Poetry For Us Common Folk

Uncommon Poems, Common People By: T. D. Kruser Uncommon Poems, Common People is a compilation of poems written over the past 40 years. It combines the traditional poetic elements of turn of phrase and open and multiple interpretations for the reader while at the same time most of the poems are written in commonsense language that most people will be able to relate to and find easier to understand. What makes this book interesting is that it reflects the common experiences and emotions that most all of us go through and are able to relate with; additionally, its message is very relevant in that most everyone searches for both meaning and a sense of purpose in their lives, despite life's obstacles and pitfalls. What makes Uncommon Poems unique is that it offers to the reader the possibility that a path can be found, that life is not hopeless, and that with the proper growth and guidance, it is possible for all/anyone to come to a place of self-peace and contentment in their own lives. It is intended to be enriching, inspiring, and to instill within the reader a renewed sense of hope and purpose.

This treasury is a collection of lyric poems and some of my college poetry, which I have written and put together in this simple book. The lyric poems are "songs," which discuss all aspects of the American lifestyle. I have composed music for most of them even though all of it may not be written down. I start with ordinary social gatherings and expand into the joys and lulls of love and romance. I sing to the people of America and anyone else who will listen. I write about some different types of music that personify our culture. I try to give some cheer to the depressed and sing about growing up in Southern California. Sometimes it is just a song in passing about someone I have known or simply care about. This is my contribution to the American heritage. There is much more, and it would please me if you read on and learn about a softer side of life.

Working-class stories are not always tales of the underprivileged and dispossessed. Common People is a collection of essays, poems and memoir written in celebration, not apology: these are narratives rich in barbed humour, reflecting the depth and texture of working-class life, the joy and sorrow, the solidarity and the differences, the everyday wisdom and poetry of the woman at the bus stop, the waiter, the hairdresser. Here, Kit de Waal brings together thirty-three established and emerging writers who invite you to experience the world through their eyes, their voices loud and clear as they reclaim and redefine what it means to be working class. Features original pieces from Damian Barr, Malorie Blackman, Lisa Blower, Jill Dawson, Louise Doughty, Stuart Maconie, Chris McCrudden, Lisa McInerney, Paul McVeigh, Daljit Nagra, Dave O’Brien, Cathy Rentzenbrink, Anita Sethi, Tony Walsh, Alex Wheatle and more.

Contains over 575 of the most frequently requested poems in America, divided by subject and indexed by authors and first lines.

A cultural “biography” of Robert Frost’s beloved poem, arguably the most popular piece of literature written by an American “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood . . .” One hundred years after its first publication in August 1915, Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken” is so ubiquitous that it’s easy to forget that it is, in fact, a poem. Yet poetry it is, and Frost’s immortal lines remain unbelievably popular. And yet in spite of this devotion, almost everyone gets the poem hopelessly wrong. David Orr’s The Road Not Taken dives directly into the controversy, illuminating the poem’s enduring greatness while revealing its mystifying contradictions. Widely admired as the poetry columnist for The New York Times Book Review, Orr is the perfect guide for lay readers and experts alike. Orr offers a lively look at the poem’s cultural influence, its artistic complexity, and its historical journey from the margins of the First World War all the way to its canonical place today as a true masterpiece of American literature. “The Road Not Taken” seems straightforward: a nameless traveler is faced with a choice: two paths forward, with only one to walk. And everyone remembers the traveler taking “the one less traveled by, / And that has made all the difference.” But for a century readers and critics have fought bitterly over what the poem really says. Is it a paean to triumphant self-assertion, where an individual boldly chooses to live outside conformity? Or a biting commentary on human self-deception, where a person chooses between identical roads and yet later romanticizes the decision as life altering? What Orr artfully reveals is that the poem speaks to both of these impulses, and all the possibilities that lie between them. The poem gives us a portrait of choice without making a decision itself. And in this, “The Road Not Taken” is distinctively American, for the United States is the country of choice in all its ambiguous splendor. Published for the poem’s centennial—along with a new Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition of Frost’s poems, edited and introduced by Orr himself—The Road Not Taken is a treasure for all readers, a triumph of artistic exploration and cultural investigation that sings with its own unforgettably poetic voice.

First published in 1947, Poetry and the People presents a survey of English poetry from the earliest times till 1940s, viewed from an unusual angle. It is the author’s thesis that English Poetry is unpopular, in the sense that it is not loved by the people, because the sources of its inspiration, which were originally drawn from the soil, were diverted during the Renaissance into aristocratic and academic channels. Nevertheless, the emerging traditions, though driven underground, survived in the work of such men as Burns, Hogg and Clare and in folk song. This book is a must read for scholars and researchers of English poetry and English literature.

This book is a historical novel by the American classical scholar, Frank Frost Abbot. It deals with the lives of the Roman common people, their language and literature, their occupations and amusements, and with their social, political and economic conditions. We are interested in the common people of Rome because they made the Roman Empire what it was. They carried the Roman standards to the Euphrates and the Atlantic: they lived abroad as traders, farmer and soldiers to Romanize the provinces. Or they stayed at home, working in different professions to supply the needs of the capital.

The Oxford Handbook of American Folklore and Folklife Studies surveys the materials, approaches, concepts, and applications of the field to provide a sweeping guide to American folklore and folklife, culture, history, and society. Forty-three comprehensive and diverse chapters delve into significant themes and methods of folklore and folklife study; established expressions and activities; spheres and locations of folkloric action; and shared cultures and common identities. Beyond the longstanding arenas of academic focus developed throughout the 350-year legacy of folklore and folklife study, contributors at the forefront of the field also explore exciting new areas of attention that have emerged in the twenty-first century such as the Internet, bodylore, folklore of organizations and networks, sexual orientation, neurodiverse identities, and disability groups. Encompassing a wide range of cultural traditions in the United States, from bits of slang in private conversations to massive public demonstrations, ancient beliefs to contemporary viral memes, and a simple handshake greeting to group festivals, these chapters consider the meanings in oral, social, and material genres of dance, ritual, drama, play, speech, song, and story while drawing attention to tradition-centered communities such as the Amish and Hasidim, occupational groups and their workaday worlds, and children and other age groups. Weaving together such varied and manifest traditions, this handbook pays significant attention to the cultural diversity and changing national boundaries that have always been distinctive in the American experience, reflecting on the relative youth of the nation; global connections of customs brought by immigrants; mobility of residents and their relation to an indigenous, urbanized, and racialized population; and a varied landscape and settlement pattern. Edited by leading folklore scholar Simon J. Bronner, this handbook celebrates the extraordinary richness of the American social and cultural fabric, offering a valuable resource not only for scholars and students of American studies, but also for the global study of tradition, folk arts, and cultural practice.