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Rhyme and Reason

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Rhyme and Reason

By: Mark Forsyth
Narrated by: Simon Shepherd
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Summary
 Some people worry that they don't appreciate poetry; but English poetry wasn't written to be appreciated it was written to be enjoyed. For six centuries people have been reading poetry for enjoyment - for fun, for romance, for religion and for entertainment - and this is a book about those people.


What was it like to be sent a Tudor love sonnet? And how did you reply? What did people think of Wordsworth or Chaucer before they were put on pedestals? What was it like to read poetry back in the days when you didn't have to write an essay on it afterwards?

Rhyme and Reason takes you from a medieval accountant (called Chaucer) trying to entertain his lord, past a doomed love affair in the Tower of London, through adoring sonnets and notebooks filled with dirty poems, through Byromania and the Victorian hearth, understanding why people simply enjoyed poetry. From the poems of housemaids to the rhymes of kings it's the history of Britain through the poems that people read, recited and loved.©2025 Mark Forsyth (P)2025 W.F. Howes Ltd. Editors Select Europe European Great Britain Literary History & Criticism Words, Language & Grammar World Literature Writing & Publishing England Middle Ages Royalty
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What a great book. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s like a learned Jeremy Clarkson took us by the hand and led us through the hills and dales of English poetry. Thank you Mr Forsyth - you’ve got me back into reading, reciting and writing poetry.

Splendid

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