A New Treasury of Poetry

This elegant, 256-page collection of English poetry celebrates rich traditions in poetic forms--from early robust ballads and folk verse to breathtaking gems from such moderns as Yeats and Dickinson. It would be difficult to imagine a volume that better reflects the best of the ``central heritage'' of English verse. Prefacing each of the book's eight sections, Lawrence's striking black-and-white woodcuts form a carefully composed pastiche of the smaller prints that appear within: intricately carved borders, rosettes, forest scenes, beasts and animals fit together like puzzle pieces, then separately adorn each page. The poems included are not written ``for children,'' but whether the topic is Ted Hughes's ``The Thought-Fox,'' Seamus Heaney's ``Saint Francis and the Birds'' or the traditional ``This is the Key of the Kingdom,'' readers young and old will find treasures in this book to last a lifetime. All ages. (Sept.)