Poetry for Young People: William Carlos Williams

William Carlos Williams' poems are like pictures, full of visual images that youngsters will quickly grasp and enjoy. Thirty-two of his finest verses, accompanied by gorgeous paintings that capture Williams' evocative references to nature and everyday life, grace this new title in the much-celebrated Poetry for Young People series. Renowned scholar and professor Christopher MacGowan, who has edited several volumes of Williams' work, provides a fascinating biography of this poet-doctor as well as invaluable annotations that explain unfamiliar vocabulary. Exquisite paintings, by the distinguished artist Robert Crockett, make every page a treat to look at and truly illuminate the poems. Among the poems included here are "Dawn," with its lovely evocation of bird song and flight; "Primrose," a celebration of summer's joys; "10/30," a witty verse that imitates the sounds of freight trains passing by the station near his home; and an excerpt from his famed book-length poem, "Paterson."

Professor Christopher MacGowan is co-editor of Volume I of The Collected Poems of William Carlos Williams, and editor of Volume II and other books of Williams's poetry. He is also the author of articles on Sherwood Anderson, Denise Levertov, and Vladimir Nabokov. Professor MacGowan is the Chair of the English department at The College of William and Mary.

Robert Crockett has illustrated numerous books, magazine articles, and advertising pieces. Among his many awards are 11 gold and silver medals from the San Francisco Society of Illustrators (of which he was past president). His paintings regularly show in the New York Society of Illustrators Annual Exhibit.

A spring crop of poetry as well as plays in verse, both classic and contemporary, celebrate life, art and humanity. Featuring a comprehensive biography on the poets and notes on their poems, the Poetry for Young People series adds two entries. William Carlos Williams, ed. by Christopher MacGowan, illus. by Robert Crockett, collects works from across the poet's long and intriguing career. Often making use of original structures and rhythms, his poems contain vivid images of American life, both urban and rural. The volume takes readers from lesser known works such as "Spring Strains" ("In a tissue-thin monotone of blue-grey buds/ crowded erect with desire against/ the sky-") to his popular "The Red Wheelbarrow." The poetry of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, ed. by John Maynard, illus. by Allen Garns, unfolds largely in traditional iambic pentameter and couplets, covering topics from Greek or Arthurian myths to the loss of a close friend. Excerpts from "The Lady of Shalott" and "The Charge of the Light Brigade" sit alongside the full text of "Crossing the Bar." In both volumes, colorful paintings act as concretely visual accompaniments. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.