The Oxford Treasury of Classic Poems

The editors of this new treasury are well respected for their knowledge of both traditional and contemporary adult poetry and their ability to select it appropriately for children. Their representation of women poets is better than most (about a seventh of the book and yes, that is better than most); and although contemporary women poets writing specifically for children hardly get a look in, there is an interesting choice from those better known for writing for adults - Patricia Beer, Judith Wright, Stevie Smith, Gerda Mayer, for example. Harrison and Stuart-Clark also include contemporary poets such as Roger McGough, Brian Patten, Ted Hughes and Adrian Mitchell, as well as the names you would expect in a 'classic' anthology - Tennyson, Wordsworth and Browning's popular adult poetry, alongside poems from those who wrote with the young in mind. Although it includes many poems which have been anthologised before, this Treasury has a fresh feel to it because of the way the poems have been organised with neat juxtapositions and a few surprises. For example, Lear's 'The Owl and the Pussy-Cat' sits next of Yeats's 'The Cat and the Moon', followed by 'January Jumps About' by George Barker, 'Spell of Creation' by Kathleen Raine and 'Pied Beauty' by Gerard Manley Hopkins. The well known first, second and fifth poems are sharpened in impact with the unusual Barker and Raine between; and the flow works beautifully. Ten different artists illustrate the poems, including Alan Marks and the late Charles Keeping; personally I favour artistic coherence in a poetry book, but the varied styles of the different artists may widen its appeal to children.