Cautionary Verses

This outstandingly entertaining collection contains the complete cautionary verses, all of the original illustrations by 'B.T.B.' and new pictures by Quentin Blake, who also provides an illuminating introduction. Belloc's verses have an exhilarating ingenuity of rhythm and rhyme, counterpointed by ruthless social observation and a torrent of ludicrously garish images: note Jim's severed head when Ponto has finished with him, or Rebecca flattened by a bust of Abraham. As Blake points out, the poet revels in the 'wickedness' of his subjects as well as in the gruesome fates which he inflicts on them. Almost 100 years after the first publication of some of this material, this complex mixture retains its power to startle and delight.