W18 Poems is a book of poetry written by the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, published in 1934 as the winner of a contest sponsored by Sunday Referee. His first book, 18 Poems, introduced Thomas's new and distinctive style of poetry. This was characterised by tightly metered, rhyming verse and an impassioned tone. Written in his "womb- tomb period", the poems explore dark themes of love, death and birth, employing a rich combination of sexual connotations and religious symbolism. The lyricism and intensity of the poems in the book contrasted with the emotional restraint shown in the poetry of the successful modernist poets that worked as his contemporaries. The book received critical acclaim, but was not initially commercially successful.
WThe Devonshire manuscript is a verse miscellany from the 1530s and early 1540s, compiled by three women who attended the court of Anne Boleyn: Mary Shelton, Mary Fitzroy, and Lady Margaret Douglas. Although the manuscript contains a number of original compositions, transcriptions, fragments and extracts of verse, the majority of the verses recorded are those composed by Sir Thomas Wyatt, of which many are unique to the manuscript. As such, it is not only an important witness in the Canon of Wyatt's poetry, but also an artefact that reveals much about the role of women in literary production and manuscript circulation in the early Tudor period.
WThe Duller Olive is a collection of poems by Peter Russell. The subtitle of the volume is 'Early poems uncollected or previously unpublished 1942 - 1959.' It was published by the University of Salzburg in 1993
WFour Quartets is a set of four poems written by T. S. Eliot that were published over a six-year period. The first poem, Burnt Norton, was published with a collection of his early works After a few years, Eliot composed the other three poems, East Coker, The Dry Salvages, and Little Gidding, which were written during World War II and the air-raids on Great Britain. They were first published as a series by Faber and Faber in Great Britain between 1940 and 1942 towards the end of Eliot's poetic career The poems were not collected until Eliot's New York publisher printed them together in 1943.
WThe Glenriddell Manuscripts is an extensive collection written in holograph by Robert Burns and an amanuensis of his letters, poems and a few songs in two volumes produced for his then friend Captain Robert Riddell, Laird of what is now Friars Carse in the Nith Valley, Dumfries and Galloway. The two volumes of the manuscript were handsomely bound in calf leather. The first volume of poems and songs was completed by April 1791 and was presented to Robert Riddell, however their friendship ceased due to the unfortunate 'The Rape of the Sabine Women' incident and Robert Riddell died shortly after before any reconciliation could take place. The first volume is partly in Burns's hand with one main amanuensis contributing much of the text in a far neater hand than the author himself and a possible third person contributing to the text. The second volume is entirely in Burns's hand.
WGoblin Market and Other Poems is Christina Rossetti's first volume of poetry, published by Macmillan in 1862. It contains her famous poem "Goblin Market" and others such as "Up-hill", "The Convent Threshold", and "Maude Clare." It also includes the poem 'In the Round Tower at Jhansi, 8 June 1857', in which a British army officer takes his wife's life and his own so that they do not have to face a horrific and dishonourable death at the hands of the rebelling sepoys, commemorating the Jhokan Bagh massacre at Jhansi. Christina's brother, founding Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood member Dante Gabriel Rossetti, designed the frontispiece and title page illustrations in the first edition, as well as the minimal blue binding. Christina was acknowledged that her brother's "commercial savvy and artistic skill" helped make her first volume of poetry a success.
WGavin Hamilton was one of Robert Burns's closest friends and a patron. The first 'Kilmarnock Edition' of his poems were dedicated to Gavin Hamilton.
WJuan-y-Pherick's Journey and Other Poems is a 1916 collection of poems by W. Walter Gill. The book was published by Yn Çheshaght Gailckagh, the Manx Society, and is Gill's only collection. It is a significant contribution to the literature of the Isle of Man, as there are few other individual poetry collections from this period.
WLanding Light, written by Don Paterson, is his third book of poems. After its publication in 2003 by Faber and Faber, it was awarded both the Whitbread Poetry award and the T. S. Eliot Prize.
WLays of Ancient Rome is an 1842 collection of narrative poems, or lays, by Thomas Babington Macaulay. Four of these recount heroic episodes from early Roman history with strong dramatic and tragic themes, giving the collection its name. Macaulay also included two poems inspired by recent history: Ivry (1824) and The Armada (1832).
WNoblesse Oblige: An Enquiry Into the Identifiable Characteristics of the English Aristocracy (1956) is a book that purports to be edited by Nancy Mitford, illustrated by Osbert Lancaster, caricaturist of English manners, and published by Hamish Hamilton. The anthology comprises four brief essays by Nancy Mitford, Alan S. C. Ross, “Strix” and Christopher Sykes, a letter by Evelyn Waugh, and a poem by John Betjeman.
WOld Possum's Book of Practical Cats (1939) is a collection of whimsical light poems by T. S. Eliot about feline psychology and sociology, published by Faber and Faber. It serves as the basis for Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1981 musical Cats.
WOriginal Poetry by Victor and Cazire was a poetry collection written by Percy Bysshe Shelley and his sister Elizabeth which was printed by Charles and William Phillips in Worthing and published by John Joseph Stockdale in September 1810. The work was Shelley's first published volume of poetry. Shelley wrote the poems in collaboration with his sister Elizabeth. The poems were written before Shelley entered the University of Oxford.
WPoems is a collection of poetry and songs by David Sillar, a close friend of the poet Robert Burns who had been encouraged to go into print by the success of Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect. Poems was printed by John Wilson of Kilmarnock in 1789. Sillar's interest in poetry predated his friendship with Burns, but was one of several reasons for it.
WPoems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, commonly known as the Kilmarnock Edition, is a collection of poetry by Robert Burns, first printed and issued by John Wilson of Kilmarnock on 31 July 1786. It was the first published edition of Burns' work. It cost 3 shillings and 612 copies were printed. The volume was dedicated to Gavin Hamilton. The Kilmarnock volume contained, besides satire, a number of poems like "Halloween", "The Twa Dogs" and "The Cotter's Saturday Night", which are vividly descriptive of the Scots peasant life with which he was most familiar; and a group like "Puir Mailie" and "To a Mouse", which, in the tenderness of their treatment of animals, revealed one of the most attractive sides of Burns' personality.
WPoems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect is commonly known as the first Edinburgh Edition and the partial second setting has become known as the Stinking Edition. It is a collection of poetry and songs by Robert Burns, first Printed for the Author by William Smellie in Edinburgh and published or Sold by William Creech of Edinburgh on the 17 April, an announcement being made in the Edinburgh Advertiser on that date, although the date 21 April 1786 is given by a few authors. The Kilmarnock Edition made Robert Burns Caledonia's Bard whilst the 'Edinburgh Edition' elevated him into a position amongst the world's greatest poets.
WPoems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect is commonly known as the Third or London Edition and sometimes the Stinking Edition. It is a collection of poetry and songs by Robert Burns, printed for A. Strahan; T. Cadell in the Strand; and W. Creech, Edinburgh. MDCCCLXXXVII The date of publication for the London Edition was in November 1787, however Strahan and Cadell had previously advertised for sale the 'Second' or 'Edinburgh Edition' using the 500 or so copies that William Creech still had that were unsold. The successful selling of these made a truly new 'London Edition' a commercially viable enterprise.
WPoems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect was issued during the poet's lifetime In Two Volumes. The Second Edition Considerably Enlarged. It is a collection of poetry and songs by the poet Robert Burns, printed for T. Cadell, London, and W. Creech, Edinburgh. M,DCC,XCIII The date of publication for this edition was 16 February 1793 as advertised in the Edinburgh Courant. The successful demand for the 1787 Edinburgh Edition seems to have encouraged Creech to publish this new edition as the 1787 volume had been sold out since around 1791.
WThe Prince's Progress and Other Poems is Christina Rossetti's second volume of poetry, published by Macmillan in 1866. Christina's brother Dante Gabriel Rossetti designed the illustrations and bindings for the publication, just as he had for her first volume, Goblin Market and Other Poems. The Prince's Progress tells the story of a princess awaiting the return of her prince. After tarrying due to a series of temptations and self-indulgences, the prince returns only to find that the princess has died. Dante Gabriel Rossetti's frontispiece illustration depicts the grief-stricken prince upon hearing the news of his princesse's death; the title illustration depicts the princess staring longingly out the window as she waits for her prince to return. The 1866 edition contains 46 poems in addition to "The Prince's Progress."
WRapture is a collection of poetry written by the Scottish poet Carol Ann Duffy, the British poet laureate from 2009 to 2019. It marks her 37th work of poetry and has been described as "intensely personal, emotional and elegiac, and markedly different from Duffy’s other works" by the British Council. Rapture was first published in 2005 in the UK by Picador, and in 2013 in the US, by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.
WRevolting Rhymes is a collection of Roald Dahl poems published in 1982. A parody of traditional folk tales in verse, Dahl gives a re-interpretation of six well-known fairy tales, featuring surprise endings in place of the traditional happily-ever-after finishes. The poems are illustrated by Quentin Blake. It is the shortest children's book he has written.
WRobert Burns's Commonplace Book 1783-1785 is the first of three commonplace books that were produced by the poet. The contents cover drafts of songs and poems, observations, ideas, epitaphs, etc.
WSongs for the Philologists is a collection of poems by E. V. Gordon and J. R. R. Tolkien as well as traditional songs. It is the rarest and most difficult to find Tolkien-related book. Originally a collection of typescripts compiled by Gordon in 1921–1926 for the students of the University of Leeds, it was given by A. H. Smith of University College London, a former student at Leeds, to a group of students to be printed privately in 1935 or 1936, and printed in 1936 with the impressum "Printed by G. Tillotson, A. H. Smith, B. Pattison and other members of the English Department, University College, London."
WSongs of Travel and Other Verses is an 1896 book of poetry by Robert Louis Stevenson. Originally published by Chatto & Windus, it explores the author's perennial themes of travel and adventure. The work gained a new public and popularity when it was set to music in Songs of Travel by Ralph Vaughan Williams.
WSpirits in Bondage: A Cycle of Lyrics (1919) was C. S. Lewis's first published work. Lewis was twenty years old and had just returned from military service in the First World War. His tutor, William T. Kirkpatrick, encouraged him in publishing the book, although it was unusual at Lewis's age, as writers were expected to wait longer before sharing their work with the world. The book is composed of three different sections of poetry. The poems take on several styles and rhythms throughout the book, but share common themes. This work stands out among Lewis's writings not only because of the focus on poetry rather than prose, but because the author had not yet made his conversion to Christianity; therefore the themes and worldviews offered in Spirits in Bondage differ greatly from those for which Lewis is most well known. The book received no reviews and its reception was a slight disappointment for Lewis. The title is derived from Milton's Paradise Lost (1.658).
WThe Sunny Side is a collection of short stories and essays by A. A. Milne. Though Milne is best known for his classic children's books, he also wrote extensively for adults, most notably in Punch, to which he was a contributor and later Assistant Editor. The Sunny Side collects his columns for Punch, which include poems, essays and short stories, from 1912 to 1920.
WThe Merry Muses of Caledonia is a collection of bawdy songs said to have been collected or written by Robert Burns, the 18th-century Scottish poet.
WVisceral, full title Visceral: The Poetry of Blood, is a collection of poems by the Welsh poet RJ Arkhipov, first published by Zuleika on World Blood Donor Day in 2018 when Arkhipov was 26 years old. A miscellany of verse, essays, and photographs, Visceral was Arkhipov's first published book and cemented his name as a poet.
WThe World's Wife is a collection of poetry by Carol Ann Duffy, originally published in the UK in 1999 by both Picador and Anvil Press Poetry and later published in the United States by Faber and Faber in 2000.