Sylvia Plath among its hundreds of poems. A helpful Glossary as well as an Index of Poets and Works are offered at the conclusion of this hefty, unorthodox, diverse, inspired, and inspiring collection of poetry.
512 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1982
109 people are currently reading
1,414 people want to read
About the author
Seamus Heaney
343books1,037followersWorks of Irish poet Seamus Justin Heaney reflect landscape, culture, and political crises of his homeland and include the collections
Wintering Out
(1972) and
Field Work
(1979) as well as a translation of
Beowulf
(1999). He won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1995.
This writer and lecturer won this prize "for works of lyrical beauty and ethical depth, which exalt everyday miracles and the living past."
.
This writer and lecturer won this prize "for works of lyrical beauty and ethical depth, which exalt everyday miracles and the living past."
.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 87 reviews
September 13, 2016
This collection of poetry edited by Seamus Heaney and Ted Hughes is the perfect addition to any poetry shelf. Having made my way cover to cover, I will now find joy in taking The Rattle Bag off the shelf, opening to a random page, and enjoying the words I find there.
Seamus Heaney on the title:
... the volume was too abundant, too frolicsome and too unruly to go by the rather headmasterly title in the contract, so all of a sudden Ted suggested we call it by the name of a strange roguish poem translated from the Welsh of Dafydd ap Gwilym. It's about an instrument that sounds more like an implement, a raucous, distracting, shake, rattle-and-roll affair that disturbs the poet and his lover while they lie together in the greenwood. In the words of the translator, Joseph Clancy, it becomes a noisy pouch perched on a pole, a bell of pebbles and gravel, "a blare, a bloody nuisance". We were wanting to serve notice that the anthology was a wake-up call, an attempt to bring poetry and younger people to their senses. ... What we hoped to do was to shake the rattle and awaken the sleeping inner poet in every reader.
Seamus Heaney on the title:
... the volume was too abundant, too frolicsome and too unruly to go by the rather headmasterly title in the contract, so all of a sudden Ted suggested we call it by the name of a strange roguish poem translated from the Welsh of Dafydd ap Gwilym. It's about an instrument that sounds more like an implement, a raucous, distracting, shake, rattle-and-roll affair that disturbs the poet and his lover while they lie together in the greenwood. In the words of the translator, Joseph Clancy, it becomes a noisy pouch perched on a pole, a bell of pebbles and gravel, "a blare, a bloody nuisance". We were wanting to serve notice that the anthology was a wake-up call, an attempt to bring poetry and younger people to their senses. ... What we hoped to do was to shake the rattle and awaken the sleeping inner poet in every reader.
Shelved as 'unfinished-or-abandoned'
July 20, 2024I was optimistic about this anthology of poetry - a selection compiled/chosen by a couple of poets I quite like... but I was disappointed.
the anthology was very white Anglo-European/North American male poet dominated. it felt abit like they chose poems considered 'classics', with a purpose, rather than a more interesting and wide ranging selection.
the collection contains a few poems translated into English from Irish, Welsh, Swedish, (as far as I read), but still feels very limited.
it also contains some poems that are pretty problematic wrt stereotypes and racism - these could easily have been omitted.
a disappointment.
abandoned 28% read.
accessed as an RNIB audiobook read by Peter Goss.
the anthology was very white Anglo-European/North American male poet dominated. it felt abit like they chose poems considered 'classics', with a purpose, rather than a more interesting and wide ranging selection.
the collection contains a few poems translated into English from Irish, Welsh, Swedish, (as far as I read), but still feels very limited.
it also contains some poems that are pretty problematic wrt stereotypes and racism - these could easily have been omitted.
a disappointment.
abandoned 28% read.
accessed as an RNIB audiobook read by Peter Goss.
November 29, 2013
This is one of my favorite anthologies -- some standards, some real surprises, consistently chosen by idiosyncratic sensibilities that say as much about the editor poets as about the quality of the chosen work itself. I don't think I would have ever been exposed to the "Hunter Poems of the Yoruba" but for this anthology, and I suspect Heaney threw in the strong presence of anonymous early traditional verse while Hughes ensured there would be a heavy dose of D.H. Lawrence. Maybe great American poetry is a bit underrepresented, but all in all this is a very earthy, exhilarating collection of some of English poetry's best short lyrics (with some translations from other traditions).
July 19, 2022
As poetry anthologies go, this is a veritable treasure trove of the great and the good; a non-formulaic collection of personal favourites chosen by Seamus Heaney and Ted Hughes.
I read it in its entirety but it positively begs to be dipped back into when the mood strikes. Some poems were well-known, other poems (and poets) more obscure or unknown to me. I loved the fact that many of the works had been translated from their original language.
This has instantly become a firm favourite and will be put to immediate use in my classroom! Highly recommended.
I read it in its entirety but it positively begs to be dipped back into when the mood strikes. Some poems were well-known, other poems (and poets) more obscure or unknown to me. I loved the fact that many of the works had been translated from their original language.
This has instantly become a firm favourite and will be put to immediate use in my classroom! Highly recommended.
September 26, 2012
an unusual anthology, but i chose it because of my love of heaney. hughes, well, not so much.
i've taken to opening it to random pages and enjoying a few pages of poetry every couple of days - the randomness of it is easily the best part.
it contains quite a few poets that i know and love, and so very many that i was unfamiliar with. which makes it a lovely exercise in seeing new wordsmiths and devouring their words.
i've taken to opening it to random pages and enjoying a few pages of poetry every couple of days - the randomness of it is easily the best part.
it contains quite a few poets that i know and love, and so very many that i was unfamiliar with. which makes it a lovely exercise in seeing new wordsmiths and devouring their words.
March 26, 2022
A confident, hearty stew of an anthology.
Arranging the poems alphabetically by first line results in some lovely serendipities - strange and refreshing pairings which might have been missed if they’d gone for a thematic or chronological structure.
The title is drawn from a slightly eerie poem about (perhaps?) interrupted ecstasy - not quite sure of the significance of this. As a whole the scope needs tightening - this could be an excellent anthology of poems originally written in English; instead they’ve included a sprinkle of marvellous (razor-sharp and salty) poems in translation - Serbian, Chinese, Navajo. They’re amazing - but either incorporate these fully and give them equal weight, or not at all?
There’s also a heavy emphasis on nature - no surprise when Heaney and Hughes are involved - though far too much cloying William Blake and tepid Robert Frost for my taste (and unfair on the other poets who don’t get such preferential treatment).
Overall a varied, admirable selection.
Arranging the poems alphabetically by first line results in some lovely serendipities - strange and refreshing pairings which might have been missed if they’d gone for a thematic or chronological structure.
The title is drawn from a slightly eerie poem about (perhaps?) interrupted ecstasy - not quite sure of the significance of this. As a whole the scope needs tightening - this could be an excellent anthology of poems originally written in English; instead they’ve included a sprinkle of marvellous (razor-sharp and salty) poems in translation - Serbian, Chinese, Navajo. They’re amazing - but either incorporate these fully and give them equal weight, or not at all?
There’s also a heavy emphasis on nature - no surprise when Heaney and Hughes are involved - though far too much cloying William Blake and tepid Robert Frost for my taste (and unfair on the other poets who don’t get such preferential treatment).
Overall a varied, admirable selection.
July 17, 2007
Over the years I've accumulated a variety of poetry anthologies. This is probably my favorite. For reasons which I can't articulate other than to say that I like the poems that are in it. (Duh!)
April 29, 2024
Imagine someone made you a mix tape, but instead it’s poetry and that someone has amazing taste.
December 31, 2015
Another fine collection of poems I have been slowly working my way through these past few years, The Rattle Bag is the perfect collection for anyone hoping to get back into reading poetry. The collection, an expansive collection of classical and modern poetry, really does offer nearly all poetry has to offer and I am sure others will find, as I did, that there are a number of poems which you will find yourself returning time and again as well as new poets whose work you will seek out(good luck with that, all but the classics poetry volumes are generally small print runs and therefore prohibitively expensive).
The collection(edited with serious credentials by Ted Hughes and Seamus Heaney) is organised alphabetically by title which while initially seeming a strange choice works really well as it avoids the pitfalls of arranging by author or subject both of which can get tiresome. It also works because it means you will find a new poem addressing a new subject matter on each page(sometimes two to a page) meaning it doesn't allow you to lapse into lazy reading, the juxtaposing of some poems offering even greater insight into a subject matter. The collection is clearly a passion project for the editors and designed not with academia in mind but to act as a reinvigoration of a lost art. That it was first published in 1982 and I still in print over 30 years later speaks to the success of their goals, that it is not more widely read and not in every school classroom speaks of its failings.
Poetry, sadly, is taught in a way that does not offer the vast majority a way into a poem, I mean the works of Milton might be fantastic to some but sadly they will fall on deaf ears to the majority. By choosing one or two poets and flogging them to death across the school curriculum we do both the poets and the students a disservice. Some might say poetry has had its day and that it is a quaint medium of days past, given its redundancy by more new and exciting forms of expression, but poetry in a way is our most formative introduction to literature; think only of the children's rhymes we all learn in preschool and how they stick with us through generation after generation, remembered word for word and transferred from parent to child in the oral tradition. These poems resonate in the same way any poem resonates, they are fun, they communicate a message and most importantly they occupy a time and space in which our world was free of expectation and responsibility. Poems still posses all of these characteristics but the message is somehow lost in the transmission. People think of poetry as something that serious minded people read and ponder over while sipping whisky by the fire side, but it is also something that can link people together with memory and shared emotion. If you have ever been fortunate enough to hear someone recite a poem from memory to a captive audience it is like watching magic being conjured from thin air. For those with the gift, it is as if they have captured the essence of the room, excavated the emotion from the audience and let it out in a glorious breaching of the night air. There is value in poetry, specifically to those who have distanced themselves from it, it is the equal of any book, film or song, the distillation of time, place and emotion into stanzas on a page waiting on a reader to calm their mind and truly listen.
The collection(edited with serious credentials by Ted Hughes and Seamus Heaney) is organised alphabetically by title which while initially seeming a strange choice works really well as it avoids the pitfalls of arranging by author or subject both of which can get tiresome. It also works because it means you will find a new poem addressing a new subject matter on each page(sometimes two to a page) meaning it doesn't allow you to lapse into lazy reading, the juxtaposing of some poems offering even greater insight into a subject matter. The collection is clearly a passion project for the editors and designed not with academia in mind but to act as a reinvigoration of a lost art. That it was first published in 1982 and I still in print over 30 years later speaks to the success of their goals, that it is not more widely read and not in every school classroom speaks of its failings.
Poetry, sadly, is taught in a way that does not offer the vast majority a way into a poem, I mean the works of Milton might be fantastic to some but sadly they will fall on deaf ears to the majority. By choosing one or two poets and flogging them to death across the school curriculum we do both the poets and the students a disservice. Some might say poetry has had its day and that it is a quaint medium of days past, given its redundancy by more new and exciting forms of expression, but poetry in a way is our most formative introduction to literature; think only of the children's rhymes we all learn in preschool and how they stick with us through generation after generation, remembered word for word and transferred from parent to child in the oral tradition. These poems resonate in the same way any poem resonates, they are fun, they communicate a message and most importantly they occupy a time and space in which our world was free of expectation and responsibility. Poems still posses all of these characteristics but the message is somehow lost in the transmission. People think of poetry as something that serious minded people read and ponder over while sipping whisky by the fire side, but it is also something that can link people together with memory and shared emotion. If you have ever been fortunate enough to hear someone recite a poem from memory to a captive audience it is like watching magic being conjured from thin air. For those with the gift, it is as if they have captured the essence of the room, excavated the emotion from the audience and let it out in a glorious breaching of the night air. There is value in poetry, specifically to those who have distanced themselves from it, it is the equal of any book, film or song, the distillation of time, place and emotion into stanzas on a page waiting on a reader to calm their mind and truly listen.
April 6, 2010
A more eclectic collection than usual. Some of my favorites:
- The Seafarer, by Anon(version by Ezra Pound)-"he singeth summerward"
- Spring, by G.M.Hopkins -"What is all this juice and this joy?
- Fairy Tale, by Miroslav Holub -"He cut out his bit of sky"
- Dinogad's Petticoat, from the Welsh(trans Gwyn Williams)
"Whatever your father struck with his spear
wild pig wild cat fox from his lair
unless it had wings it never got clear."
- Breathing Space July, by Tomas Transtromer
"the islands crawl like moths over the globe."
- The Bight, by Elizabeth Bishop
"White, crumbling ribs of marl protrude and glare"
- Apple Blossom, by Louis MacNeice
"And when from Eden we take our way
The morning after is the first day."
- The Seafarer, by Anon(version by Ezra Pound)-"he singeth summerward"
- Spring, by G.M.Hopkins -"What is all this juice and this joy?
- Fairy Tale, by Miroslav Holub -"He cut out his bit of sky"
- Dinogad's Petticoat, from the Welsh(trans Gwyn Williams)
"Whatever your father struck with his spear
wild pig wild cat fox from his lair
unless it had wings it never got clear."
- Breathing Space July, by Tomas Transtromer
"the islands crawl like moths over the globe."
- The Bight, by Elizabeth Bishop
"White, crumbling ribs of marl protrude and glare"
- Apple Blossom, by Louis MacNeice
"And when from Eden we take our way
The morning after is the first day."
May 1, 2017
A very mixed bag, this book.
October 26, 2024
You can tell this has been compiled by Heaney; even if arbitrarily ordered I still managed to find three poems in a row that read like a book on trees but in verse. Despite the Heaneyan inclination for willows and nature (Frost, Yeats), this was a great anthology. I see it primarily befitting the purpose of introducing new readers to English poetry; its scope is great in range but narrow enough for one to become familiar with a few great names. I appreciated the poems translated from the Gaelic and the Welsh, I wasn’t acquainted with some of them; to my surprise there is also a fair good representation of Hungarian poetry (arguably one of the best). Sadly, I was hoping to get a few more names from this, and to see even more of the lesser-known poets, though it was nice getting to revisit some classics. My personal taste was underrepresented, hence the rating. The only real complaint I have about this book is: far too much Pound and Shakespeare! I would’ve insisted on ‘Anon,� Keats and G. Brooks instead.
‘Twas alright.
‘Twas alright.
January 12, 2025
Really quite disappointed by this uninspiring collection. Although it contains many good poems, there are many of odd choices too. The presentation is so uninviting, both in terms of physical layout on the page and the lack of any connection with the reader. I'd love to know 'why' they chose these poems and what drew them to share each (or a group/selection) with the reader. The introduction explaining the choice to put the poems in alphabetical order seems like an excuse and an afterthought.
I would also like to have seen greater representation from other cultures.
A shame considering the editors are poets I enjoy themselves.
There are much better anthologies available.
I would also like to have seen greater representation from other cultures.
A shame considering the editors are poets I enjoy themselves.
There are much better anthologies available.
Read
July 12, 2024I feel it's unfair to even try to rate an anthology, especially when it's a collection of someone else's personal favorites. Some of these poems didn't work for me, but some of them were excellent - reminded me how much I like Emily Dickinson and W H Auden! - and there are some lines I think will stay with me for a very long time.
April 28, 2024
This has become a new favourite collection! Obviously not everything inside is a hit for my tastes, but the range is wide and the variety delightful. I have discovered so many new poets to explore and reread old friends.
February 9, 2020
A collection of poems curated by Seamus Heaney and Ted Hughes for kiddos. Some old favorites (and for them to be favorites for me, you *know* they're *old*), some new (to me) delights, and a fair few that didn't really resonate with me. A mixed rattle bag, as it were.
March 4, 2023
I'm a beginner with poetry and I heard this is a good introduction book, so I'm going to just tread cautiously and give it 5 stars. I think the editors stuck unapologetically to their own tastes and didn't try to include every major poet (a lot are missing). Aside from the superstars I enjoyed discovering Hyam Plutzik, Allen Curnow and Tomas Transtromer.
Want to read
December 21, 2022FDC Recommendation.
December 23, 2018
In Manchester there are a thousand puddles.
Bus-queue puddles poised on slanting paving stones,
Railway puddles slouching outside stations,
Cinema puddles in ambush at the exits,
Zebra-crossing puddles in dips of the dark stripes �
They lurk in the murk
Of the north-western evening
For the sake of their notorious joke,
Their only joke � to soak
The tights or trousers of the citizens.
Each splash and consequent curse is echoed by
One thousand dark Mancunian puddle chuckles.
In Manchester there lives the King of Puddles,
Master of Miniature Muck Lakes,
The Shah of Slosh, Splendifero of Splash,
Prince, Pasha and Pope of Puddledom.
Where? Somewhere. The rain-headed ruler
Lies doggo, incognito,
Disguised as an average, accidental mini-pool.
He is as scared as any other emperor,
For one night, all his soiled and soggy victims
Might storm his streets, assassination in their minds,
A thousand rolls of blotting paper in their hands,
And drink his shadowed, one-joke life away.
Bus-queue puddles poised on slanting paving stones,
Railway puddles slouching outside stations,
Cinema puddles in ambush at the exits,
Zebra-crossing puddles in dips of the dark stripes �
They lurk in the murk
Of the north-western evening
For the sake of their notorious joke,
Their only joke � to soak
The tights or trousers of the citizens.
Each splash and consequent curse is echoed by
One thousand dark Mancunian puddle chuckles.
In Manchester there lives the King of Puddles,
Master of Miniature Muck Lakes,
The Shah of Slosh, Splendifero of Splash,
Prince, Pasha and Pope of Puddledom.
Where? Somewhere. The rain-headed ruler
Lies doggo, incognito,
Disguised as an average, accidental mini-pool.
He is as scared as any other emperor,
For one night, all his soiled and soggy victims
Might storm his streets, assassination in their minds,
A thousand rolls of blotting paper in their hands,
And drink his shadowed, one-joke life away.
December 2, 2016
A very interesting and different collection of poetry, chosen by two of our most famous modern poets.
The time covered is from Renaissance to today and the subject matter is all human experience. The ordering alphabetically by title breaks up the usual pattern of 'by date' and places poets beside each other in fascinating ways.
Recommended to all lovers of poetry. Also a good starter for those who would like to read poetry but don't know where to begin.
The time covered is from Renaissance to today and the subject matter is all human experience. The ordering alphabetically by title breaks up the usual pattern of 'by date' and places poets beside each other in fascinating ways.
Recommended to all lovers of poetry. Also a good starter for those who would like to read poetry but don't know where to begin.
May 19, 2012
This is a brilliant and bountiful poetry collection. Its very variety, of course, means it can't help but be a bit uneven (subjectively so), but, all in all, it's been a tremendous pleasure. I spent the last year and a half reading one poem a day, and there was hardly a one that wasn't enjoyable from one aspect or another.
March 4, 2011
An eclectic mix, arranged alphabetically by title, which thrusts odd bedfellows next to each other. There's a good selection of poems in translation as well, which work amazingly well. A delightful ragbag.
May 29, 2017
A great anthology, made all the better by the decision to arrange the poems alphabetically, thus ensuring a rather more random feel to the collection - so much better than chronology. It introduced me to a few new poets, most particularly Elizabeth Bishop.
August 30, 2017
One of the best poetry anthologies going, compiled by two masters of the form. The only unavoidable downside is that it collects poetry up to its publication and thus has nothing more contemporary than 1982.
February 5, 2025
this is edited by seamus heaney and ted hughes, so I had high hopes but it was just middling. on the back cover it says they wanted "to amplify notions of what poetry is" and so they included poems from oral cultures ("hunters' prayers, charms, incantations...which fill an emotional space that literary verse tends to leave empty"), contemporary verse in translation, and american poetry. that bit about the oral cultures filling the emotional space just sounds like the "noble savage" trope, to be honest, unless you can say what you really mean about what literature leaves out and oral tradition keeps in. the introduction just says that they decided to arrange everything alphabetically rather than chronologically or thematically, which does make for a random assortment. they have the title or first line and then the author's name is at the end of the poem, which means sometimes you can read along and think oh, this sounds like wordsworth, which is fun. including the year might have been good as well, but they didn't.
all in all I found it to be a very masculine collection. there was a lot of war, a lot of animals meeting cruel fates, and also quite a bit of silliness. rather a lot of ogden nash, for example. there was a lot of robert graves, william blake, dh lawrence, thomas hardy, shakespeare - mostly excerpts from plays rather than his sonnets, which I appreciated. for women you had elizabeth bishop, laura riding, emily dickinson, and some plath. the plath selections were...some of her more trivial work, I felt. the collection ended on plath's "you're", which, I'm not sure if it just came out that way or if ted hughes did that on purpose. a lot of "anonymous", some of which was in translation from irish or anglo saxon or even navajo.
there was a fair amount of stuff you don't usually find in british poetry anthologies, both the works in translation (from polish, russian, czech, swedish, etc. and usually depressing and/or markedly different from british verse) and less popular poems from familiar poets. I would have liked to have seen more about why they chose what they chose other than to expand on what poetry is. when they are choosing from keats or frost, are those the keats and frost poems they agree on, or is this one ted hughes' favorite and this one seamus heaney's favorite or why were these particular poems selected? with no theme or school of poetry or time period or place, when they say the collection "amassed itself like a cairn" and most of the poems "lay around for the taking" - that is a very passive discussion of curating an anthology. being that it is so random, and being that is the creation of two poets whose work I like, I would have liked to have heard more about why they included what they included.
in the end, I think it pleased them more than it pleased me, and that's about the size of it. the standout poets to me here were dylan thomas and william wordsworth, who I have of course encountered quite a bit, but seeing them in this context made me want to read more of them, so that's something. sylvia plath is my favourite poet, but had I not come to her on my own already, I don't think what I read here would have inspired me to seek her out.
all in all I found it to be a very masculine collection. there was a lot of war, a lot of animals meeting cruel fates, and also quite a bit of silliness. rather a lot of ogden nash, for example. there was a lot of robert graves, william blake, dh lawrence, thomas hardy, shakespeare - mostly excerpts from plays rather than his sonnets, which I appreciated. for women you had elizabeth bishop, laura riding, emily dickinson, and some plath. the plath selections were...some of her more trivial work, I felt. the collection ended on plath's "you're", which, I'm not sure if it just came out that way or if ted hughes did that on purpose. a lot of "anonymous", some of which was in translation from irish or anglo saxon or even navajo.
there was a fair amount of stuff you don't usually find in british poetry anthologies, both the works in translation (from polish, russian, czech, swedish, etc. and usually depressing and/or markedly different from british verse) and less popular poems from familiar poets. I would have liked to have seen more about why they chose what they chose other than to expand on what poetry is. when they are choosing from keats or frost, are those the keats and frost poems they agree on, or is this one ted hughes' favorite and this one seamus heaney's favorite or why were these particular poems selected? with no theme or school of poetry or time period or place, when they say the collection "amassed itself like a cairn" and most of the poems "lay around for the taking" - that is a very passive discussion of curating an anthology. being that it is so random, and being that is the creation of two poets whose work I like, I would have liked to have heard more about why they included what they included.
in the end, I think it pleased them more than it pleased me, and that's about the size of it. the standout poets to me here were dylan thomas and william wordsworth, who I have of course encountered quite a bit, but seeing them in this context made me want to read more of them, so that's something. sylvia plath is my favourite poet, but had I not come to her on my own already, I don't think what I read here would have inspired me to seek her out.
July 15, 2023
Striking a balance between the familiar and (to a presumed reader) the new must be one of the major challenges for the editors of an anthology of poetry. In The Rattle Bag, Heaney and Hughes succeed in this endeavour brilliantly. Although I consider myself fairly well-read, I estimate that I already knew only about one tenth of the poems collected here, so there were new discoveries to be made on almost every page. Not all of them, naturally, were to my taste - with eleven poems here, it is clear that the editors like Yeats, whom I do not care for - and some served to confirm rather than overturn my existing biases: on the evidence here, it turns out that D.H. Lawrence (fourteen) had one good poem in him, which I had already read, with the rest of his verse being as dreary as his fiction, and barely distinguisable from prose. In fact, I've emerged from my reading of The Rattle Bag with a growing antipathy to free verse: if you haven't got formal metrical structures, and you haven't got rhyme, what are you left with? But I've also learned that I have underestimated Thomas Hardy, Edward Thomas, Robert Frost, and John Clare, and that The Prelude might actually be something I have to tackle one day. John Crowe Ransom was one new name to be whose work I'd like to read more of and Ogden Nash looks fun.
As well as the content, the organization of this anthology is outstanding, with the alphabetical ordering of the poems throwing up endless fascinating juxtapositions. No doubt these are not merely serendipitous, and the editors do cheat at one point, following Marlowe's "Passionate Shepherd" with Raleigh's and Donne's reponses to it (Donne's only entry here: curious!). There's an interesting focus on ballads and other anonymous verse; but, with a few exceptions, I was less convinced by the rather haphazard selection of verse in translation. Both a strength and a weakness of this book is its lack of scholarly apparatus (bar a glossary) and absence of notes, which forces the reader's attention onto content rather than context, but makes follow-up reading difficult: it took me a lot of digging elsewhere to discover that the Jonson poem given here as "It is not growing like a tree" is in fact an extract from a much longer piece. But these are minor criticisms of what is in the end, a wonderfully rich and rewarding book.
As well as the content, the organization of this anthology is outstanding, with the alphabetical ordering of the poems throwing up endless fascinating juxtapositions. No doubt these are not merely serendipitous, and the editors do cheat at one point, following Marlowe's "Passionate Shepherd" with Raleigh's and Donne's reponses to it (Donne's only entry here: curious!). There's an interesting focus on ballads and other anonymous verse; but, with a few exceptions, I was less convinced by the rather haphazard selection of verse in translation. Both a strength and a weakness of this book is its lack of scholarly apparatus (bar a glossary) and absence of notes, which forces the reader's attention onto content rather than context, but makes follow-up reading difficult: it took me a lot of digging elsewhere to discover that the Jonson poem given here as "It is not growing like a tree" is in fact an extract from a much longer piece. But these are minor criticisms of what is in the end, a wonderfully rich and rewarding book.
March 8, 2024
I almost always enjoy anthologies of this nature, which allow me to sample poetry from a range of time periods, countries, and literary traditions, and combine the opportunity to revisit old favourites with discovery of new ones.
“The Rattle Bag� provides just such an experience, and I found it enjoyable. I’m somewhat frustrated, however, by the editors failure to provide a clear explanation of their criteria for selecting poems to include in this collection. The preponderance of nature (and particularly animal) poems, as well as the typically earthy, tactile nature of other selections, make me feel that Hughes and Heaney have simply chosen poems that appeal to their own poetic sensibilities. I don’t mind this, but I wish they had been more explicit about the decision.
While I enjoyed this anthology overall, I’m conscious that my own collection of personal favourite poems would look very different to Hughes� and Heaney’s. I’m eager to try Carol Ann Duffy’s anthology, “The Map and the Clock� soon, which I suspect may be more to my taste.
“The Rattle Bag� provides just such an experience, and I found it enjoyable. I’m somewhat frustrated, however, by the editors failure to provide a clear explanation of their criteria for selecting poems to include in this collection. The preponderance of nature (and particularly animal) poems, as well as the typically earthy, tactile nature of other selections, make me feel that Hughes and Heaney have simply chosen poems that appeal to their own poetic sensibilities. I don’t mind this, but I wish they had been more explicit about the decision.
While I enjoyed this anthology overall, I’m conscious that my own collection of personal favourite poems would look very different to Hughes� and Heaney’s. I’m eager to try Carol Ann Duffy’s anthology, “The Map and the Clock� soon, which I suspect may be more to my taste.
May 1, 2021
After flipping through a third of the anthology and realizing I cared for maybe 3% of the selection, I've resigned to the fact that my tastes and those of the 'old guard' do not coincide in the slightest. It reminds me of why I thought I didn't like poetry growing up -- it's because of selection and tastes like these. But of course it isn't that I don't like poetry per se (or even 'old' poetry -- I love Shakespeare's sonnets if not necessarily the ones picked out here), it's like I don't like this type of poetry. Who doesn't like images, metaphors, and words carefully put together to say and feel more than they really should? Any lover of words does. But this is atavistic, and if you're a modern reader like I am, don't be surprised if you don't find them fitting your predilection. This is not a slight to your proclivities -- nor is it, I might hasten to add, a slight on the sensibilities of the old white men that came before you and I.
October 13, 2022
This is an anthology of classic poems, the majority of which are written by men with a few Emily Dickinsons, Sylvia Plaths and Elizabeth Bishops and a couple of other female poets. So, if Wordsworth, Kents, Shakespeare, Graves, Auden and company are your thing you'll enjoy it.
I can't help but wonder if all the poems by Anon were by women unable to be published...just a thought.
It was published in the early 1980s and was part of my A Level syllabus for English Literature...its only taken me forty years to read the whole thing! I'm not sure if it was a worthwhile use of my time as it does feel dated. Although, the war poets remain steadfastly timeless and brilliant...so maybe it was worth it and of course it has one of my all time favourites The Horses by Edwin Muir.
I can't help but wonder if all the poems by Anon were by women unable to be published...just a thought.
It was published in the early 1980s and was part of my A Level syllabus for English Literature...its only taken me forty years to read the whole thing! I'm not sure if it was a worthwhile use of my time as it does feel dated. Although, the war poets remain steadfastly timeless and brilliant...so maybe it was worth it and of course it has one of my all time favourites The Horses by Edwin Muir.
November 28, 2022
I tried to add some of my favorite lines and poems as I read this collection of poems. Some were familiar but most were not, and I appreciated that. I also enjoyed the layout of this anthology, with similar themes grouped together, with various author's works on a particular topic or area of interest. Here are my last thoughts on various lines that struck a chord and favorite poems from the last 100 pages or so.
Favorite poems:
"Saint Francis and the Sow" - Galway Kinnell
"The Shooting of Dan McGraw" - Robert Service
"The Smile" - William Blake
"Songs for a Colored Singer" - Elizabeth Bishop
"Tiger" - A. D. Hope
Favorite poems:
"Saint Francis and the Sow" - Galway Kinnell
"The Shooting of Dan McGraw" - Robert Service
"The Smile" - William Blake
"Songs for a Colored Singer" - Elizabeth Bishop
"Tiger" - A. D. Hope
Displaying 1 - 30 of 87 reviews
Can't find what you're looking for?
Get help and learn more about the design.