Poetry gifts

Charles Singleton's English-language translation of The Divine Comedy is widely considered to be one of the finest renderings of Dante's masterpiece. Singleton's prose is both faithful and scholarly, and sensitive to the subtle nuances of meaning and richness of reference in Dante's epic poem. Here for the first time is the single-volume edition of Singleton's celebrated translation. This beautifully illustrated...

In 1855, Walt Whitman published Leaves of Grass, the work which defined him as one of America's most influential voices, and which he added to throughout his life. A collection of astonishing originality and intensity, it spoke of politics, sexual emancipation and what it meant to be an American. From the joyful Song of Myself and I Sing the Body...

The best poet in America - Jean Genet He brought everybody down to earth, even the angels - Leonard Cohen The definitive collection from a writer whose transgressive legacy and raw, funny, acutely observant writing has left an enduring mark. Here is Bukowski eating walnuts and scratching his back, rolling a cigarette while listening to Brahms, showering with Linda in...

A collectible new Penguin series - beautiful, slim, clothbound editions of ten favourite poets. A Shropshire Lad was first published in 1896 at A. E. Housman's own expense. The collection of lyrical poems became hugely successful following the Second Boer War and World War I, with themes such as nostalgia for one's home and the patriotic celebration of the life...

Guided by the poet Virgil, Dante plunges to the very depths of Hell and embarks on his arduous journey towards God. Together they descend through the twenty-four circles of the underworld and encounter the tormented souls of the damned—from heretics and pagans to gluttons, criminals, and seducers—who tell of their sad fates and predict events still to come in Dante's...

In 1929, Robert Graves went to live abroad permanently, vowing 'never to make England my home again'. This is his superb account of his life, from his childhood and desperately unhappy school days to his time serving as a young officer in the First World War. Containing memorable encounters with fellow writers and poets, Goodbye to All That is a...

46 new books in the bestselling Little Black Classics series, to celebrate the first ever Penguin Classic in 1946 'It's coming - the postponeless Creature'

The Little Black Classics series introduces 46 new books to celebrate the first-ever Penguin Classic in 1946. Love That Moves the Sun and Other Stars by Dante Alighieri evokes happiness beyond all words, portraying a life filled with peace and love, entire and whole.

Beowulf tells the story of the heroic Beowulf and of his battles, first with the monster Grendel, then with Grendel's avenging mother, and finally with a dragon that threatens to devastate his homeland. Through its blend of myth and history, Beowulf vividly evokes a twilight world in which men and supernatural forces live side by side.

Yours Truly, by Isaiah Quinn is a love poetry collection written as a series of poems and letters dated, signed, and offered from the heart. Whether you are in love, a lover of love, or trying to find it again, this book offers words that feel personal, sincere, and timeless. Each page reads like a private note meant for someone...

The brand new poetry collection from the internationally bestselling poet and TikTok phenomenon, Whitney Hanson the love of my life is a poetry collection that traces the process of rediscovering a love for life after change, disconnection, and personal upheaval. Using the metaphor of fires, the book is structured in three sections: Burning, Ashes, and Reclamation—to reflect the cycles of...

Science tells us that babies develop best and connect with people and the world around them when they are spoken to, sung to, and read to. Even when they're tiny, the sound of their parents' voices helps them make sense of the world and feel comfortable with new people and places. This treasury gives parents the opportunity to rediscover just...

THE COMPLETELY UPDATED COLLECTION WITH OVER 70 BRAND NEW POEMS, FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES NO.1 BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF WILD HOPE AND WORDS TO LIVE BY 'Amazing . . . Donna's words speak to my heart' Davina McCall To the Women is a celebration of the beauty, strength, and joy of being a woman. A love letter to our deep capacity...

A lean, fleet-footed translation that recaptures Homer's "nimble gallop" and brings an ancient epic to new life. The first great adventure story in the Western canon, the Odyssey is a poem about violence and the aftermath of war; about wealth, poverty, and power; about marriage, family, and identity; and about travellers, hospitality, and the changing meanings of home in a...

Black Sugarcane is a landmark debut collection by Nafanua Purcell Kersel. Restless in form and address, these engaging and generous poems ricochet from light to dark, quiet to loud, calm to violence. We meet a loved twin sister as she dives towards the Sacred Centre, a grandmother who knows everything by heart, a shrugging office clerk, and Nafanua herself, an...

This classic collection of beautifully illustrated nursery rhymes from Shirley’s childhood will inspire a new generation to discover their own favourite rhymes – and sing them wherever they go. Parents and children can enjoy these rhymes all through the day: from walking to the park on a cold and frosty morning with “Here we go round the mulberry bush” or...

Journey into Dante's nine circles of Hell in the epic poem, Inferno, with this elegant, unabridged edition featuring the classic translation by the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882). The Divine Comedy, written in the early fourteenth century by Dante Alighieri, continues to be essential reading for lovers of literature. The Inferno is the first part of Dante's masterpiece, The Divine...

With an introduction that discusses Blake's life and career, his reputation, and the major themes of his work, and explores the relationship between the poetry and the illustrations. Writer and religious rebel, William Blake (1757-1827) sowed the seeds for Romanticism in his innovative poems concerning faith and the visions that inspired him throughout his life. Whether describing his own spirituality,...

From leaping, flying fish to dancing butterflies, and camels that "trollop along," Eric Carle's brilliant and colourful collage designs bring to life animal poems from such diverse sources as Shakespeare, Lewis Carroll, Rudyard Kipling, Emily Dickinson, and Jack Prelutsky, as well as Bible verses, Japanese haiku, American Indian poems, and more. This celebration of the wonder and variety of earth's...

First published in the 1920s, The Prophet, Gibran's hugely popular guide to living, has sold millions of copies worldwide and is the most famous work of religious fiction of the twentieth century. The Prophet became the bible of 1960s culture and was credited with founding the New Age movement, yet it still continues to inspire people around the world today....

One of the great masterworks of English literature, in a gorgeous new clothbound edition. Part of Penguin's beautiful hardback Clothbound Classics series, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith, these delectable and collectible editions are bound in high-quality colourful, tactile cloth with foil stamped into the design. In The Canterbury Tales Chaucer created one of the great touchstones of English literature,...

A collectible new Penguin Classics series: beautiful, slim, clothbound editions of ten favourite poets. Songs of Innocence and of Experience is one of the best-loved poetry collections of all time, an innovative and groundbreaking experiment in which Blake intertwined text and image to dazzling effect. The volume, published sometimes as two separate collections, juxtaposes the innocent world of childhood with...

A deluxe 10th anniversary edition of the bestselling poetry collection milk and honey, including an exclusive new chapter of poetry, a new introduction by Rupi, a collage of behind-the-scenes photos and memorabilia illustrating the book’s decade-long journey, handwritten diary entries, and heartfelt annotations from Rupi and some of today’s most respected voices in a selection of fan-favourite poems. Since debuting...

From poet, meditator, and speaker Yung Pueblo comes a collection of poetry and prose that explores the movement from self-love to unconditional love, the power of letting go, and the wisdom that comes when we truly try to know ourselves. It serves as a reminder to the reader that healing, transformation, and freedom are possible. Inward invites readers to delve...

From international bestselling poet Rupi Kaur, a beautifully designed, three-book boxed set of the poetry collections that solidified her as the voice of a generation: milk and honey, the sun and her flowers, and home body.

One of the major poets of Romanticism, Wordsworth epitomized the spirit of his age with his celebration of the natural world and the spontanous expression of feeling. This volume contains a rich selection from the most creative phase of his life, including extracts from his masterpiece, The Prelude, and the best-loved of his shorter poems such as 'Composed Upon Westminster...

Discover and treasure one of the greatest war stories of all time with this luxurious edition of Homer's first great epic, The Iliad. Find yourself swept right into the emotion of the action and characters, including Achilles, Helen, Hector, and other heroes of Greek myth, as they endure the tenth and final year of the Greek siege of Troy. This...

The twentieth-anniversary edition of the influential first poetry collection by Richard Siken An Atlantic choice for "Best American Poetry of the 21st Century (So Far)" Since winning the 2004 Yale Series of Younger Poets competition, Crush has become a modern classic. This twentieth-anniversary edition includes a new introduction by award-winning poet Dana Levin and a new afterword by the author.

Shadows on the wall Noises down the hall Life doesn't frighten me at all Maya Angelou's brave, defiant poem celebrates the courage within each of us, young and old. From the scary thought of panthers in the park to the unsettling scene of a new classroom, fearsome images are summoned and dispelled by the power of faith in ourselves. Angelou's...

Celebrate fifteen years of rhyming fun with this special anniversary edition of The Rhyming Rabbit from the brilliant partnership of Julia Donaldson and Lydia Monks - the bestselling team behind the What the Ladybird Heard adventures. Featuring a fun craft activity, artwork from illustrator Lydia Monks, and a special letter from author Julia Donaldson, this celebratory edition with its eye-catching...

NEW stunning paperback edition showcasing the original E.H. Shepard art with Milne’s classic, timeless poetry for children. ‘Hush! Hush! Whisper who dares! Christopher Robin is saying his prayers!’ E.H. Shepard’s original, iconic artwork has been reproduced for this 100th anniversary range, truly paying homage to the vividness of the original art that accompanied Milne’s classic, favourite stories. In this famous...

THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER FROM THE NO.1 BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF WILD HOPE "Donna Ashworth has a way of formulating words that melts me ... I feel as if the universe has sent me her book to tell me I'm on the right course." — DAVINA MCCALL, Instagram "Powerful and comforting ... Donna's words could change your life." — DAWN...

There isn't a timescale for how you should heal Your bad days are valid, your heartache is real But so is the day that your smile will return That fire within you continues to burn You will overcome this and continue to thrive You are here, you are loved, you are whole, you're alive. A formidable follow-up to her award-winning...

In which the writings of the authors Thom Yorke and Stanley Donwood are gathered together. This commonplace book includes faxes, notes, fledgling lyrics, sketches, lists of all kinds and scribblings towards nirvana, as were sent between the two authors during the period 1999 to 2000 during the creation of the Radiohead albums Kid A and Amnesiac. This is a document...

In her introduction, Janet Gezari discusses issues of dating and authenticity that arise with Brontë's poems, and the ways in which the Gondal poems relate to the lost prose narratives on the same subject. The poems of Emily Jane Brontë are passionate and powerful works that convey the vitality of the human spirit and of the natural world. Only twenty-one...

Like lightning/you strike/fast and free/legs zoom/down field/eyes fixed/on the checkered ball/on the goal/ten yards to go/can't nobody stop you/can't nobody cop you... Twelve-year-old Nick is a football-mad boy who absolutely hates books. In this follow-up to the Newbery-winning novel The Crossover, football, family, love, and friendship take centre stage as Nick tries to figure out how to navigate his parents'...

Shortlisted for the Books Are My Bag 2020 Readers Awards The Crossover takes you on a riveting journey with twelve-year-old Josh Bell, who raps, "With a bolt of lightning on my kicks . . . The court is SIZZLING. My sweat is DRIZZLING. Stop all that quivering. 'Cuz tonight I'm delivering." Thanks to their dad, Josh and his twin brother,...

“The sonnet, like poverty, teaches you what you can do / without,” Diane Seuss writes in this brilliant, candid work, her most personal collection to date. These poems tell the story of a life at risk of spilling over the edge of the page, from Seuss's working-class childhood in rural Michigan to the dangerous allures of New York City and...

Maybe our world will grow kinder eventually. Maybe the desire to make something beautiful is the piece of God that is inside each of us. In this stunning collection, Mary Oliver returns to the imagery that has defined her life's work. Herons, sparrows, owls, and kingfishers flit across the page in meditations on love, artistry, and impermanence. Whether considering a...

The original self-help book and international bestseller. The original self-help book—bestselling The Prophet takes the reader on an unparalleled spiritual and philosophical journey. The time has come for the revered Prophet to leave Orphalese. Before he departs, people gather around him and ask him to share his wisdom. Divided into twenty-eight chapters covering sprawling topics such as love, marriage, children...

Featuring five exclusive new poems, this stunning foil-embossed hardback edition is a collector's item and a gorgeous gift. The Instant Sunday Times Bestseller. Selected poems on motherhood from bestselling author and Instagram poet, Jessica Urlichs. 'Reading Jess's poems makes me feel like she's somehow reached into my own personal reflections and articulated them in a way I never could.' –...

Salt Quilt is a portrait of an uneasy stretch of time. The poet looks back at various episodes of her life and then far ahead, to other lives and ways of seeing. She sheds cynicism, celebrates some constraints and rejects others, and keeps rewriting the endings. Poetry has saved her more than once. On the inside maybe she is becoming...

An epic journey of adventure, endurance, and the search for home In The Odyssey, Homer crafts one of the oldest and most influential adventure stories in Western literature. The poem follows Odysseus, the cunning king of Ithaca, as he battles gods, monsters, and temptation on his ten-year quest to return home after the Trojan War. Facing shipwrecks, the wrath of...

Originally published in 1885, A Child's Garden of Verses has served as a wonderful introduction to poetry for each new generation. Stevenson's beloved poems celebrate childhood in all its complexity and joy, from the sunny pleasures of "At the Seaside," to the imaginative musings of "Foreign Lands," to the playful, ever-popular "My Shadow." Of the many available editions, Gyo Fujikawa's...

Clumsy Beauty is filled with warmth, wit, and a dash of irreverence. This exquisitely illustrated collection of bite-size poems from J. K. Kennedy invites you to hear the "I love you" in every little moment. An enchantingly illustrated collection of poems designed to inspire and empower, Clumsy Beauty invites you to hear the "I love you" in every little moment....

A new collection of Pushkin's great narrative and lyric verse, translated by Antony Wood WINNER OF THE READ RUSSIA PRIZE 2020 Alexander Pushkin established what we know as Russian literature. This collection includes his strongly personal lyric verse, which springs spontaneously from his everyday life – his numerous loves, his exile, his hectic life in St Petersburg – while the...

An enchanting collection of the very best of Russian poetry, edited by acclaimed translator Robert Chandler. In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, poetry's pre-eminence in Russia was unchallenged, with Pushkin and his contemporaries ushering in the 'Golden Age' of Russian literature. Although prose briefly gained the high ground, poetry again became dominant with the 'Silver Age', which held...

Already a bestseller as a picture book, Good Night, Sleep Tight from Mem Fox and Judy Horacek, the creators of Australia’s bestseller, Where Is the Green Sheep? is now a beautiful board book. Incorporating timeless nursery rhymes, this charming bedtime tale creates a wonderful, whimsical world, which young children will enjoy again and again.

Boost your child's growing vocabulary with 60 hilariously illustrated poems from Colette Hiller, author of the critically acclaimed kids' poetry book The B on Your Thumb. Each poem in this funny, funky book teaches a specific important word, as well as its meaning and spelling, in an innovative and accessible format that kids will love. Using rhythm and wordplay, the...

‘Powerful, capacious and profound’ — OCEAN VUONG ‘A book you won’t soon forget’ — ILYA KAMINSKY ‘Astonishing’ — TERRANCE HAYES Longlisted for the 2025 Dylan Thomas Prize From the winner of the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary A deeply powerful collection of poems about life in Gaza by acclaimed Palestinian poet, Mosab Abu Toha. Barely 30 years old, Mosab Abu...

A lavish collector's edition of the complete poems of eminent Japanese master of the haiku, Matsuo Bashō—with a new index that contains the full Japanese text of the original poems. Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694) is arguably the greatest figure in the history of Japanese literature and the master of the haiku. Bashō: The Complete Haiku of Matsuo Bashō offers in English...

The Space Between Us explores the trials of love and what it's like to live a life separated by distance from someone you care about. Its content is thoughtfully divided into five chapters, or phases, of the long-distance experience: At First Glance, Living for Tomorrow, Lonely Nights, Grow Together/Grow Apart, and When I See You. A combination of poems and...

Fifty new books at £1 each, celebrating the pioneering spirit of the Penguin Modern Classics series, from inspiring essays to groundbreaking fiction and poetry. Sadder than salad. From apples to artichokes, these glittering, fragmented, painterly portraits of food by the avant-garde pioneer Gertrude Stein are redolent of sex, laughter, and the joy of everyday life.

Stephen Fry's The Ode Less Travelled provides us with a witty and entertaining guide to the mysteries of writing poetry. If you can speak and read English, you can write poetry. The trick is knowing where to start. Stephen Fry, who has long written poems, and indeed has written long poems, for his own private pleasure, invites you to discover...

New to the Penguin Pocket Hardbacks series - books that have changed the history of thought, in sumptuous, clothbound editions. In his perfectly crafted haiku poems, Basho described the natural world with great simplicity and delicacy of feeling. When he composed The Narrow Road to the Deep North he was a serious student of Zen Buddhism, setting off on a...

In his perfectly crafted haiku poems, Basho described the natural world with great simplicity and delicacy of feeling. These travel writings not only chronicle Basho's perilous journeys through Japan, but they also capture his vision of eternity in the transient world around him. The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches showcases Basho's exceptional ability to portray...

One of the great figures of English Romanticism, Coleridge's poems show diversity and imaginative genius. One of the major figures of English Romanticism, Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) created works of remarkable diversity and imaginative genius. The period of his creative friendship with William Wordsworth inspired some of Coleridge's best-known poems, from the nightmarish vision of the Rime of the Ancient...

The complete collection of Donne's poems, including his famous Holy Sonnets, 'The Flea' and 'The Sun Rising'. No poet has been more wilfully contradictory than John Donne, whose works forge unforgettable connections between extremes of passion and mental energy. From satire to tender elegy, from sacred devotion to lust, he conveys an astonishing range of emotions and poetic moods. Constant...

Published to coincide with the release of the film Bright Star, written and directed by Oscar Winner Jane Campion (The Piano, In the Cut), starring Abbie Cornish (Elizabeth: The Golden Age) and Ben Whishaw (Brideshead Revisited, Perfume). John Keats died aged just twenty-five. He left behind some of the most exquisite and moving verse and love letters ever written, inspired...

Keats' poetic genius was first seen in 1816 when he published the first of a series of great works. He was variously hailed as an important poetical figure, the natural heir to the Romantic throne and, like Shelley before him, criticised for his politics. In his short life, he proved to be one of the greatest and most original thinkers...

After Inferno and Purgatorio, here is the last cantica (part) of the Divine Comedy, in a new translation by acclaimed translator Robin Kirkpatrick. Having plunged to the uttermost depths of Hell and climbed the Mount of Purgatory in parts one and two of the Divine Comedy, Dante ascends to Heaven in this third and final part, continuing his soul's search...

A collection of poems exemplifying Romantic aesthetic ideals, whose unique beauty lies in their revolutionary exploration of the 'overflow of powerful emotions recollected in tranquility', Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth's Lyrical Ballads is edited with a note on the text by Michael Schmidt in Penguin Classics. Published in 1798, Lyrical Ballads is a dazzling collaboration containing twenty-three poems by...

Leonard Cohen made his name as a poet before he came to worldwide attention as a singer and songwriter. Book of Longing was twenty years in the making and written in Montreal, Mumbai, and during his retreat in Mt Baldy. These poems show the full range of one of the most influential and enigmatic writers of his generation.

Phizzwhizzing new cover look and branding for the World's NUMBER ONE Storyteller! A collection of (mainly) grisly beasts out for human blood, ranging from Crocky-Wock the crocodile to Sting-A-Ling the scorpion. Described in verse with all of Roald Dahl's usual gusto and illustrated in a suitably wicked style by Quentin Blake. Was that CROCKY-WOCK galumphing up the stairs? Is STING-A-LING...

A new selection of poetry from the generation-defining author of The Copenhagen Trilogy, translated for the first time into English. While Tove Ditlevsen is now famous around the world as an extraordinary prose writer, in Denmark she has also long been celebrated as a poet. She published her first collection in her early twenties, and continued writing and publishing poetry...

First published in the 1920s, The Prophet is an inspirational, allegorical guide to living. The book is perhaps the most famous work of religious fiction of the Twentieth Century and has sold millions of copies in more than twenty languages. Gibran's protagonist, called simply the Prophet, delivers spiritual yet practical homilies on a wide variety of topics central to daily...

Sonnets by William Shakespeare offers the complete collection of the bard's renowned poems in one beautiful edition. Love sonnets are ideal for romantics, starry-eyed lovers, and ardent hearts. Shakespeare's sonnets are arguably the finest ever written. However, they also appeal to cynics, star-crossed lovers, and those familiar with the pain of unrequited love. Some sonnets seem addressed to a young...

A landmark collection of verse from one of the twentieth century's supreme writers. These masterly poems span the decades of Nabokov's career, from Music, written in 1914, to the short, playful To Vera, composed in 1974. The University Poem, one of Nabokov's major poetic works, is here in English for the first time. This extraordinary autobiographical poem looks back at...

46 new books in the bestselling Little Black Classics series, to celebrate the first ever Penguin Classic in 1946. Tyger, Tyger by William Blake explores profound and thought-provoking themes through its powerful imagery and lyrical style. This collection of poetry delves into the complexities of human experience and the questions of creation and existence. ‘How can the bird that is...

The Ancient Light of the Dead is a casual stroll through the kind of eclectic village cemetery that each of us designs and builds over the course of a lifetime, and that each of us will one day inhabit. The 84 portraits in this collection are drawn from fragmentary beams of light that crossed the author’s experience—beautiful people, plain ones,...

What would Greek and Roman myth look like if women had written the stories? asks Tara Welch in her illuminating Introduction to this volume. Stanley Lombardo and Melina McClure's faithful translation of Ovid's famous letters, purportedly written by heroines of classical antiquity to their absent lovers, offers an inkling of one intriguing possibility. This compelling translation brings the voices of...

An anthology of some of the greatest poetry in the English language. Poetry and music have been associated with each other from the very beginning. The Penguin Book of English Song draws together a great variety of English poetry (including Irish, Scots and Welsh writers) that has reached a wider audience through the magic of music. Richard Stokes's rich anthology...

A major new anthology of Percy Bysshe Shelley's work, edited by Jack Donovan and Cian Duffy. Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the leading English Romantics and is critically regarded among the finest lyric poets in the English language. His major works include the long visionary poems Prometheus Unbound and Adonais, an elegy on the death of John Keats. His...

The hotly anticipated new book from award-winning poet Matt Goodfellow, author of bestselling The Final Year. Meet Alfie Piper, embarking on a summer he'll never forget ... Alfie Piper has six weeks of summer - and nothing left to lose. Since his mum died, Alfie's world has unravelled. The silence between him and his stepdad roars louder than ever. So...

For every woman who's ever held joy and sorrow in the same breath—this debut is a tender, powerful reminder that you are not alone. The Size of Your Joy is an intimate and empowering exploration of the complex and often contradictory experiences of womanhood, offering an unflinching look at how identity, resilience, and self-worth are shaped by the intersections of...

A unique perspective on war and its impact. Poets have written about the experience of war since ancient times, but the young soldier poets of the First World War established war poetry as a literary genre. Leaving an indelible mark on literature, their poems offered a powerful insight into the human experience of conflict. The Little Book of War Poets...

The collected poems of New Zealand's best-loved poet in a handsome volume. The collected poems of New Zealand's best-loved poet in a handsome volume. A poem is a ripple of words on water wind-huffed ... This volume showcases the finest examples of Hone's poetry, from his early triumph in No Ordinary Sun (one of the most reprinted collections in New...

Kipling's reputation as the unofficial Laureate of the British Empire has obscured the true nature and scope of his poetic achievement. His poems range from exhilarating celebrations of British expansion overseas, through vivid character sketches of soldiers and seamen, to enchanting poems for children, political invective, and artistic manifestos. Here, Kipling's poems are presented in chronological order to reveal the...

What use is poetry in times of ecological and political turbulence? Peace and Quiet grapples with this question, invoking both human voices and the voices — ‘the silt and the slash’ — of the natural world. Powerful and illuminating, these poems show that peace, gentleness and reflection are a form of resistance. 'Dinah Hawken is the high priestess of pin-drop poetry.' —James...

Hungus is a work of world-building that draws on myth, pop culture, purakau and science fiction - and the arrival of a dazzling new voice in New Zealand poetry. In the belly of Hungus is the Mantis: an amorphous, many-faced being, as fluid and full of history as the moana. It is a thing holding a machete in one hand...