John and Bill (a.k.a John Milton and William Shakespeare) were both Ben Elton’s of their time. You might think that Shakespeare and Milton are old cronies who wrote in funny English which no one can understand, hundreds of years ago, about love and boring wars. Well, breaking news here, they both also had a wicked sense of humour and questionable morals? They were Damion Hirst’s of their times. Controversial. We love controversy and we, as a human race, are curious enough to want to find out what all the fuss is about. Then more likely than not, we’ll judge the controversy for ourselves and say, “What the hell was all the fuss all ...  Read the complete review

It was the headteacher of a local Primary School who, as an off the cuff remark, said in my earshot, "We've even got boys reading poetry now." My hackles rose as I spontaneously thought, "Why SHOULDN'T boys read poetry?!" I then realised that I didn't. I had only read poetry (with one or two big exceptions) because I had been obliged to do so by the fact that they were set texts. When I thought about whether I actually enjoyed poetry, it occurred to me that I probably didn't - certainly not since adolescence. Maybe as an intellectual exercise demanded by a course, but not for real pleasure. So, chastened by the ...  Read the complete review

John Milton is regarded by many as the last of the classical poets, before the Romantic movement of the late 17th century began the perpetual admiration/rebellion crisis of influence that still exists with the modern obsession with parody and deconstruction. ‘Paradise Lost’ is an epic poem published in ten books in 1667, later amended by the author to a twelve book version in 1674 just prior to his death. It remains one of the most revered and studied poems in the English language, surpassed only by Milton’s immediate precursor William Shakespeare. Milton was always convinced that he would produce the greatest epic poem of the English language, and despite the ...  Read the complete review

The odds are that you won't read this text at all unless you are studying English literature - it's old, it's all in verse and the subject matter doesn't grip people as it once did. Its possible of course that you have an independant passion for literature, in which case you probably won't need much help. Most students approach this text with fear and trepidation on their hearts, and for good reason. It isn't easy going. Firstly, it's about contemporary with Shakespeare, so the language is archaic and often perplexing. Secondly, it is very heavily based on the Bible. Many of us these days haven't read the Bible and consequently do ...  Read the complete review

He is a poet from a rural area in Western Australia who is now resident at Oxford, having, he says, been denied permission to emigrate to the United States. Still a young poet at 37 years, he has received praise from many reviewers and critics, perhaps most notably from Harold Bloom, whose comments seem to feature on every new book of Kinsella's, including his recent, 'Visitants.' This volume contains poems written from his early youth and from every book of verse he has published from 1980-1994. It is a very useful introduction to the poet's work and quite quickly the reader is awed at the breaktaking range of styles and forms Kinsella is more ...  Read the complete review