An edition of The Oxford book of the sea (1992)

The Oxford book of the sea

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Last edited by MARC Bot
April 1, 2025 | History
An edition of The Oxford book of the sea (1992)

The Oxford book of the sea

  • 2 Want to read

It is no surprise that one of the earliest works in English literature should be a poem about the sea: the sea has been a source of fascination from the earliest times, and the Anglo-Saxon poem 'The Seafarer' is only the first in a long series of writings which ponder its mystery. A powerful and restless presence in real life, the sea is one of the most ubiquitous and protean symbols in literature, changing in response to shifts in sensibility, and holding a mirror to all who confront it--Renaissance explorers and Augustan gentlemen, Romantic outcasts and Victorian travellers, packet tourists and small-boat sailors, naturalists and novelists, poets and oceanographers: men and women in a state of wonder before the sea.

Jonathan Raban brings a special awareness and knowledge to his role as editor; in the words of Colin Thubron, 'nobody of his generation writes more subtly or imaginatively on travel'. Raban's introduction constitutes an important essay on the meaning of the sea in literature, and the pieces he has chosen display the exhilarating richness of writing in the tradition. Alongside extracts from the acknowledged marine masterpieces are many unexpected delights: Emily Dickinson's affirmative poem 'Exaltation is the Going'; a meditation on a seaside holiday by Larkin; Jane Austen's tart satirizing of Byron's Romanticized sea; Thoreau's contemplation of monsters and lost anchors off Cape Cod; Willard Bascom's brilliantly observed description of breaking waves. As richly varied and enthralling as the sea itself, this sparkling collection spans the centuries from AD 900 to 1990 and forms a unique and important body of writing to delight in and admire.

Publish Date
Language
English
Pages
524

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Previews available in: English

Edition Availability
Cover of: The Oxford book of the sea
The Oxford book of the sea
1992, Oxford University Press
in English

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Book Details


Edition Notes

Published in
Oxford [England], New York

Classifications

Dewey Decimal Class
820/.8/032162
Library of Congress
PR1111.O24 O97 1992, PR1111.O24O97 1992

The Physical Object

Pagination
xviii, 524 p. ;
Number of pages
524

Edition Identifiers

Open Library
OL1546626M
Internet Archive
oxfordbookofsea00jona
ISBN 10
019214197X
LCCN
91025929
OCLC/WorldCat
24142302
Library Thing
323140
Goodreads
997832

Work Identifiers

Work ID
OL17643471W

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April 1, 2025 Edited by MARC Bot import existing book
January 17, 2023 Edited by ImportBot import existing book
November 13, 2020 Edited by MARC Bot import existing book
April 27, 2017 Created by ImportBot import new book