One of the great English Romantic poets William Blake (1757-1827) was an artist poet mystic & visionary. His work ranges from the deceptively simple & lyrical Songs of Innocence" & their counterpoint " Experience"
- which juxtapose poems such as " The Lamb & The Tyger" & " The Blossom & The Sick Rose"
- to highly elaborate apocalyptic works such as " The Four Zoas" " Milton" & " Jerusalem". Throughout his life Blake drew on a rich heritage of philosophy religion & myth to create a poetic worlds illuminated by his spiritual & revolutionary beliefs that have fascinated intrigued & enchanted readers for generations."

...

The complete Cavafy poems
- including the unfinished works
- in a stunning new translation published in the UK on the

...

What the imagination seizes as Beauty must be truth So wrote the Romantic poet John Keats (1795-1821) in 1817. This collection contains all of his poetry: the early work which is often undervalued even today the poems on which his reputation rests including the Odes & the two versions of the uncompleted epic Hyperion & work which only came to light after his death including his attempts at drama & comic verse. It all demonstrates the extent to which he tested his own dictum throughout his short creative life. That life spanned one of the most remarkable periods in English history in the aftermath of the French Revolution & this collection with its detailed introductions & notes aims to place the poems very much in their context. The collection is ample proof that Keats deservedly achieved his wish to be among the English Poets after my death ...

This entirely new edition brings together all of Philip Larkin's poems. In addition to those in Collected Poems" (1988) & in the " Early Poems & Juvenilia" (2005) some unpublished pieces from Larkin's typescripts & workbooks are included as well as verse (by turns scurrilous satirical affectionate & sentimental) tucked away in his letters. The manuscript & printed sources have been scrutinized afresh; more detailed accounts than hitherto available of the sources of the text & of dates of composition are provided; & previous accounts of composition dates have been corrected. Variant wordings from Larkin's typescripts & the early printings are recorded. For the first time the poems are given a comprehensive commentary. This draws critically upon & substantially extends the accumulated scholarship on Larkin & covers closely relevant historical contexts persons & places allusions & echoes & linguistic usage. Due prominence is given to the poet's comments on his poems which often outline the circumstances that gave rise to a poem or state what he was trying to achieve. Larkin played down his literariness but his poetry enrichingly alludes to & echoes the writings of many others; Archie Burnett's commentary establishes him as a more complex & more literary poet than many readers have suspected." ...

Yet each man kills the thing he loves By each let this be heard Some do it with a bitter look Some with a flattering word The coward does it with a kiss The brave man with a sword! A powerful poem of universal guilt & a protest against capital punishment The Ballad of Reading Gaol is Wildes best-known poem yet it is quite unlike the rest of his poetry. At Oxford Wilde discarded the passion & politics of his mothers Irish nationalistic anti-famine poetry & opted to follow an English Romantic tradition paying tribute to Keats Swinburne & the Pre-Raphaelites. Admiration of French masters gradually led to his writing Impressionist even decadent poems & his collection Poems (1881) brought accusations of obscenity & plagiarism as well as scathing reviews. Unabashed Wilde revised & reprinted his final Authors Edition in 1892 by which time he was the successful author of fiction criticism & Lady Windermeres Fan. This volume follows as closely as possible the chronological order of composition highlighting autobiographical elements including the young Wildes conflicting attitudes to Greece & Rome pagan & Christian & his fluctuating attraction to Roman Catholicism. The Appendix shows Wildes original ordering constructed with great care around a musical arrangement of themes. The poems reveal unexpected aspects of a literary chameleon usually identified with sparkling wit & social comedy. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford Worlds Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxfords commitment to scholarship providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features including expert introductions by leading authorities helpful notes to clarify the text up-to-date bibliographies for further study & much more. ...

This definitive guide takes you through all the processes from clay to kiln: from designing your own pieces to making decorating & firing them. The book is clearly laid out & packed with factual information that creative ceramists will want to have to hand including descriptions of the very latest materials & instructions on how to use them effectively in your work. Step-by-step instructions for traditional methods & new products such as paper-clay & print-on-clay are combined with examples of work by some of the worlds top ceramicists & details of how they achieve their results. ...

Everything you need to know about cycling for fitness & leisure & training for sport & competition. The perfect introduction to a hugely popular & stimulating activity packed with training tips & advice on safety essential equipment maintenance & motivation ...

This accessible book explains clearly how to assess your current level of fitness & how & why you should set goals that will help you get the most from your workouts. The main part of the book focuses on how to improve the strength & efficiency of your heart & lungs through all the most popular exercises sports & pastimes. Then learn how to strengthen your body & develop the core muscle groups with the best & most effective resistance training exercises. The book goes on to show you how to maintain flexibility & avoid injury as well as how best to fuel your body through the right nutrition. Lastly the book brings together all this valuable information into personal training plans. ...

Who was Nostradamus & what faith should we place in his predictions? This book gives objective answers. It reveals that Michel de Nostredame a 16th-century French doctor was more Renaissance man than arcane magician
- & that his prognostications can be compellingly astute. In this edition all of the cryptic short verses of Nostradamuss Centuries appear in the original French with new translations. Uncanny prophecies such as those of the French Revolution & the rise of Hitler are examined in detail. Here too are interpretations of the many verses believed to augur future events. Editor Ned Halley works in fields of journalism as diverse as medicine wine & business. He takes a Plain English approach to a subject far too often wreathed in language that seems calculated to obscure rather than to demonstrate the truth.
...

Beyond his perfect expression of Russian mood Pushkins universality of vision has made him a permanent place in the history of world literature. Gillon Aitkens distinguished translation is the only volume that contains all his prose fiction including some tales which remained unfinished when Pushkin was tragically killed in a duel at the age of thirty-seven. ...