From the Garden to the Street: An Introduction to 300 Years of Poetry for Children (Cassell Education)

Traces the changes and developments in children's poetry from the late 17th century to the late 20th century. The text makes reference to different genres within poetry, changing constructions of childhood, the role of women in developing children's poetry and the influence of anthologists. Contents......Page 8 Preface......Page 10 Acknowledgements......Page 12 Introduction: From the 'garden' of childhood to real life on the street in 300 years of poetry for children......Page 16 1 Devotions and Didacticism: Religious verse for children......Page 32 2 Romantic Visions: The influence of Romanticism on children's verse......Page 62 3 'Sweet Flowers I Bring': Nineteenth-century nature poetry for children......Page 95 4 Old Mother Hubbard: And other nursery rhymes, old and new......Page 113 5 The Capacity to Amuse: The history of humour in poetry for children......Page 138 6 Jumblies and Jabberwockies: The nonsense verse of Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear......Page 165 7 'Of the Spontaneous Kind'?: Christina Rossetti's Sing-Song and its precursors......Page 182 8 'The Best of Plays' – A Child's Garden of Verses: The poetry of Robert Louis Stevenson......Page 201 9 'From the Best Poets'?: How the canon of poetry for children is constructed......Page 217 10 Song and Story: Narrative and lyric verse for children......Page 228 11 The Travellers: Poetry for children in the first half of the twentieth century......Page 254 12 'What is the Truth?': The poetry of Charles Causeley and Ted Hughes......Page 278 13 The Street and Other Landmarks: In defence of 'urchin verse'......Page 293 14 Epilogue: Caribbean poetry in the late twentieth century......Page 313 C......Page 326 I......Page 327 P......Page 328 Y......Page 329 B......Page 330 F......Page 331 K......Page 332 N......Page 333 S......Page 334 Z......Page 335 From John Bunyan's 'country rhimes' to rude chants about Manchester United, from Ted Hughes to Edward Lear, and from William Blake to the Taylor sisters, Morag Styles covers three hundred years of poetry with infectious enthusiasm and a keen critical eye. In this scholarly and fascinating book, she provides an informative account of the history of poetry written for children in Britain and America in the last three centuries. She analyses the major poets, genres and developments over this period, and traces the continuities between the past and the present. Styles asks fundamental questions which have often been left unanswered: What do we mean by children's poetry? Why did such a seemingly small number of women write poetry for children until recently? The author subscribes to the widest possible definition of poetry, and so the reader will find in this book hymns, songs, playground rhymes, raps and verse - whether trivial or profound. From the Garden to the Street will provoke, inform and entertain academics of children's literature, those who teach it in the classroom, and all of us who still take pleasure in the poetry of childhood. Morag Styles. Includes Bibliographical References And Indexes.