Seeing a posting for a new biography of Wilfred Owen reminded me to return to this anthology of his poems. Every war has produced great poets and WWI was fixed in our minds by the sensitive words of Siegfried Sassoon and especially Wilfred Owen. Writing from the trenches Owen managed to keep his eyes and mind and heart wide open while he witnessed the horrid plunder that surrounded him.. That he was able to transpose these experiences into the transcendentally beautiful poems that fill this book is a major wonder. Yes, WWII had WH Auden et al and the hungry monster machine of war was again made into words. And poets wrote of Korea, of Vietnam, and other countries' poets wrote of other wars. But again the threats and facts cloud our lives and world, and their words seemingly fall on deaf ears. Would that we could take heed of the poems of such perfection as those here by Wilfred Owen. This is the time to study this book........daily.

As a 13 year old boy I do not consider myself an expert on World War I poetry. Yet still I can tell that the poems of Wilfred Owen are a world apart from the likes of Rupert Brooke and other such optimists. For sure his portrayal of the war in such poems as 'Dulce et Decorum est' is more realistic than that of 'The Soldier' which talks of how as a soldier dies, he thinks of how glad he is glad that he has helped England, and how his heart is at peace under an English heaven. It seems to me that his superiors might have encouraged him to right pleasant poetry to please those back at the 'Home Front'. Yet Wilfred Owen's poetry also reflects his high level of education. Combining the skill and beauty of Brooke, with the harsh reality of such poems as 'The General' and 'To the Warmongers' to create a unique mastery of portraying the life of a first world war soldier.

War and poetry- two concepts infrequently mentioned, much less allied, in the same breath. Yet during World War I a number of writers took the horrific experiences of the Western Front and turned them into some of the twentieth century's finest, most disturbing poetry. Among these "war poets", Wilfred Owen is indisputably one of the greatest.

From the opening declaration " Above all, I am not concerned with Poetry... My subject is War, and the pity of War..." through the dreamlike madness of "Strange Meeting" to the elegiac fury of "Anthem for Doomed Youth", Owen hones the poetic craft he learned as a juvenile romantic versifier into a rapier on which he skewers the futility of the war, the blind official stupidity which kept it going, and the inhumanity shown by each side to its own men as well as the enemy.

Killed in action not long before the Armistice, Owen saw little publication of his work. However, his verse- carefully arranged, meticulously researched and documented by Cecil Day Lewis- is not only his epitaph. As relevant and affecting today as in 1918, it's as fine a counter-argument as any ever written against those who dismiss poetry as flowery nonsense. And for the rest of us? Few media can express the true nature and terrible costs of the First World War as eloquently as poetry at its finest can- and Owen provides it in plenty.

Aeneid is a uniquely presented, abridged translation and audio CD presentation of Virgil's timeless work of classical literature concerning a group of refugees from the ruined city of Troy, who seek a promised land yet are continually thwarted by the goddess Juno. The classic narrative saga poem is ably translated into English by C. Day Lewis and read with lyrical precision and dramatic grace by skilled actor Paul Scofield (additionally supported by the voices of Jill Balcon, Toby Stephens, Geraldine Fitzgerald, John McAndrew, and Stephen Thorne). Classical music enhances this grand work of great literature resulting in an emotional and highly recommended listening experience that endures the test of time.

Allen Mandelbaum has produced a fairly good translation of the Aeneid. If you are looking for a companion to the Latin, then look elsewhere, possibly to Jackson-Knight. I find that Mandelbaum handled the Comedia better than he did Virgil. Anyway, reading a translation without reading the original does the poem no justice at all.

This is another one of the books that I had to read for Fall quarter 2000. Like the rest of that group, "The Aeneid" was just extraordinary. My teacher's smart choice of the Mandelbaum translation was good to my pocket and to my mind, since it is accessible and clear. I actually prefer parts of the Fitzgerald version (especially the unusual beginning "I sing of warfare and a man at war..."), but I read the Mandelbaum because it was easier to follow the lectures using the same book everyone else had. Mandelbaum does a great job of translating meaning and feeling from Latin to English, and from the world of Virgil 2000 years ago to our world. The Glossary helps a lot, and the Introduction is instructive and very candid: not every day a major scholar tells us he had intentionally neglected a major work of literature simply based on the biased opinion of others. After reading "The Aeneid" I am convinced that Augustus did the right thing in ignoring Virgil's wishes, even if in his treatment of Ovid he was too harsh. This version of the poem should introduce a fascinating literary work to those who have never read it (like me before Fall 2000), and hopefully interest many readers in other works of Classical Literature. The destruction of Troy, Queen Dido and her tragic fate, the clash of cultures in Italy between the invading Trojans and the native Latins, the descent into the netherworld, the gods playing with humankind, the mythical foundation of Rome, the controversial progression of Aeneas from man to ruler to symbol who sacrifices part of his humanity in order to achieve the mission that has been determined for him, all this forms part of one of the greatest epic poems of all time. "The Aeneid" is war, and men, and a poet who believed that Rome, in spite of all her faults, was a prize worth saving and preserving. Augustus thought the same of Virgil's poem.

Mandelbaum's handsome translation of Virgil has become the standard edition used in Classical Literature courses in college. I can see why: his verse translation is competent and faithful to the original, and I found it inspired and vibrant, a translation which captures the rusticity and ruggedness of the Italian frontier, the belligerent natives dressed in wool caps and wolfskins; the rag-tag Trojans led by Aeneas resplendent in Vulcan's golden armor. It's such a delight for all the senses.

Inspired by Mandelbaum's translation, I have decided to read the Aeneid in the original Latin; I did the same with Catullus a few months ago, when I bought Daniel Garrison's wonderful text and commentary (The Student's Catullus). I also like to check around to find just the right text (Clyde Pharr's [Bolchazy-Carducci] is on the top of my list). The Loeb Classical Library's texts are always a safe choice.

This translation, affordable and accessible to everyone, is truly a gift. And anyone who at least considers himself/herself a poet must read this NOW!