by Laura Barber
An unarmorial age, a trough
Of smoke in slow suspended skeins
Above their scrap of history,
Only an attitude remains:
Time has transfigured them into
Untruth. The stone fidelity
They hardly meant has come to be
Their final blazon, and to prove
Our almost-instinct almost true:
What will survive of us is love.
EDWIN MORGAN
Message Clear
Acknowledgements
I am very grateful to the following for conversations and correspondence about poetry, as well as for suggestions, support and wise advice: Ellah Allfrey, Rosamund Bartlett, Mariateresa Boffo, Diane Bourke, Stephen Brown, William Fiennes, Adam Freudenheim, Elizabeth Iveson, Kevin Jackson, Philip Gwyn Jones, Paul Keegan, Florence Knapp, Hilary Laurie, Arvind Krishna Mehrotra, Pankaj Mishra, Parashkev Nachev, Adriana Natcheva, Ron Pretty, Christopher Ricks, Michal Shavit, and most especially Olivia McCannon.
I dedicate this volume to my parents, John and Susan Barber, who encouraged in me a love of poetry from ‘Pat-a-cake pat-a-cake’ onwards.
LB
The editor and publishers gratefully acknowledge permission to reprint copyright material in this book as follows:
CHINUA ACHEBE: ‘Generation Gap’ from Collected Poems. By permission of David Higham Associates.
FLEUR ADCOCK: ‘For a Five-year-old’ and ‘Against Coupling’ from Poems 1960-2000 (Bloodaxe Books, 2000). Reprinted by permission of the publisher.
KIM ADDONIZIO: ‘For Desire’ from Tell Me. Copyright © 2000 by Kim Addonizio. Reprinted with the permission of BOA Editions Ltd, www.boaeditions.org
PATIENCE AGBABI: ‘North(west)ern’ was commissioned by BBC Radio 4 for National Poetry Day 2000 and broadcast in The Windrose and first published in Here to Eternity: An Anthology of Poetry, edited by Andrew Motion (Faber and Faber, 2000). ‘Accidentally Falling’ from R.A.W. by Patience Agbabi (Gecko Press, 1995). Reproduced by kind permission of the author.
JULIA ALVAREZ: ‘Last Trees’ copyright © 1998 by Julia Alvarez. From Seven Trees published by Kat Ran Press. Reprinted by permission of Susan Bergholz Literary Services, New York. All rights reserved.
W. H. AUDEN: ‘Funeral Blues’ from The English Auden, edited by Edward Mendelson (Faber and Faber, 2001) by permission of the publisher.
JOHN BETJEMAN: ‘The Subaltern’s Love-song’ from Collected Poems. Reproduced by permission of John Murray (Publishers).
EDMUND BLUNDEN: ‘The Midnight Skaters’ first appeared in English Poems by Edmund Blunden (Copyright © Estate of Claire Blunden 1925) and is reproduced by permission of PFD (www.pfd.co.uk) on behalf of the Estate of Claire Blunden.
VINCENT BUCKLEY: ‘Stroke: VII from Arcady and Other Places (Melbourne University Press, 1996). By kind permission of the Estate of Vincent Buckley.
CARMEN BUGAN: ‘A house of stone’ from Crossing the Carpathians (2004) by permission of Carcanet Press Limited.
PEGGY CARR: ‘Flight of the Firstborn’ from Fresh Tracks in an Ancient Land, privately published, 1996.
RAYMOND CARVER: ‘Late Fragment’ from A New Path to the Waterfall reprinted by permission of International Creative Management, Inc. Copyright © 1989 by Raymond Carver.
CHARLES CAUSLEY: ‘Eden Rock’ from Collected Poems 1951-2000, published by Picador. By permission of David Higham Associates.
DILIP CHITRE: ‘Father Returning Home’ from Travelling in a Cage (1980), published by Clearing House, by kind permission of the author.
DAVID CONSTANTINE: ‘As our bloods separate’ and ‘Don’t jump off the roof, Dad…’ from Collected Poems (Bloodaxe Books, 2004). Reprinted by permission of the publisher.
FRANCES CORNFORD: ‘Childhood’ from Selected Poems (Enitharmon Press, 1996) reprinted by permission of the Estate of Frances Cornford and the publishers as its representative.
ROBERT CRAWFORD: ‘Home’ from Scottish Assembly by Robert Crawford, published by Chatto & Windus, 1990. Reprinted by permission of The Random House Group Limited.
E. E. CUMMINGS: ‘from spiralling ecstatically this’ and ‘i like my body when it is with your’ from Complete Poems 1904-1962, edited by George J. Firmage, by permission of Faber and Faber and W. W. Norton & Company. Copyright © 1991 by the Trustees for the E. E. Cummings Trust and George James Firmage.
ELIZABETH DARYUSH: ‘Still-life’ from Collected Poems, edited by Donald Davie (1976), by permission of Carcanet Press Limited.
W. H. DAVIES: ‘Leisure’ from Complete Poems (Jonathan Cape, 1963). Reproduced by kind permission of Dee and Griffin.
DICK DAVIS: ‘Uxor Vivamus…’ is taken from Devices and Desires: New and Selected Poems 1967–1987 by Dick Davis. Published by Anvil Press Poetry in 1989. By permission of the publisher.
C. DAY LEWIS: ‘Walking Away’ from Collected Poems of C. Day Lewis (Copyright © The Estate of C. Day Lewis 1992) is reprinted by permission of PFD (www.pfd.co.uk) on behalf of the Estate of C. Day Lewis.
WALTER DE LA MARE: ‘The Birthnight’ from Selected Poems (Faber and Faber, 1973), reprinted by permission of the Literary Trustees of Walter de la Mare, and the Society of Authors as their representative.
EMILY DICKINSON: ‘Wild Nights – Wild Nights!’, ‘Because I could not stop for Death –’ and ‘After great pain, a formal feeling comes –’ reprinted by permission of the publishers and the Trustees of Amherst College from The Poems of Emily Dickinson, Thomas H. Johnson, ed., Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Copyright © 1951, 1955, 1979, 1983 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College.
MAURA DOOLEY: ‘Freight’ from Sound Barrier: Poems 1982-2002 (Bloodaxe Books, 2002). Reprinted by permission of the publisher.
CAROL ANN DUFFY: ‘In Mrs Tilscher’s Class’ from The Other Country (Anvil Press Poetry, 1990) by permission of the publisher. Copyright © Carol Ann Duffy; ‘Mrs Sisyphus’ from The World’s Wife (Picador, 2000) and ‘White Writing’ from Feminine Gospels (Picador, 2003) by kind permission of the author c/o Rogers, Coleridge & White Ltd, 20 Powis Mews, London W11 1JN.
SASHA DUGDALE: ‘First Love’ from Notebook (2003) by permission of Carcanet Press Limited.
DOUGLAS DUNN: ‘Kaleidoscope’ from Elegies (Faber and Faber, 2001) and ‘Modern Love’ from New Selected Poems (Faber and Faber, 2003) by permission of the publisher.
T. S. ELIOT: ‘The Love-Song of J. Alfred Prufrock’ from Collected Poems and Plays (Faber and Faber, 2004) by permission of the publisher.
ALISON FELL: ‘Pushing forty’ first published in Kisses for Mayakovsky by Alison Fell (Virago Press, 1984) and reprinted by kind permission of Peake Associates, www.tonypeake.com
ROBERT FROST: ‘The Road Not Taken’ from The Poetry of Robert Frost, ed. Edward Connery Lathem, published by Jonathan Cape and reprinted by permission of The Random House Group Ltd. And copyright 1969 by Henry Holt and Company and reprinted by permission of Henry Holt and Company, LLC.
ROBERT GRAVES: ‘Warning to Children’ and ‘Love Without Hope’ from Complete Poems in One Volume, edited by Patrick Quinn (2000), by permission of Carcanet Press.
KIRSTY GUNN: ‘Mataatua’ from 44 Things: A Year of Writing Life at Home (Atlantic Books, 2007) by kind permission of the author c/o Rogers, Coleridge & White Ltd, 20 Powis Mews, London wn ijn.
THOM GUNN: ‘The Hug’ and ‘The Reassurance’ from Collected Poems (Faber and Faber, 1994) by permission of the publisher.
IVOR GURNEY: ‘To His Love’ from Collected Poems edited by P. J. Kavanagh (2004), by permission of Carcanet Press Limited.
GWEN HARWOOD: ‘Father and Child: I Barn Owl’ from Poems, 1969-1974 and ‘In the Park’ from Poems, 1963 reprinted in Collected Poems, 1943-1995, ed. Alison Hoddinott and Gregory Kratzmann. By permission of Penguin Books Australia Ltd.
ROBERT HAYDEN: ‘Those Winter Sundays’ copyright © 1966 by Robert Hayden, from Collected Poems of Robert Hayden by Robert Hayden, edited by Frederick Glaysher. Used
by permission of Liveright Publishing Corporation.
SEAMUS HEANEY: ‘The Railway Children’ from Station Island (Faber and Faber, 2001) and ‘Skunk’ from Field Work (Faber and Faber, 2001) by permission of the publisher.
TED HUGHES: ‘Full Moon and Little Frieda’ from Collected Poems (Faber and Faber, 2005) by permission of the publisher.
ELIZABETH JENNINGS: ‘One Flesh’ from Collected Poems published by Carcanet. By permission of David Higham Associates.
LINTON KWESI JOHNSON: ‘More Time’ from Selected Poems published by Penguin, © Linton Kwesi Johnson, reproduced by kind permission of LKJ Music Publishers Ltd.
JENNY JOSEPH: ‘Warning’ copyright © Jenny Joseph, Selected Poems (Bloodaxe, 1992) reprinted by permission of Johnson & Aldcock Ltd.
JAMES JOYCE: ‘On the Beach at Fontana’ from Poems and Shorter Writings (Faber and Faber, 2001), with the permission of the Estate of James Joyce.
NICK LAIRD: ‘To The Wife’ from To a Fault (Faber and Faber, 2005) by permission of the publisher.
PHILIP LARKIN: ‘This Be The Verse’, ‘The Old Fools’, ‘An Arundel Tomb’ from Collected Poems (Faber and Faber, 2003), by permission of the publisher. ‘Toads’ is reprinted from The Less Deceived by permission of The Marvell Press, England and Australia.
LOUIS MACNEICE: ‘Apple Blossom’, ‘Meeting Point’, and ‘The Sunlight on the Garden’ taken from Collected Poems published by Faber. By permission of David Higham Associates.
DEREK MAHON: ‘Jardin du Luxembourg (After Rilke)’ from Adaptations (2006), reprinted by kind permission of the author and The Gallery Press, Loughcrew, Oldcastle, County Meath, Ireland.
OLIVIA MCCANNON: ‘Probability’ was first published in the Oxford Magazine and is reproduced by kind permission of the author.
W. S. MERWIN: ‘Just This’ Copyright © 2005, W. S. Merwin. Reproduced by permission of The Wylie Agency (UK) Ltd. All rights reserved.
EDNA ST VINCENT MILLAY: ‘Dirge Without Music’ and ‘Time does not bring relief; you all have lied’ from Collected Poems (HarperCollins). Copyright 1923, 1928, 1951, 1955 by Edna St Vincent Millay and Norma May Ellis. All rights reserved.
SPIKE MILLIGAN: ‘My Sister Laura’ from Silly Verse for Kids (Puffin, 1992) copyright © Spike Milligan Productions Limited, 1959, 1961, 1963, 1968. Reproduced by kind permission of Spike Milligan Productions Limited.
A. A. MILNE: ‘The End’ from Now We Are Six by A. A. Milne © The Trustees of the Pooh Properties. Published by Egmont UK Ltd, London, and used with permission.
ADRIAN MITCHELL: ‘A Puppy Called Puberty’ from Blue Coffee: Poems 1985-1996 (Bloodaxe, 1996) and ‘This Be the Worst’ from All Shook Up: Poems 1997-2000 (Bloodaxe, 2000). Reproduced by permission of PFD (www.pfd.co.uk) on behalf of the author. Adrian Mitchell asks that none of his poems be used in connection with any exams whatsoever.
DOM MORAES: ‘Future Plans’ from Serendip (2004) reproduced by kind permission of The Estate of Dom Moraes.
EDWIN MORGAN: ‘Message Clear’ from Concrete Poems (1963-1969) in New Selected Poems (2000) by permission of Carcanet Press Limited.
EDWIN MUIR: ‘Childhood’ and ‘The Confirmation’ from Collected Poems (Faber and Faber, 2003) by permission of the publishers.
TOGARA MUZANENHAMO: ‘Smoke’ from Spirit Brides (2006) by permission of Carcanet Press Limited.
OGDEN NASH: ‘Reflections on Ice-Breaking’ from Candy is Dandy: The Best of Ogden Nash, selected by Linell Smith and Isabel Eberstadt, with an introduction by Anthony Burgess (André Deutsch, 1994). Reproduced by permission of the publisher.
GRACE NICHOLS: ‘Like a Beacon’ copyright © Grace Nichols 1984, extracted from The Fat Black Woman’s Poems published by Virago Press.
ALDEN NOWLAN: ‘This is What I Wanted to Sign Off With’ from Between Tears and Laughter (Bloodaxe Books, 2004). Reprinted by permission of the publisher and House of Anansi Press, Canada.
BEN OKRI: ‘I Held You in the Square’ from African Elegy (Picador, 1992) reproduced by permission of The Marsh Agency.
MICHAEL ONDAATJE: ‘The Strange Case’ from There’s a Trick with a Knife I’m Learning to Do: Poems 1963-1978 Copyright © 1979 by Michael Ondaatje. Reprinted by permission of Ellen Levine Literary Agency/Trident Media Group.
WILFRED OWEN: ‘Futility’ and ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ from The Complete Poems and Fragments, edited by Jon Stallworthy (Chatto & Windus, 1983).
SYLVIA PLATH: ‘Morning Song’ and ‘You’re’ from Collected Poems (Faber and Faber, 2002) by permission of the publisher.
EZRA POUND: ‘The Bath Tub’ and ‘Epitaphs’ from Personae, copyright © 1926 by Ezra Pound, and reprinted in Selected Poems, 1908-1969) (Faber and Faber, 2004). Reprinted by permission of New Directions Publishing Corp. and by Faber and Faber Ltd.
A. K. RAMANUJAN: ‘Self-Portrait’ from The Striders: Poems (1966), reproduced by permission of Oxford University Press India, New Delhi.
ROBIN ROBERTSON: ‘New Gravity’ from A Painted Field published by Pan Macmillan. Copyright © Robin Robertson, 1997. Reprinted by permission of the publishers.
THEODORE ROETHKE:‘Dolor’copyright 1943 by Modern Poetry Association, Inc., from Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke by permission of Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc., and Faber and Faber Ltd.
CAROLE SATYAMURTI: ‘Day Trip’ from Stitching in the Dark: New & Selected Poems (Bloodaxe Books, 2005). Reprinted by permission of the publisher.
CHARLES SIMIC: ‘Crazy about Her Shrimp’ from A Wedding in Hell: Poems copyright © 1994 by Charles Simic, and ‘Grayheaded Schoolchildren’ from The Voice at 3:00 AM, copyright © 2003 by Charles Simic, reprinted by permission of Harcourt Inc. Also in Selected Poems 1963-2003 (Faber and Faber, 2004) and reprinted by permission of the publisher.
LEMN SISSAY: ‘Going Places’ and ‘Love Poem’ from Rebel Without Applause by Lemn Sissay, first published in Great Britain by Canongate Books Ltd, 14 High Street, Edinburgh, EHi iTE.
STEVIE SMITH: ‘Pad, pad’ from Collected Poems of Stevie Smith edited by James MacGibbon, copyright © 1972 by Stevie Smith. Reproduced by permission of New Directions Publishing Corp. and the Estate of James MacGibbon.
WOLE SOYINKA: ‘To My First White Hairs’ from landre & Other Poems, 1967 (Methuen Publishing Ltd). Reproduced by permission of the publisher.
STEPHEN SPENDER: ‘To My Daughter’, ‘What I expected, was’, ‘I think continually of those who were truly great’ from New Collected Poems by Stephen Spender published by Faber and Faber © 2004. Reprinted by kind permission of the Estate of Stephen Spender.
WALLACE STEVENS: ‘A Postcard from the Volcano’ from The Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens by Wallace Stevens, copyright 1954 by Wallace Stevens and renewed 1982 by Holly Stevens. Used by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc. and Faber and Faber.
ANNE STEVENSON: ‘The Spirit is Too Blunt an Instrument’ from Poems: 1955-2005 (Bloodaxe Books, 2005). Reprinted by permission of the publisher.
MARK STRAND: ‘A Morning’ taken from Selected Poems by Mark Strand. Copyright © 1979, 1980, Mark Strand. Reproduced by permission of The Wylie Agency (UK) Ltd. All rights reserved. ‘The Dreadful Has Already Happened’ taken from Darker by Mark Strand. Copyright © 1968, 1969, 1970, Mark Strand. Reproduced by permission of The Wylie Agency (UK) Ltd. All rights reserved.
ARTHUR SYMONS: ‘White Heliotrope’ reprinted by permission of The Literary Estate of Arthur Symons.
DYLAN THOMAS: ‘And death shall have no dominion’ and ‘Do not go gentle into that good night’, from Collected Poems published by J. M. Dent. By permission of David Higham Associates.
R. S. THOMAS: ‘Children’s Song’ from The Collected Poems, 1945–1990 (2000), Phoenix Press, a division of The Orion Publishing Group, by permission of the publisher. ‘Comparisons’ from Collected Later Poems 1988–2000 (Bloodaxe Books, 2004). Reprinted by permission of the publisher.
LOUIS UNTERMEYER: Permission is granted by arrangement with the Estate of Louis Un
termeyer, Norma Anchin Untermeyer c/o Professional Publishing Services. ‘Portrait of a Child’ is reprinted with the expressed permission by Laurence S. Untermeyer.
DEREK WALCOTT: ‘Ebb’ from Selected Poetry by Derek Walcott. Reprinted by permission of Harcourt Education.
HUGO WILLIAMS: ‘Scratches’ from Collected Poems (Faber and Faber, 2005) by permission of the publisher.
WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS: ‘Danse Russe’ from Collected Poems of William Carlos Williams, Volume 1: 1909–1939, edited by A. Walton Litz and Christopher MacGowan (2000) by permission of Carcanet Press Limited.
JUDITH WRIGHT: ‘Legend’ from A Human Pattern: Selected Poems (ETT Imprint, Sydney, 1996). Reproduced by permission of the publisher.
W. B. YEATS: ‘Sailing to Byzantium’ and ‘When You are Old’ from Selected Poems, edited by Timothy Webb (Penguin Classics, 2000) by permission of A. P. Watt Ltd on behalf of Gráinne Yeats, Executrix of the Estate of Michael Butler Yeats.
ANDREW YOUNG: ‘Field-Glasses’ from Selected Poems (1998) by permission of Carcanet Press Limited.
Every effort has been made to trace and contact the copyright holders prior to publication. If notified, the publisher undertakes to rectify any errors or omissions at the earliest opportunity.
Index of Poets
Achebe, Chinua (1930–) 23
Addonizio, Kim (1954–) 153
Adcock, Fleur (1934–) 150, 194
Agbabi, Patience (1965–) 72, 223
Alvarez, Julia (1950–) 317
Anonymous 10, 43, 341
Arnold, Matthew (1822–88) 244, 274
Auden, W. H. (1907–73) 331
Barnes, William (1801–86) 50, 78
Barnfield, Richard (1574–1627) 147
Barrett Browning, Elizabeth (1806–61) 24, 335
Behn, Aphra (1640–89) 98
Betjeman, John (1906–84) 171
Blake, William (1757–1827) 4, 26, 62
Blunden, Edmund (1896–1974) 296
Bradstreet, Anne (c.1612–72) 197, 234