Customer Reviews

All You Who Sleep Tonight

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I read this book without too many hopes and it turned out to be a very pleasant surprise. The language is easy and the thoughts expressed are beautiful. The title poem 'all you who sleep tonight' is one of the most touching poems i've read in quite some time. Hats off to Vikram Seth for coming up with such a beautiful collection of poems. Definitely a must read for those who enjoy simple and good poetry.

All you who sleep tonight
Far from the ones you love,
No hand to left or right
And emptiness above -

Know that you aren't alone
The whole world shares your tears,
Some for two nights or one,
And some for all their years.

-- Vikram Seth

Vikram Seth is a poet par excellence. For each one who has savored his Suitable boy or An equal music or From Heaven's Lake or The Golden Gate, this collection of poems offers another set of witty, candid, lyrical and highly artistic writing. The poet writes about love in all forms, and poems are short and beautiful, the one mentioned here my perennial favorite!

Voices in my head,
Chanting, "Kisses. Bread.
Prove yourself. Fight. Shove.
Learn. Earn. Look for love,"

Drown a lesser voice
Silent now of choice.
"Breathe in peace, and be
Still, for once, like me."

- Vikram Seth

This one sums up all of our lives. Simple yet beautiful .. one of the few books where poetry makes complete sense :). A must read for all.

His poems tell of places and moments of pain, but they are of the culture and cultures of life. Reading the title poem one can only nod their head, while Lithuania will make you shake, Mistaken you will blush and Telephone will make you laugh...and sigh.

Try it and see if you don't!

Who is this Steven Hupp, who complains of Seth's "lockstep meter and corny rhymes"? Just because so many people now write "poetry" that is just prose with random line-breaks doesn't mean that genuine verse is contemptible. Seth combines elegance with rare sensitivity in a way that few modern poets can do.

A tidy little collection of poems - some serious, some flippant. The title poem is especially powerful. There are a few other gems as well. For the most part, Seth doesn't wear his "Indian author" hat in this one.