30 review for The Collected Poetry of Robert E. Howard

1. 

   4 out of 5

   David West – Sep 20, 2010

   Friday, June 11, 2010 Collected Poetry of Robert E. Howard Realized it is 74 years today since my favorite author passed away. I have not yet finished this magnificent tome, but I am greatly enjoying it. Over 700 pages, this is a vast collection of visceral moving poetry. Divided into the sections of Heroic Verse, War Poems, Wizardry and Satanism, Horror Poems, Exoticsm and Nature, Personal, Historical, Dialect and Doggerel, and finally Prose Poems, this collection shows such utter strength and i Friday, June 11, 2010 Collected Poetry of Robert E. Howard Realized it is 74 years today since my favorite author passed away. I have not yet finished this magnificent tome, but I am greatly enjoying it. Over 700 pages, this is a vast collection of visceral moving poetry. Divided into the sections of Heroic Verse, War Poems, Wizardry and Satanism, Horror Poems, Exoticsm and Nature, Personal, Historical, Dialect and Doggerel, and finally Prose Poems, this collection shows such utter strength and indomitable will of spirit that REH deserves to be held up alongside any other Classic American poet. The rhyme and timbre hold the cadence of thunder and drums. Decayed kingdoms swim in melancholy ruin as mad minstrels pluck at the heart, Heroes rise and fall, shadows and dreams proliferate and merge. This is a collection that I will be able to sit beside the firelight and enjoy all my days. And now some favorite fragments, gleaned. Kings of the Night~ The Caesar lolled on his ivory throne- His iron legions came To break a king in a land unknown And a race without a name. The Phoenix on the Sword What do I know of cultured ways, the gilt, the craft and the lie? I, who was born in a naked land and bred in the open sky. The subtle tongue, the sophist guile, they fail when the broadsword sing; Rush in and die dogs- I was a man before I was a king. Old Rime One fled, one dead, one sleeping in a golden bed. An Open Window Behind the Veil what gulfs of Time and Space? What blinking mowing Shapes to blast the sight? I shrink before a vague colossal Face Born in the mad immensities of Night. The Fearsome Touch of Death As long as midnight cloaks the earth With shadows grim and stark God save us from the Judas kiss Of a dead man in the dark. The Black Stone They say foul beings of Old Times still lurk In dark forgotten corners of the world, And Gates still gape to loose, on certain nights, Shapes pent in Hell. Mystic There is a strange and mystic land East of the rising sun. A dim sea breaks on a coral strand, Stars lie spread on the silver sand And sapphire rivers run- There is a mystic land East of the sun. The Hour of the Dragon The Lion banner sways and falls in the horror haunted gloom; A scarlet Dragon rustles by, borne on winds of doom. In heaps the shining horsemen lie, where thrusting lances break, And deep in the haunted mountains the lost, black gods awake. Dead hands grope in the shadows, the stars turn pale with fright, For this is the Dragon's Hour, the triumph of Fear and Night. Such pieces fire my imagination more than near any other writer I have ever come across, and so today I salute him and drink a toast in remembrance. "All fled, all done, so lift me on the pyre; The feast is over and the lamps expire." may be the last words Robert E. Howard ever wrote but I would argue that through his writings while the feast may be over, the lamps will never expire.

2. 

   4 out of 5

   Elisa Camillacci – Feb 06, 2015

   Robert E. Howard è troppo sottovalutato, la cosa mi fa imbestialire. Era un uomo turbato, la storia ci insegna, questo traspare molto anche nelle sue poesie. Lo conoscono tutti solo per Conan il Barbaro, che tra l'altro nel novero delle creature howardiane è una delle meno riuscite, secondo me. Insomma, Solomon Kane tutta la vita! [Senza trascurare l'attività poetica, ovviamente.] Robert E. Howard è troppo sottovalutato, la cosa mi fa imbestialire. Era un uomo turbato, la storia ci insegna, questo traspare molto anche nelle sue poesie. Lo conoscono tutti solo per Conan il Barbaro, che tra l'altro nel novero delle creature howardiane è una delle meno riuscite, secondo me. Insomma, Solomon Kane tutta la vita! [Senza trascurare l'attività poetica, ovviamente.]

3. 

   4 out of 5

   Dave –

4. 

   5 out of 5

   Kent Martin –

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   5 out of 5

   Michael –

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   4 out of 5

   Sandy –

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   4 out of 5

   Daniel Brannan –

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   5 out of 5

   Ron –

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   5 out of 5

   Lehah –

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    5 out of 5

    Leo Grin –

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    5 out of 5

    J. –

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    4 out of 5

    Hugo Stare –

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    4 out of 5

    David –

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    4 out of 5

    Mark –

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    4 out of 5

    Everly Reynolds –

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    4 out of 5

    Jimmy Krimmer –

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    4 out of 5

    Tj –

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    5 out of 5

    Vin Marr –

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    5 out of 5

    Jerriann –

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    4 out of 5

    Paul Reid –

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    5 out of 5

    Eric –

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    5 out of 5

    John –

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    4 out of 5

    Poetry Train –

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    4 out of 5

    John Held –

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    5 out of 5

    Edward Motter-vlahakos –

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    5 out of 5

    Sidhe –

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    4 out of 5

    George Hiegel –

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    5 out of 5

    Josh Brown –

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    5 out of 5

    Altichiero –

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    4 out of 5

    Ben Thompson –