John Suckling Books

Ben Jonson was the ideal Cavalier poet and died in 1637. Robert Herrick was one of his ardent followers. This was a great era for 'carpe diem' poetry. Herrick added 'joie de vivre' to amorous songs, and some of his poetry don't sound like they were written by an Episcopal minister.

Thomas Carew was an admirer of John Donne who fathered the metaphysical form of writing poems. His society verses were popular with the nobility, prized for their petulant wit. He made an important contribution to the 17th century genre of poems about country homes, an important aspect of the Cavalier poets repertoire.

Most of John Suckling's poems were published in a posthumous volume after he committed suicide in 1642. His verse smacks of the court, being witty, decorous, sometimes naughty; all requisites for the courtier poet. Though his 'oeuvre' is comparitively small, he is an exemplary lyric poet, as well as one of the most vivid personalities of his age. They all prevaricated and exaggered, as was common at the time, but they were favorites of the court of King Charles, the essential Cavalier of them all.

Richard Lovelace spent much time in prison but he wrote lovely, lyrical poetry and uniquely philosophical views which saw him to his untimely death in poverty. His poems display the poet's subtle sense of humor and eye for natural imagery. This is a nice little volume for the student of literature.

This is how the back book-jacket describes the book, " In the mid- seventeenth century, the poets associated with the court of Charles I of England, kinown as the Cavaliers, were strongly influenced by the Cassicism of Ben Jonson. Their verse , often concerned with the vagaries of love, is characteristically charming, witty, graceful and elegant. This volume contains a rich sampling of more than 120 works by four Cavalier poets: Robert Herrick, Thomas Carew, Sir John Suckling and Richard Lovelace.
The work also contains brief biographical sketches of the four poets. Among the works are such well- known often anthologized pieces as Herrick's ' Gather ye rosebuds while ye may' , Suckling's'Why so Pale and Wan Fair Lover? ' Carew's ' A Cruel Mistress' Herrick's ' Delight in Disorder', Lovelace's 'Lucasta poems'.
Enjoyable reading.

Great collection of the works of many authors in Europe. Herrick, Lovelace, and more.

"A safe sweet and secure present for Valentine's day or any special occasion. If you cannot read poetry aloud with conviction then share this audio version with your beloved."

I love listening to this cassette while I drive! I think the commentary is first rate, insightful and learned. I find the readers, who are generally great poets in their own right, sensitive and the readings clear and nuanced.

Every review here is correct. The readers are amazingly inept. It's hard to believe that the publisher thought this was working. Any average, passionate, good reader would have done so much better. It's very sad. I really wanted to like this work.

In this age of sight and sound, one might hope for a renewed interest in poetry read aloud. After all, your average Ipod can store all the world's great poetry. Any such prospect will quickly be extinguished if there are many productions as bad as this one. At first I thought the readers had been chosen in accordance with some manic diversity template, without the slightest concern for whether they could actually read poetry with even minimal competence. In fact, this project was not ruined by political correctness (though that would be typical these days). Instead, the readers are poets themselves. This is a perennially tempting, and invariably bad, idea. The gift of writing poetry is utterly distinct from the gift of reading it. (Perhaps this is the one arena where the deconstructionists are right: here, the "reader" is as important as the writer.) The truths, and the feelings embodied in these poems would be far better conveyed by professional actors or readers; o for a Derek Jacoby, or a Kenneth Branagh, or a Michael York, to substitute for these awful readers. Give these discs to your child in high school if you want to ensure that he or she will never, ever want to read, or hear, another poem.

I can't believe that anyone found a good word to say about this production of poetic vandalism. It's more than bad, it's criminal,and I, for one, would certainly agree that some of the readers sound as if they might have recently escaped from some institution. How bad is it? Well, I've bought more than one set, which might sound contradictory. However, the reason that one set wasn't enough is that I keep giving my cassettes away as warnings, as jokes, and just to share what must be the absolutely worst set of readings ever recorded. This, of course, means that I have to replace them, because something this bad is precious. Anyway, to be more specific, the problem is with the reading of the poems. To be fair, the best of the of the lot reach mediocrity, but the worst....well, they bring a new meaning to "apalling." Some ot the readers do try, and some of them have a vague idea of how to read poetry, but some of them, one with a Pulitizer prize for poetry! sound like they're reading the yellow pages in a language they don't understand. Do yourself a favor. Unless you delight in the perverse, or would like to have something to contribute to the Guiness Book of Records, don't buy this set.