Riassunto
Riassunto di Tesoro d’oro
A chi è rivolto
For readers who love hearing verse aloud, love poems, songs of grief and praise of nature, and anyone seeking a first road into English poetry. Teachers and parents will find a steady companion.
Che cos’è questo libro
The Golden Treasury is an anthology of short English poems, gathered by Francis Turner Palgrave and first published in 1861. Palgrave was a poet and a government education official, and he made the book as an act of choice. He wanted one small collection where a reader could find the best songs and lyrics in English, from the age of Shakespeare to the early nineteenth century. He took advice from his friend Alfred Tennyson.
You get a walk through about three hundred years of English feeling, set out in four books, each tied to an age. You meet love poems, songs of grief, praise of nature and quiet thoughts on time and death. You also see how an editor shapes what a whole nation comes to read and love. Let us begin with the plan Palgrave set himself, because every choice in the book follows from it.
In questo riassunto
- 1One editor sets strict rulesFree
- 2Book One gathers the Elizabethan voice
- 3Book Two moves toward Milton's graver world
- 4Book Three listens to the eighteenth century
- 5Book Four sings with the Romantic poets
- 6How to read it and what it left
Punto chiave 1 di 6
One editor sets strict rules
Palgrave did not set out to gather every good English poem. He set out to gather lyrics, which means short poems that carry a single feeling or thought, close to song. Long narrative poems, plays and works of argument were left outside the book. The result is a collection of poems that can be read in a few minutes each.
He also made a choice about time. The poets in the book were no longer living when he compiled it, so no poet of his own day appears. This spared him quarrels with friends and rivals. It also meant that the book could claim to rest on the judgment of time, not on fashion.
Tennyson, already the best known poet of the age, was his friend and adviser, and the book is linked with that friendship. Palgrave wrote a preface that explains his aims, and it is worth reading for its plain, modest tone. He speaks of wanting a collection where each poem earns its place by quality, and where the whole gives a pleasure that goes beyond any single piece. He admits that taste differs, and that another editor might choose otherwise.
The title tells you the spirit of the project. A treasury is a store of valued things, and golden suggests the best of them. Notice that the word is a claim, and that the book is an argument about what counts as best. As you read, you can ask whether you agree with each choice, and that question is part of the pleasure the book offers.
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Questions about Tesoro d’oro
What is The Golden Treasury about?
It is an anthology of short English lyric poems chosen by Francis Palgrave. It runs in four books from the age of Shakespeare to the early nineteenth century, covering love, nature, grief and time.
Who compiled The Golden Treasury and when?
Francis Turner Palgrave compiled it and it first appeared in 1861. He had advice from his friend Alfred Tennyson, and he wrote a preface explaining the rules he used to choose the poems.
Why is it called The Golden Treasury?
A treasury is a store of valued things, and golden marks them as the best. The title claims that the poems inside are the finest short songs and lyrics in English, as Palgrave judged them.
Is The Golden Treasury hard to read?
Not usually. The poems are short and meant for the ear. The feeling is clear, and reading aloud helps.
Does The Golden Treasury include living poets?
No. Palgrave chose to leave out poets who were alive when he made the book. That is why it ends with the early nineteenth century and not with the writers of his own day.