This comprehensive guide to the poetry and letters of John Keats offers a highly readable and detailed textual analysis of the themes and techniques of his work. Blades assesses all the major writing - including the narratives and the great odes - and goes on to examine the context of the verse through a survey of the poet's letters and an examination of the key features of nineteenth century Romanticism. This lively and imaginative study concludes with a discussion of some of the most influential critical responses to Keats's work.

Written in an age of revolutions, Lyrical Ballads represents a radical new way of thinking - not only about literature but also about our fundamental perceptions of the world. The poetry of Wordsworth and Coleridge continues to be among the most appealing and challenging in the rich tradition of English Literature; and Lyrical Ballads, composed at the height of the young authors' creative powers, is now widely acclaimed as a landmark in literary history. In this lively study, detailed analysis of individual poems is closely grounded in the literary, political and historical contexts in which Lyrical Ballads was first conceived, realised and subsequently expanded into two volumes. John Blades examines poetry from both volumes and carefully reassesses the poems in the light of Wordsworth's and Coleridge's revolutionary theories, while Part II of the study broadens the discussion by tracing the critical history of Lyrical Ballads over the two centuries since its first publication. Providing students with the critical and analytical skills with which to approach the poems, and offering guidance on further study, this stimulating book is essential reading.

The appearance in 1609 of Shakespeare's Sonnets is cloaked in mystery and controversy, while the poems themselves are masterpieces of silence and deception. The intervening four centuries have done little to diminish either their mystique or their appeal, and recent years have witnessed an upsurge in interest in these brilliant and contentious lyrics. John Blades' penetrating study of the Sonnets is a highly lucid introduction to Shakespeare's subjects and poetic craft, involving detailed insights on the major themes, together with a comprehensive exploration of the Rival Poet and Dark Mistress sequences. Shakespeare: The Sonnets: - draws on an extensive range of sonnets, offering a line-by-line analysis that engages with the poems as masterworks in their own right, as well as registering their relationship with Shakespeare's dramas - locates the Sonnets in their Elizabethan and humanist framework, with a survey of the history of the sonnet form and rhetorical conventions within the context of the early modern period - concludes with a brief assessment of critical attitudes towards the Sonnets over the four centuries since their publication and an indepth examination of four important critics. Providing students with the critical and analytical skills with which to approach the Sonnets, and featuring a helpful glossary and suggestions for further study, this fascinating book is an indispensable guide.

This stimulating study takes a fresh look at Browning's poetry and at some of the key themes that run through his work. Part I uses carefully selected extracts for close textual analysis, while Part II examines Browning's life, contexts and a sample of criticism. Using some of Browning's most widely studied poems, this book will develop students' close reading technique and help them to articulate their own responses to poetry. The volume is an ideal introductory guide for A Level and undergraduate English Literature students, or anyone studying Browning's poems for the first time.

This stimulating study takes a fresh look at Browning's poetry and at some of the key themes that run through his work. Part I uses carefully selected extracts for close textual analysis, while Part II examines Browning's life, contexts and a sample of criticism. Using some of Browning's most widely studied poems, this book will develop students' close reading technique and help them to articulate their own responses to poetry. The volume is an ideal introductory guide for A Level and undergraduate English Literature students, or anyone studying Browning's poems for the first time.

The History plays established Shakespeare's reputation as an enormously popular and dramatic storyteller, demonstrating his skill in drawing such astonishing characters as Richard III and Sir John Falstaff. Featuring detailed analyses of extracts, John Blades guides the student through four of Shakespeare's most compelling Histories. Part I of this stimulating study: - Provides clear and engaging close readings of passages from Richard II, Henry IV Parts 1 & 2, and Richard III - Examines major themes, characters, language and Shakespeare's dramatic techniques - Offers suggestions for further work and summarizes the methods of analysis Part II supplies essential background material, including: - A detailed survey of Shakespeare's literary and historical contexts - Samples of criticism from leading scholars With a helpful Glossary and Further Reading section, this lucid study is ideal for anyone who wishes to appreciate and explore the remarkable writing of Shakespeare's History plays for themselves.