This book of poetry contains the poem “Goblin Market” that I read in January in the context of the Guardian’s “Feed your soul – the 31-day literary diet for January”. Added to this poem, there are 19 other poems in this book on very different subjects, from a Christmas carol to a poem about a frog, from a poem about a couple that commits suicide to one on an artist’s studio. Most poems refer to nature, but the theme of love and death are also very present. I must say that as much as I loved “Goblin Market” with its magical scenery and wild nature, these other poems didn’t enchant me as much.
“Love, strong as Death, is dead
Come, let us make his bed
Among the dying flowers;
A green turf at his head;
And a stone at his feet,
Whereon we may sit
In the quiet evening hours.”
Contents
Goblin Market / Dream Land / Song “When I am dead, my Dearest” / An End / A Pause of Thought / Sweat Death / A Birthday / Babylon the Great / On Keats / In an Artist’s Studio / The Queen of Hearts / A Christmas Carol / An Old-World Thicket / Spring Quiet / Up-Hill / Song “Two doves upon the selfsame branch” / A Dirge / A Frog’s Fate / My Dream / Nursery Rhymes from Sing-Song