Delphi Complete Poetic Works

[LitNetIsGreat]

The two days of decent weather we had in the UK the other day had me reaching for my Wordsworth, as I do every year when spring threatens to appear (it's now raining and cold, never mind). Anyway, I have jumbles of collection Wordsworth works and a falling apart Prelude, so I decided to look for some Wordsworth on the kindle. Generally speaking I have found poetry disappointing on the kindle, due to formatting issues, however I came across a decent edition that I thought I would share.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-Wil...pd_sim_kinc_22

They are formatted well and have links to each poem. All Wordsworth together in one place plus extras, pretty good value for under £2. There are also other editions from other poets available, which look to have the similar well ordered format. Enjoy.

[MorpheusSandman]

Delphi is a fantastic series, with the only downside being that they often have to use "older" editions of certain poets, like Emily Dickinson or John Donne, since the newer, revised editions are under copywrite. But, yes, they are almost always well-organized, properly formatted, and quite inclusive. They're a tremendous bargain for any one with a Kindle or Kindle ap. It's also worth checking out the free editions of poets that are usually taken from Project Gutenberg; even though the quality (format, TOC, etc.) is often spotty, they often have digitized excellent old editions with extensive commentaries (eg, EH Coleridge's editions of Byron and his grandfather, ST Coleridge.)

[LitNetIsGreat]

Yes Project Gutenberg is fantastic also, but yes the formatting of the poetry can sometimes be questionable. Great for novels though. In terms of the Wordsworth though 5675 pages, well formatted, with links, including biography etc, etc, different editions of the Prelude, etc, can't be beat. I can slip my kindle into a large pocket or bag and bike off to some place quiet and green with a flask of tea and read away. Wordsworth sounds so much better when you have the bleating of sheep and the lapping of water in the background.

[Charles Darnay]

I completely agree with the above. I love Guttenberg for what it is, but cannot tolerate the formatting of their verse. I will have to check out Delphi - I've been in a lake poet mood myself recently.

[MorpheusSandman]

What I've started doing is downloading the Delphi as my "reading" source and using Gutenberg for the commentaries. EH Coleridge's editions of Byron and ST Coleridge can't be beat, even by any modern editions.

[Emil Miller]

Wordsworth sounds so much better when you have the bleating of sheep and the lapping of water in the background.

He never lived this down though:

And to the left, three yards beyond,
You see a little muddy pond
Of water, never dry,
I've measured it from side to side:
'Tis three feet long, and two feet wide.

[LitNetIsGreat]

He never lived this down though:

And to the left, three yards beyond,
You see a little muddy pond
Of water, never dry,
I've measured it from side to side:
'Tis three feet long, and two feet wide.

Yes perhaps not the most impressive or commanding of his verse. I think the argument is though that he was trying to portray a simple direct verse from the everyday perspective. Amazing to think though that such was written within the same collection as Tintern Abbey.

I'm currently reading around the Prelude and dipping into shorter poems (non-LB poems) here and there. I'm also finishing off All Creatures Great and Small and All Things Bright and Beautiful has just come today. So spring is certainly in my head, if not in the air.

[MorpheusSandman]

Essential Wordsworth is mostly limited to Lyrical Ballads, Poems in Two Parts, and The Prelude. Outside of that it can often be rough going.

[LitNetIsGreat]

Really? Nothing much of value outside of those you think?

[MorpheusSandman]

Very little. I mean, there are some gems scattered here and there, but given the enormity of his output after those volumes, the amount of bad/mediocre to good/worthwhile is overwhelming. Wordsworth's problem is that, seeing that his style was so singular and simple from the beginning, he didn't really have anywhere to "go" after those initial volumes, so most everything else just sounded like the same thing, but without the surprise and freshness and passion of those works from the first 6 years (or so) of his career.