Songs for the Open Road: Poems of Travel and Adventure (Dover Thrift Editions: Poetry)

Great collection of a lot of my favorites.

Nothing

A lovely, inexpensive collection of poems, perfect to inspire the entire gamut of emotions traveling engenders, from wanderlust to homesickness. If you want to travel or to go home, to go by air or by sea or by foot, you will have no trouble finding the right poem for you, with a variety of poets and styles to choose from.Although it's also a strength, I found the selection of poems could have been trimmed, or at least better arranged. Too often, the next poem would be a little too similar and thus hurt by comparison. Nevertheless, this is a must-have poetry collection for anyone longing to hit the road, with enough to please anybody.Some of my personal favorites:"what is" by E. E. Cummings -- its syntax is as jarring as a ship at sea. And that's what makes it marvelous. You must read this one aloud."Death of an Old Seaman" by Langston Hughes -- A quiet, touching ode to a human but seabound soul."Recuerdo" by Edna St. Vincent Millay -- a backpacking couple's anthem. Guaranteed to inspire envy.I will definitely be revisiting this collection from time to time.

This is a stunning little book -- as thin as it is and at a price that's practically free, it's got to pack as much value in it per gram as any book that Amazon sells. I must have at least half a dozen collections of favorite poems, but this one is the cream that rose to the top -- 80 immortal poems on the theme of travel organized into three sections: "Songs For the Open Road," "Sea, Rail, and Sky," and "Home, Rest and Final Voyages." The editors must have experienced a prolonged and awful agony deciding what to leave in and what to leave out, but it was worth it. Most poems are from the 19th and 20th centuries from poets like Langston Hughes, Walt Whitman, Tennyson, E.E. Cummings, William Blake, Emily Dickinson, Carl Sandburg, T.S. Eliot, Robert Frost, and many, many more. Leafing through it, I was surprised at how many poems I knew from my past and how so many had become part of my life. For a traveler who loves poetry, you couldn't possibly pick a better going-away gift, and so small no matter how tightly packed they are, they'll still have room for "Songs of the Open Road." I bought a copy for my adult daughter who is setting out on a solo three-month ramble from Lisbon to the Black Sea. And now I've bought another copy for myself as I set out on another 10,000 mile road trip. I won't read this book at a single sitting, but rather I'll read one or two an evening to inform the following days wandering.

This is a really great value to me. I can read one poem a day. They are largely about travel and the open road. Some of the poems are not exactly what I had in mind. As an example there is a poem from the Bible that sort of fits. There is a poem from E. E. Cummings, "what is", that is not "my cup of tea".On the other side there is an Interesting poem by Constantine Cavafy. I had never heard of him. I really like to learn about iconic writers of whom I had heretofore never heard. Learning of Constantine Cavafy was worth the .99 I paid for my Kindle edition. I enjoyed his poem, Ithaca.There is another poem by John Keats, "On First Looking Into Chapman's Homer", is a classic that much has been written about,Then there are poems by the poets of whom I have heard. Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Robert Louis Stevenson, Lord Byron... I really enjoy these poems.Additionally, poems about travel and the open road tend not to be morose. Personally, I need the positive tone. In summary, I really enjoy this collection. Thank You...

Very readable and popular with my family.

This book was the selection for last month's book club, and while I'm not much of a poetry buff, I found myself not just reading all these poems, but re-reading many of them because they were so thought provoking. A month later I am still picking up this small book and just reading one or two poems with a cup of tea in an effort to slow down.Our book club members each read one of the poems aloud at the meeting, and then spoke to why they choose it as their favorite. This provoked a lot of discussion, and the idea of reading more poetry, instead of a biography or the usual novel, was unanimously agreed to. I highly recommend this wonderful compilation of some of the best poetry ever written.

There couldn't be a better name for this book of poetry than Songs for the Open Road. When I read this, all I could think about is expansive plains, rolled down car windows and hiking to majestic lookouts. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty played in my mind as well. I shared Walt Whitman's "On Journeys Through the States" with my online travel group. It got a bunch of likes! I only wish I had this book paperback so I can share it with friends easier.

Excellent condition

Disappointing content