#12- Poetry for Young People: Robert Browning

#12-Poetry for Young People: Robert Browning

Poetry for Young People: Robert Browning

Written by: Robert Browning

Edited by: Eileen Gillooly

Illustrated by: Joel Spector

Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., 2001

48 pages

Poetry

"The year's at the spring. And day's at the morn; Morning's at seven; The hill-side's dew pearled; The lark's on the wing; The snail's on the thorn; God's in his Heaven-All's right with the world!"

          This book is a collection of poems written by Robert Browning. Some of these poems are about moments in history. Other poems are dramatic monologues. Still, other poems are written about places that Browning has been, or things he loves. Browning's poetry can be difficult to understand, so Eillen Gillooly has written short introductions/explanations for each poem. These introductions help bring clarity into the poetry, which, in turn, makes it more enjoyable to read. Each poem is beautifully written, and filled with emotion.

          Spector uses pastels to create the beautiful and engaging illustrations in this book. Each picture captures a moment that is described in the poem. Some of the pictures take up the entire page, while other pictures are vignettes. The illustrations are amazingly life-like. Spector is able to depict hope, despair, sadness, and beauty flawlessly in his paintings.

          This book is appropriate for upper-elementary grade levels. Some of the poems are difficult to understand, but Gillooly provides explanations and definitions for difficult words. This book could be used for a research paper assignment. Each of these poems has a story behind it. It would be very interesting to have your students research a poem from this collection and write a paper based on what they found.

          This book has not won any awards, but Robert Browning is known as one of the greatest poets of the Victorian age.