Quote of the Day
Carcanet has always been the place to look for considerations of purely literary and intellectual merit. Its list relies on the vision and the faith and the energy of people who care about books, and values. It is thus as rare as it is invaluable.
Frederic Raphael
|
|
Book Search
Subscribe to our mailing list
|
|
Poems and MelodramasDonald Davie
Tragedian of an Italy unborn, He cudgelled himself for having prostituted The buskin to the tiara; that's to say, His play to the scrutiny of the Holy Father. Later he learned how much more tolerant an Unpolished pontiff was, than a godless State That asked a theatre for Everyman, The man first dulled, then frivolously diverted. Later again (we look beyond him now) The buskin throve by dirtying -- the tiara And then the Cross; which lives by seeing how Unwearyingly the Father's sons revile him. 'Alfieri', from 'Our Father'
Shortly before his death in 1995, Donald Davie sent his publisher the poem 'Our Father'. This ten-part meditation broke a poetic silence which had stretched from 1988, when with To Scorch or Freeze, the writer declared his work as a poet finished. He continued to write essays and to add from time to time to his verse 'Melodramas', with their roots in Landor and Leopardi.
It is clear that the Muse had not finished with Davie at all; a body of poems gathered sufficient for a remarkable book, extending the concerns of his late years -- concerns with 'the sacred', with England, and with our vexed age. In Poems and Melodramas his voice sounds with a humane insistence on clarity and definition, and the uneasy certainties of a faith hard-won.
Praise for Donald Davie
'From the publication of his debut collection of poems in 1955 until his passing in 1995, Donald Davie enjoyed a doubly excellent reputation as a critic and a poet... Sinéad Morrissey's Selected Poems gives an admirably rounded picture of his work and guides the reader through the editor's well-judged inclusions with a succinct introduction.'
N.S. Thompson, The TLS 'This is very unusual, essential and distinctive poetry of a kind we so often don't see. Davie had a well developed sense of his own outlook and it does come through in quite complex and multifaceted ways.' Clark Allison, Stride Magazine 'This is a sampler of one of the major poets of the last generation that has been assembled by leaning into the proclivities of one of the major poets of our own... if you have read none of Davie's poetry before, you have a small, perfectly formed, ever-expanding universe to explore.' Rory Waterman, The Friday Poem 'This is an accessible exploration of Davie's work. And it makes me want to read more, so this taster selection clearly works. It is an important reminder of the great writer he was, and how relevant he still is, nearly thirty years after his death. Morrissey's introduction is clear-eyed and intelligent, a perfect primer' James Nash, Everybody's Reviewing 'He has drawn a map of modernism, starting with Hardy and Pound, that remains one of the definitive outlines of twentieth-century experiment in form and language. The mapmaker, in this case,is a notable locus on the map.' Helen Vendler `These poems thrive on the restless energy that drives their author on from form to form and place to place. Few poets are more likely than Davie to persuade new readers that poetry can still be a matter of concern and pleasure.' Martin Dodsworth, The Guardian 'In his criticism, he has drawn a map of modernism, starting with Hardy and Pound, that remains one of the definitive outlines of twentieth-century experiment in form and language.' Helen Vendler |
Share this...
Quick Links
Carcanet Poetry
Carcanet Classics
Carcanet Fiction
Carcanet Film
Lives and Letters
PN Review
Video
Carcanet Celebrates 50 Years!
The Carcanet Blog
PN Review 279: Elegies by Lorna Goodison
read more
Conjurors: Julian Orde
read more
Citizen Poet: Eavan Boland
read more
Library Lives: Stella Halkyard
read more
Tablets: Dunya Mikhail
read more
PN Review 278: Set 5: Mondo de Sunbrilo Translated by John Gallas
read more
|
We thank the Arts Council England for their support and assistance in this interactive Project.
|
|
This website ©2000-2024 Carcanet Press Ltd
|