This book offers a wealth of biographical insight into poets, stretching back beyond Homer, but without getting caught up in the minutiae of full biographies. Rather, it’s more about presenting tidbits of information that help uncover why a given poet’s verse is as it is – both mixing an understanding of where the world was during that poet’s time and what the individual was going through. But that’s not all the book does. It also shows the reader how poetry changed over the centuries, how changes in society influenced poetry, and – sometimes -- how poetry influenced society.

If covering poetry from “The Epic of Gilgamesh” through poets of the 20th century in a book with the word “little” in the title seems impossible, it is. It’s done in this volume by being English language poetry-centric. (Some might prefer to call it Western-centric because it discusses the likes of Ancient Greeks and Romans, as well as some German, French, Russian, and Italian poets, but these discussions are largely in the context of those poets interacting in the larger world of poetry.) That is, while it discusses foreign language poetry, it’s mostly with respect to poetry that influenced (or in some cases was influenced by) English-language poets. This focus is most profoundly seen in the book’s dalliances with Asian poetry, which are few and brusque. The book discusses a few Chinese poets as well as Japanese haiku poets, but explicitly in the context of how they influenced Arthur Waley and Ezra Pound. (Also influencing the minimal mark of Indian and Zen schools of poetry is the fact that the Beat poets were lost from the selection process as well.) The only other noteworthy mention of poetry of Asian origin is about Rabindranath Tagore, mostly because he was a Nobel Laureate and was globally prominent enough to influence poets of the English-speaking world (most of his work was originally in Bengali, though he did a lot of his own translations to English.)

The previous paragraph is not so much of a criticism as it might sound. It’s clear that any book that opts to take on an artform with as much longevity and universality as poetry in a single compact volume is going to have to be highly selective. However, I wouldn’t want anyone entering into the book thinking they would learn something about where Norse poetry or Hungarian poetry or Arab Ghazals (none of which bears a substantial mention) fit in the broader poetic scheme, and I can see how someone from an African or Asian tradition would come away offended by the lack of acknowledgement of global poetry. In short, what the book does, I felt it does very well, but its title could make people think it’s a different book than it is.

As a history, the book’s forty chapters are, quite logically, chronologically arranged. However, there are sometimes overlapping time periods because of how poets are thematically grouped. Each chapter shines a light on anywhere from one to about twenty poets (two or three is most common) who were exemplars of the time period. Generally, the chapters describe key details about each poet and his or her place in the art, and then dissects a particularly important work or two from said poet. Except in the case of a few short form pieces, whole poems aren’t presented, but rather illustrative lines or stanzas. (In many cases, I found myself pulling up whole poems on the internet because of curiosity that Carey aroused. Except for a few of the most recent poems, almost all the works discussed are in the public domain, and can be readily accessed.)

I learned a great deal from this book, and I was turned on to some poets that I hadn’t thought much about before by learning of their lives. I’ll definitely be reading more Spender, Wheatley, Auden, and Rossetti. There are many poets I’ve read without any touch of biographical insight beyond a vague notion of when they lived, and so it was interesting to gain an inkling of the world of each.

If you’re interested in poetry or the history of literature, I’d highly recommend this book. While it is English language-centric, if one approaches it knowing that, I think you’ll find it well worth your time.

I was pleasantly surprised by how readable this book was!! I knew it was something I'd like, a topic that interests me, but it was written in a way that just flowed. I think it is a very good introduction to poetry or for history buffs. I was able to add some new poets to my TBR list from the ones discussed and I have a new appreciation for the ones I have read.

´What is poetry? Poetry related to language as music relates to noise. It is language made special, so that it will be remembered and valued´.

As I am fighting hard to update my poetry TBR, reading about poetry can also be a helpful incentive. This is why I considered seriously going through the suggestions in A Little History of Poetry by John Carey, pen and paper on the side.

The book reads easily, the references are not complex from the academic point of view, the perspective is chronological-historical and there are also enough quotes to inspire your next read. If you really want to have a systematic overview of the poetic works of humanity. Especially if you are a beginner literature student or looking for some basic writing, this book can be really helpful to update the information.

On the other side, with some noticeable exceptions, the references are predominantly from the English-speaking realm. It starts with the Epic of Gilgamesh - because it is history after all - it mentions Hafez, Villon (but not the rich poetry of the French Middle Ages), Dante and Petrarch, Heine, Rilke and Goethe, Pushkin and Lermontov. In the final chapter, Poets in Politics, there is place for Spanish-speaking poets like Paz and Lorca and even Yehuda Amichai is mentioned. However, those poets do not necessarily appear as part of the wider history of poetry - in terms of influences, impact on the history of poetry etc. - and are rather present to add diversity to the bigger picture.

Therefore, use this Little History of Poetry without too many expectations, just as a reference that can encourage your poetry reading plans. As for me, I will keep reading more poetry, no matter the original language was written in.

A Little History of Poetry is exactly what I expected it to be: A little bit of everything.

It introduces the topic of poetry to an audience with either little or no knowledge or Poetry and this is exactly what we need. The language is simple enough for everyone to be able to follow and the examples from primary texts are wonderfully explained.

Despite being passionate about Poetry and even having studied it, I went into this book with the mindset of how would my friend who never read a single poem in their lives react to this? How would my mum, whose knowledge about literature doesn't go far beyond what I told her in one of my ramblings? How would a young person, who finds a poem they like for the first time and want to know more about the art-form in general?

This is an ideal book for such people. There are a lot of different topics covered, the book mainly keeps to the poets represented in the canon but I love that it focuses on women's poetry more than most other books do. I even found a thing or two in there that I previously didn't know and highly enjoyed reading about those. I would've loved to learn some more about poetry in countries that do not belong to the western realm, e. g. Japan with their Haiku culture, but again, there is only so much you can cover in a general book such as this one, so I definitely understand that there are some parts that had to be left out.

The reason for my rating it with three stars instead of a full five, is that I liked it overall, but I think there were some things missing (for me). For example, while reading the chapter on Petrarch, I was waiting for a mention about how he basically invented the form of the sonnet or that a sonnet is typically a love poem. In the chapter about Shakespeare, I would've loved to read about how Shakespeare's sonnets were sort of a sarcastic reply to Petarch's art and how he changed the sonnet form, thus establishing the two most famous sonnet forms that exist. But that might just be my opinion. Obviously, the author couldn't focus on everything, he did try to put 6000 years of art into ~300 pages after all.

The other thing I wasn't crazy about while reading is - keeping the novel poetry reader in mind - the blatantly obvious personal opinion of the author. As any art-form, people should be able to make their own minds up about the poems they read. I found myself disagreeing with the author on some points, which I was able to do, because I do already have some knowledge about poetry. To keep with my example of my mother: She would definitely read the chapter about Shakespeare and take from it that his poetry was inferior to other poet's (which is a personal opinion. However, not mine, I happen to like Shakespeare's sonnets) and that he should be criticised because we can't know whether he wrote from his own experience or with his ability to write from the POV of a fictional character (honestly, I do not care, as long as the words resonate with me - and i think they are quite emotionally engaging actually - there is no reason to criticise).

All in all, I think this is a great book in a language that is easily understandable for newbies- would definitely recommend! However, any reader should take the opinions stated in this book with a pinch of salt and instead rather make up their own minds about the poems and the writers.

As a wide-ranging introduction to poetry, this has a lot going for it. It’s written in a lively, accessible and authoritative way, it romps through the centuries, giving potted biographies of the poets selected and some useful insight into their work. It’s comprehensive as far as it goes, although very western-centric, and would prove useful to anyone not already familiar with the poetic canon. I wondered as I read through it, just who it was aimed at, though. Certainly anyone who has studied English literature won’t find anything new here, and sometimes Carey’s personal value judgements jar a bit. After I’d finished, I read that he’d been advised to keep the teenage readership in mind, and that sounds right. An overview for those not already acquainted with poets and their poetry, with bite-size information, easy to absorb, but overall probably too basic for the literary scholar.

It all started with A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson. Then, when I was eleven, discovering the poetry of Edgar Allan Poe. By fourteen I was borrowing every poetry book on the school library shelves, spending my scanty allowance to buy the poets I really liked.

I was drawn to some poets and ignored others. I knew little about the lives of the poets I was reading or the social and historical context of the poems.

My education included survey Lit courses, a Modern Poetry class, and an honors class on Milton. I was so ignorant that when my Modern Poetry professor asked me about Ezra Pound's antisemitism and alliance with Fascism it was the first I had heard of it. (My school history classes never seemed to make it past the Civil War.)

My high school World Lit class covered the entire Western Canon. We received mimeographed handouts (yes, I am THAT OLD). We learned about philosophers and economic and scientific thinkers and writers and poets. I went to the library to read from the original works. The brief excerpts piqued my curiosity and I needed to know more.

I tell this story for a reason. John Carey's A Little HIstory of Poetry reminded me of that World Lit Survey class. Carey ploughs through the entire history of poetry in the Western world, starting with Gilgamesh and ending with Mary Oliver and Les Murray.

I was quite familiar with my favorites, but I had given little attention a great many others. It was interesting to fill that gap in my knowledge.

Some poets are mentioned by name or with a few lines, but those Carey deems more important (or perhaps, with more interesting or scandalous lives) get pages.

This treatment has its limitations but also its uses as an introduction. Like my survey course did, readers may be inspired to read further. And readers will know all about Ezra Pound.

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.

There were snippets of this I definitely enjoyed and the concept is right up my alley. The writing style, the to and fro, and what often felt like endless meandering wasn’t really for me. I think there might’ve been a better way to organize this book for me (or maybe its just a different book?).
Regardless, the authors love of poetry does come through and that is always nice.

Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

*Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and feelings are my own*

I’m a self-proclaimed literature geek and one of my favorite things is listening to Great Courses about Classics of American Literature by Arnold Weinstein (I highly recommend that one!). That’s the main reason why I was excited about **A Little History of Poetry**; I thought it would shed some light on poems that were neglected during my school years.

Unfortunately, my excitement was short-lived.

You may think that in the book about poetry should include a poem or two... but not this one! Even if the author gives an elaborate review of the plot, to get a full insight into these less known poems, they need to be read alongside.

The book is also almost exclusively about English poems and the heritage of non-English speaking countries is very briefly reviewed. I was also missing remarks about emancipation works and more people of color as authors.

It’s a course-book and not a standalone position for literature amateurs. I was expecting this book to more inclusive for a wide audience and not only English major students. But, if you happen to be an English major, that book would probably help you better understand the classes. However, as a former student, I'd like to see more markdown and bullet point reviews instead of plain text.

I adore poetry so was very much looking forward to this book, however the writing style did not engage me and I found my mind wondering and so the book remains unfinished

More biographical than I expected; instead of providing an overlay of how poetry works and evolves, a few lines were thrown among the presentation of the poets' life story. Definitely not of academic interest.

It's difficult to know who the intended readers are for this book. It's essentially a whistle-stop tour of western poetry with all the usual suspects present and correct. Carey does an awful lot of 'storytelling' rather than analysis of how and why poetry works, combined with potted biographies of the poets. Anyone who has studied literature at university or in a self-directed way will find little new here. Anyone who hasn't studied literature may come away with a map of western poetry which duplicates typical history of European literature/western canon focused books but with little insight into what makes one poetic text resonate while another leaves one untouched - this book doesn't model poetic textual analysis or discuss how interpretation may work.

There's something essentially old-fashioned about Carey's approach: he makes sweeping judgements with nothing to back them up ('of all world-famous poets none is less likely to appeal to the modern reader than Dante'), he rates poets against each other according to their personal likeability ('Petrarch seems to have been more likeable than Dante'), he falls back into that old chestnut of to what extent the poem is merely autobiography in verse ('many are about a real-life love affair and reflects its ups and downs'), and he drops value statements ('Philip Sidney cannot compare with Shakespeare or Marlowe as a poet') without giving any explanation for this simplistic and, to me, unfathomable judgement.

There are places, too, where Carey is plain wrong: he claims 'Aeneas is depicted as an ideal leader' in the Aeneid when, surely, even a cursory reading will reveal him to be indecisive, vacillating, silent when he should be rallying his men, and disturbingly bloodthirsty at the end, cutting down a surrendered enemy even though Anchises himself has claimed clemency as a great Roman virtue.

While this does mention a handful of female poets (Sappho, Bishop, Rossetti, Dickinson, Plath), it's inattentive to the wealth of feminist scholarship of the last 40 or so years which has been uncovering women's writing, including poetry. Mary Wroth, for instance, is dismissed in a few words as Philip Sidney's niece who 'wrote sonnets herself'.

I think I would have found this book useful when I was at school, maybe around A levels, for its compact and abbreviated romp through western poetry - its essentially descriptive rather than analytical approach might have bothered me less and it would have given a bite-size history of poetry which allows an overview and context for western poetic writing.