Poems Published in 1842 with an Introduction by A.M.D Hughes

Poems Published in 1842. with an Introd. and Notes by A.M.D. Hughes by Alfred Tennyson
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

What a crashing bore this Hughes must have been. He’s edited this book in such a way in so that it only appeals to academics. His actual introduction to the life of Tennyson does give a good insight to the man behind the poems. It’s also not clear as to why the author selected 1842 or whether he has published volumes in other years. Now I’ve got to go and look for a set. The book itself is not an easy one to browse. If you’re looking for a particular poem, first you have to browse which contents page to read before scrolling through to find the page number for the poem itself. There’s also an index of first lines. What use is that in today’s society? But the final nail in the coffin is Hughes’s appendix. As well as notes; there’s a separate appendix of different versions of the poems. Even if you did want to compare versions through the ages; you still have to go to the front of the book to re-browse the contents page to find the poem again. A small footnote under each poem would have been much more useful. Still, it’s nice to have a musty old book on the shelves that you can say that you’ve actually read; even if it did take three months.

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