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Flora Poetica

The Chatto Book of Botanical Verse

Sarah Maguire author Sarah Maguire editor

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Vintage Publishing

Published:1st May '03

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Flora Poetica cover

This unique and beautiful anthology of flower poems is the perfect gift for gardeners.

This beautiful anthology brings together over 250 poems about flowers, plants and trees from eight centuries of writing in English, creating a rich bouquet of intriguing juxtapositions.

This beautiful anthology brings together over 250 poems about flowers, plants and trees from eight centuries of writing in English, creating a rich bouquet of intriguing juxtapositions. Fourteenth-century lyrics sit next to poems of the twenty-first century; celebrations of plants native to the English soil share the volume with more exotic plant poetry.

There are thirty poems about roses, by poets as diverse as Shakespeare, Dorothy Parker and the South African, Seitlhamo Motsapi; but there are also sections devoted to more unusual plants such as the mandrake, the starapple and the tamarind.

An ex-gardener, the celebrated poet Sarah Maguire brings her extensive horticultural knowledge to bear on all the poems, arranging them into botanical families, identifying the plants being written about and writing a fascinating introduction. Whether you are a poetry lover, a gardener, a botanist, or simply the purchaser of the occasional bunch of flowers, this unique anthology allows you to luxuriate amidst the world's flora.

As entrancing as the lost gardens of Heligan... This sumptuous book is a historical revelation too, and shows how the history of flowers goes hand in hand with the history of English poetry... I cannot imagine an anthology anyone would enjoy more -- Ruth Padel * Independent *
One of the most rewarding anthologies of recent years -- John Burnside * Scotsman *
An excellent and stimulating anthology * Daily Telegraph *
Beautifully assembled * Sunday Times *

ISBN: 9780701169237

Dimensions: 216mm x 153mm x 27mm

Weight: 460g

384 pages