Review of Poetry of Love and Life

[Jasy95]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Poetry of Love and Life" by Charles C. Oswalt.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Poetry of Love and Life by Charles C. Oswalt is a wholesome collection of poetry that is mainly composed of poems that were written as gifts to the author’s loved ones. Every year, the author wrote poems for his wife on Valentine’s Day, their anniversary, and her birthday. Additionally, he wrote an annual Christmas poem to be sent to his family and friends in each year’s Christmas card. This collection, divided into sections for Anniversary Poems, Birthday Poems, Valentine’s Day Poems, Christmas Poems, and Miscellaneous Poems, contains all of those annual poems as well as a few additional poems written for various occasions in the Miscellaneous Poems section. Although there are various styles of poems included throughout the collection, the majority of the poems are acrostic poems, with the first letter of each line combining to form a 14-character phrase relevant to the subject of the poem.

Reading through these poems made me smile. They were sweet and genuine, painting a clear picture of the author’s life with his wife, Carol. I was fully immersed in following the story of the many years of their marriage, and I was clearly able to see all of Carol’s qualities that the author loves about her. Even though there were so many poems written about her, I did not get bored with the subject matter, and the poems did not feel redundant. I was happily surprised that he found so many ways to describe her and their love, making each of the poems in the Valentine’s Day Poems, Anniversary Poems, and Birthday Poems sections feel unique. I really enjoyed reading through those three sections.

In the Christmas Poems section, several of the poems felt a bit repetitive. Since these poems were all regarding the same subject, it makes sense that they were similar, but I would have appreciated it if there were more personal stories strewn through the poetry instead of generic Christmas themes. Additionally, I wished that the words in the acrostics were different in each year’s poem. I noticed that a few, such as “Merry Christmas”, “Christmas For Us”, and “Christmas Cards”, were repeated in a couple of poems. This was my least favorite section due to the repetitive nature and the fact that the Christmas poems weren’t as personal to the author’s life and relationships as the poems in the other sections.

I loved reading the poems in the Miscellaneous Poems section. Each poem contained a footnote explaining who the poem was written for and what the occasion was. After so many thematically similar poems in the previous sections, it was wonderful to be able to read through this diverse section of poetry and be able to see a small snippet of the author’s relationships with the other loved ones in his life.

I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. The poetry was genuine, personal, and heartfelt, although there was a bit of redundancy in the Christmas section. I found a few grammatical errors in the book, but they were insignificant and did not diminish my enjoyment of the poetry collection. I would recommend this book to fans of poetry, especially acrostic poems, and those who want to read something uplifting that will brighten their day and make them think of love.

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Poetry of Love and Life
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[Gabriella1997]

Am in love with poetic stories always , beautiful review.

[Jasy95]

Am in love with poetic stories always , beautiful review.

Thank you!