Carol Ann Duffy has been a bold and original voice in British poetry since the publication of Standing Female Nude in 1985. Since then she has won every major poetry prize in the United Kingdom and sold more than one million copies of her books around the world. She was appointed Poet Laureate in 2009. Her first Collected Poems includes all of the poems from her nine acclaimed volumes of adult poetry—from Standing Female Nude to Ritual Lighting—as well as her much-loved Christmas poems, which celebrate aspects of Christmas: from the charity of King Wenceslas to the famous truce between the Allies and the Germans in the trenches in 1914. Endlessly varied, wonderfully inventive, and emotionally powerful, the poems in this book showcase Duffy's full poetic range: there are poems written in celebration and in protest; public poems and deeply personal ones; poems that are funny, sexy, heartbroken, wise. Taken together they affirm her belief that "poetry is the music of being human." Collected Poems is both the perfect single-volume introduction for new readers and a glorious opportunity for old friends to celebrate 30 years' work by one of the country's greatest literary talents

Carol Ann Duffy, appointed Poet Laureate in 2009, has chosen her favourite poems for children for this stunning collection of classic and modern verse, exquisitely illustrated by multi-award-winning illustrator Emily Gravett. Featuring such classic poems as 'The Owl and the Pussycat' by Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll's 'Jabberwocky' alongside Edwin Morgan's 'The Loch Ness Monster's Song' and 'Balloons' by Sylvia Plath, 101 Poems for Children Chosen by Carol Ann Duffy: A Laureate's Choice is a delight for children of all ages and a pleasure to read aloud.

Poems to make you smile! Critically acclaimed poet Roger McGough has drawn together a fantastic collection of upbeat poems to bring happiness into your day with this uplifting collection Happy Poems. Perfect for happy children or those needing a little cheer, Roger reminds us that happiness can be found all around us in the everyday, in family, in books in nature and, of course, in our pets! Includes gems from the very best classic and contemporary poets, such as John Agard, Adrian Henri, Brian Patten, Carol Ann Duffy, Joseph Coelho, William Wordsworth and William Blake.

In Poems to Live Your Life By, Chris Riddell, political cartoonist for the Observer, has selected his very favourite classic and modern poems about life, death and everything in between. This gorgeously illustrated collection includes forty-six poems and is divided into sections covering: musings, youth, family, love, imaginings, nature, war and endings. Chris Riddell brings them to life with his exquisite, intricate artwork in this beautiful anthology. This perfect gift features famous poems, old and new, and a few surprises. Classic verses from William Shakespeare, Lewis Carroll, W. B. Yeats and Christina Rossetti sit alongside poems from Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen, Carol Ann Duffy, Neil Gaiman and Roger McGough to create the ultimate collection.

In Poems to Fall in Love With Chris Riddell has selected and illustrated his very favourite classic and modern poems about love. This gorgeously illustrated collection, Chris's follow-up to one of the Bookseller's best poetry books of the last twenty-five years, Poems to Live Your Life By, celebrates love in all its guises, from silent admiration, passion and married bliss to tearful resignation. These poems speak of the universal experiences of the heart and are brought to life with Chris's exquisite, intricate artwork. This perfect gift features famous poems, old and new, and a few surprises. Classic verses sit alongside the modern to create the ultimate collection. Includes poems from Neil Gaiman, Nikita Gill, Carol Ann Duffy, E. E. Cummings, Shakespeare, Leonard Cohen, Derek Walcott, Hollie McNish, Kate Tempest, John Betjeman and Roger McGough and many more.

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY CAROL ANN DUFFY Anna Akhmatova is one of the most accomplished and well loved poets Russia has ever produced. Her moving and passionate writing has won her an ardent readership all over the world. This selection, beautifully translated by poet and novelist D.M. Thomas, illustrates her broad scope and brilliant imaginative gifts. It covers both her earlier work and the poems she produced during her persecution by the Russian authorities.

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY CAROL ANN DUFFY Anna Akhmatova is one of the most accomplished and well loved poets Russia has ever produced. Her moving and passionate writing has won her an ardent readership all over the world. This selection, beautifully translated by poet and novelist D.M. Thomas, illustrates her broad scope and brilliant imaginative gifts. It covers both her earlier work and the poems she produced during her persecution by the Russian authorities.

A Year of Scottish Poems is a glorious collection of 366 poems compiled by Gaby Morgan. Reflecting the changing seasons, landscape and history of Scotland and her people and marking key dates in the Scottish calendar - from Burns Night to Hogmanay - these poems are powerful, thoughtful and uplifting. With an introduction from the National Poet for Scotland, Makar Jackie Kay, this collection is bursting at the seams with the strongest voices in Scottish poetry including Robert Burns, Robert Louis Stevenson, George Mackay Brown, Sir Walter Scott, Liz Lochhead, Don Paterson, Nan Shepherd, Stewart Conn, Kathleen Jamie, Elma Mitchell, John Rice, Muriel Spark, Iain Crichton Smith, Julia Donaldson, Kate Clanchy, Carol Ann Duffy and many more to deliver magic on every page that lasts a whole year! Chosen by Gaby Morgan.

Robert Burns, the most celebrated of all Scottish poets, is remembered with great devotion - his birthday on 25th January provokes fervour and festivity among Scots and many others the world over. Born in 1759 into miserable rustic poverty, by the age of eighteen Burns had acquired a good knowledge of both classical and English literature. In June 1786 his first collection of verse, Poems Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, which included To a Mouse and The Cotter's Saturday Night, was greeted with huge acclaim by all classes of society. His later poems and ballads include Auld Lang Syne, the beautiful song My Love is like a Red Red Rose, Highland Mary, Scots Wha Hae and his masterpiece, Tam o'Shanter.

The centenary of Patrick Kavanagh's birth in 2004 provides the ideal opportunity to reappraise one of modern Ireland's greatest poets. From a harsh, humble background that he himself described so brilliantly, Kavanagh burst through immense constraints to redefine Irish poetry - a poetry appropriate for a fully independent country, both politically and culturally. Moving beyond Irish verse's preoccupation with history, national politics and identity, he turned to the land and scenery of his native Inniskeen, portraying the closely-observed minutiae of everyday rural and urban life in an uninhibited, groundbreaking style. Lucid, various, direct and engaging, Kavanagh's poems have a unique place in the canon and a unique accessibility. This major new edition is the culmination of many years of work by Antoinette Quinn in creating authoritative texts for Kavanagh's poetry - from his early works such as 'Inniskeen Road: July Evening' to his masterpiece, the epic 'The Great Hunger', allowing us to see the development of Kavanagh's genius as never before.

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: an extraordinary autobiographical poem looking back at his time at Cambridge, with its dinners, girls and memories, it is suffused with rich description, wit and verbal dexterity. Included too are the surreally comic 'A Literary Dinner', the enchanting, 'Eve', the wryly humorous 'An Evening of Russian Poetry' and a meditation on the act of creation, 'Tolstoy', as well as verse written on America, lepidoptery, sport, love and Nabokov's Russian homeland.

A Poem For Every Day of the Year is a magnificent collection of 366 poems compiled by Allie Esiri, one to share on every day of the year. Reflecting the changing seasons and linking to events on key dates - funny for April Fool's Day, festive for Christmas - these poems are thoughtful, inspiring, humbling, informative, quiet, loud, small, epic, peaceful, energetic, upbeat, motivating, and empowering! Perfect for reading aloud and sharing with all the family, it is bursting at the seams with familiar favourites and exciting new discoveries. T.S.Eliot, John Betjeman, Lewis Carroll, William Shakespeare and Christina Rossetti sit alongside Seamus Heaney, Ted Hughes, Carol Ann Duffy, and Kae Tempest. This warm and soulful book is the perfect gift that will last the whole year, with a little bit of magic to read every day.

Everything you need to revise for GCSE 9-1 power and conflict Need extra help with the Power & Conflict AQA GCSE Grade 9-1 Poetry Anthology ahead of the exam? Revise tricky topics in a snap with this handy new Snap Revision guide from Collins. All 15 Power & Conflict poems, like The Prelude by William Wordsworth or War Photographer by Carol Ann Duffy, are included along with a detailed analysis. Revise and review your understanding of the poems, themes, context, poetic voice and structure with easy-to-read sections on key quotations, additional context, sample analysis and quick tests. We also show you how to come up with ideas and structure a comparison of two poems. With loads of top tips throughout, plus assessment objectives, Grade 5 and Grade 7 annotated answers and exam-style practice questions, this guide has everything you need to score top marks on your AQA GCSE Grade 9-1 English Literature exam.

Exam Board: AQA Level: GCSE Grade 9-1 Subject: English Literature Suitable for the 2022 exams Everything you need to revise for GCSE 9-1 love and relationships Need extra help with the Love & Relationships AQA GCSE Grade 9-1 Poetry Anthology ahead of the exam? Revise tricky topics in a snap with this handy new Snap Revision guide from Collins. All 15 Love & Relationships poems, like When We Two Were Parted by Lord Byron or Before You Were Mine by Carol Ann Duffy, are included along with a detailed analysis. Revise and review your understanding of the poems, themes, context, poetic voice and structure with easy-to-read sections on key quotations, additional context, sample analysis and quick tests. We also show you how to come up with ideas and structure a comparison of two poems. With loads of top tips throughout, plus assessment objectives, Grade 5 and Grade 7 annotated answers and exam-style practice questions, this guide has everything you need to score top marks on your AQA GCSE Grade 9-1 English Literature exam.

As well as being one of the major literary figures of the twentieth century, William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) is the greatest lyric poet that Ireland has produced. He was the acknowledged leader of the Irish Literary Renaissance, and he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923. His early lyrical poetry includes 'When You are Old', 'The Cloths of Heaven' and 'The Lake Isle of Innisfree' but, unusually for a poet, Yeats's later work surpasses the poems of his youth. This volume contains all the poems from the 1933 edition of Collected Poems, the last anthology to be published in the poet's lifetime.

The premature death of Sydney Goodsir Smith at the age of fifty-nine, while this volume of his Collected Poems was in production, deprived the world of one of the major personalities in twentieth-century British literature. The poems included in this volume, mostly written in Scots dialect – from ‘Skail Wind’, first published in 1941, to the moving poems of his maturity and the gentle, philosophical poems of his later years – show us the journey of a man who understood the world only too well.