Penguin Classics: Crabbe: Selected Poems

'The Water only, when the Tides were high, When low, the Mud half-covered and half-dry; The Sun-burnt Tar that blisters on the Planks, And Bank-side Stakes in their uneven ranks'

Rooted in the Suffolk landscape of his youth, the poetry of George Crabbe is some of the most distinctive and original of the early nineteenth century, exploring ordinary, often harsh working lives in realistic, subtle language. This selection contains the best of Crabbe's poetry from throughout his career, including 'Peter Grimes' from The Borough, the powerful 'Sir Eustace Grey', the complete Tales of 1812 and the remarkable late work 'The Family of Love'. Depicting people struggling against the undertow of the past and against their own frailties, these are works of great generosity and human sympathy.