New Selected Poems of Stevie Smith [Paperback]

Stevie Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 17, 1988

Replacing the slim volume which introduced Stevie Smith to American readers, New Selected Poems is chronologically arranged and contains 165 poems along with many of the author's doodles.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Admire Cranmer!
Advice To Young Children
The After-thought
The Airy Christ
All Things Pass
The Ambassador
Angel Boley
Animula, Vagula, Blandula
Archie And Tina
Autumn
Away, Melancholy
Black March
Bog-face
The Bottle Of Aspirins
The Broken Heart
But Murderous
Cat Asks Mouse Out
The Celts
Childe Rolandine
Cock-a-doo
Come, Death (2)
Company
The Conventionalist
Conviction (1)
Conviction (2)
Conviction (3)
Conviction (4)
Dear Karl
Dear Muse
Death Bereaves Our Common Mother Nature Grieves ...
Deeply Morbid
The Deserter
Dirge
Distractions And The Human Crowd
Do Not!
Do Take Muriel Out
A Dream Of Comparison
Drugs Made Pauline Vague
Edmonton, Thy Cemetery
Egocentric
Emily Writes Such A Good Letter
Eng.
The Engine Drain
The English
Exeat
The Face
Forgive Me, Forgive Me
Forgot!
Freddy
Friends Of The River Trent
The Frog Prince
From The Greek
The Galloping Cat
God And Man
God Speaks
God The Eater
The Governess
Happiness
A House Of Mercy
How Cruel Is The Story Of Eve
How Do You See?
Hymn To The Seal
I Am
'i Could Let Tom Go - But What About The Children?'
I Do Not Speak
I Had A Dream
I Like To Play With Him
If I Lie Down
In My Dreams
In Protocreation
In The Night
Infant
Infelice
Jumbo
The Jungle Husband
The Lads Of The Village
Lady 'rogue' Singleton
Le Singe Qui Swing
Little Boy Sick
The Little Daughters Of America
Loin De L'etre
Longing For Death Because Of Feebleness
Lord Barrenstock
Lord Say-and-seal
Lot's Wife
Magna Est Veritas
Major Macroo
Mother
A Mother's Hearse
Mrs Arbuthnot
The Murderer
My Cat Major
My Cats
My Hat
My Muse
My Soul
Nature And Free Animals
Never Again
The New Age
Nodding
Not Waving But Drowning
Not We Of Her To Him
Nourish Me On An Egg
Numbers
O Pug!
Oh Christianity, Christianity
Oh Grateful Colours, Bright Looks!
On The Death Of A German Philosopher
The Orphan Reformed
Our Bog Is Dood
Our Office Cat
Pad, Pad
Papa Love Baby
Parrot
The Past
The Poets Are Silent
Poor Soul, Poor Girl!
Pretty
Progression
The Reason
Recognition Not Enough
Reversionary
The River God
Satin-clad
The Sea-widow
She Said
Silence And Tears
A Soldier Dear To Us
Some Are Born
Songe D'athalie
Souvenir De Monsieur Poop
Spanish School
Study To Deserve Death
The Suburban Classes
Sunt Leones
Tender Only To One
Tenuous And Precarious
This Englishwoman
This Is Disgraceful And Abominable
Thought Is Superior
Thoughts About The Person From Porlock
To An American Publisher
To Carry The Child
To Dean Inge Lecturing On Origen
To School!
Torquemada
The True Tyrant Or The Spirit Of Duty Rebuked
Unpopular, Lonely And Loving
Up And Down
Valuable (after Reading Two Paragraphs In A Newspaper)
Villains
Voice From The Tomb (1)
Voice From The Tomb (2)
Voice From The Tomb (3)
Voice From The Tomb (4)
Voice From The Tomb (5)
Voices Against England In The Night
The Wanderer
Was He Married?
Why Are The Clergy ... ?
The Wild Dog
The Word
Wretched Woman
Yes, I Know
The Zoo
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder®

Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: New Directions Publishing; First edition. edition (September 17, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811210685
• ISBN-13: 978-0811210683
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #165,975 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An American Classic, October 5, 2000

By 

Tom Adair - See all my reviews

This review is from: New Selected Poems of Stevie Smith (Paperback)

This is a good selection of Stevie Smith's poetry - and it is good that Smith should have such a volume in print in the States. Americans - with a tradition ranging from Whitman to the beat poets - should find Smith easier to accept than the English who have always maintained some reserve about this most original of writers. Obviously any Selected Poems is going to omit favourites - this volume really should have included 'The Magic Morning': read it in the Collected Poems - but 'The Galloping Cat' is here as well as 'Away Melancholy' and many other masterpieces. On the other hand, unless one really is a grade A Smith enthusiast, this Selected Poems is more comfortable than the larger Collected Poems. Except in subtle ways her poetic voice does not evolve (what other poet sprang into the world so fully formed? Remember: as Wilde said, 'Only mediocrities develop'): this can make her volumes monotonous and apparently limited. This selection is certainly enough on its own to convince the discerning reader that Smith was a talent of uncompromising genius (what we English like to call 'eccentric').

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unique genius, August 3, 2008

By 

Susan J. McLeod "Author" (New York State) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: New Selected Poems of Stevie Smith (Paperback)

Stevie Smith is my absolute favorite poet. I love Yeats and T.S. Eliot, but not as much as I love Stevie! I read her poems over and over again and never get tired of them. Her voice is unique. Her style is so conversational that it's possible to miss how tightly constructed these gems are. She is grotesque, witty, fearless, and fascinating. Her subject matter ranges from God, death, war, children, cats, hats, and just about everything in between. Her work has great subtlety and depth, and yes, a lot of humor. I always smile when I read The Deserter. Deeply Morbid and The Wanderer are personal favorites. But in my opinion, Thoughts about the Person from Porlock is her best work. Who else but Stevie would even think about making a poem from an incident in another poet's life? Coleridge was supposedly dreaming his poem Xanadu when someone knocked on his door and woke him up. That person has ever since been regarded as a murderer of the Muse. But as Stevie so rightfully points out:
"Coleridge received the Person from Porlock
And ever after called him a curse,
Then why did he hurry to let him in?
He could have hid in the house.

It was not right of Coleridge in fact it was wrong
(But often we all do wrong)
As the truth is I think he was already stuck
With Kubla Khan.

He was weeping and wailing: I am finished, finished,
I shall never write another word of it,
When along comes the Person from Porlock
And takes the blame for it.

It was not right, it was wrong,
But often we all do wrong."

This gives you a good idea of her style. Original,witty,funny, yet the poem goes on to talk about the death of creativity and the struggle of going on in a boring life. Yet it still is not depressing! She's much too clever for that.
Stevie deserves a lot more recognition than she gets. I hope more people will read her!

5.0 out of 5 stars Poetry and Pictures Style Oh My, July 14, 2000

By 

Gohar K. Hamo "Gohar K. Hamo" (north hollywood, ca USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: New Selected Poems of Stevie Smith (Paperback)

Stevie Smith combines poetry and pictures in a remarkably unique style. The reader is wonderfully challenged by the supposed inconsistencies of the two modes. However with a closer examination the complexity of the work diffuses into simple genius. Smith's collection of poetry offers a wide range of topics including such issues as childhood, politics, animals, marriage and so forth. I guarantee that once a reader gets into the rhythm of her poetry, they will become avid Stevie Smith readers. If you love James Thurber than you will equally love Stevie Smith.