Customer Reviews

New Selected Poems

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I'm a poetry scanner. I pick up poetry books and randomly read the odd line here and there to ascertain whether or not I like the general style of the poet. If I do, I'll usually buy the book. I discovered the genius of Ted Hughes (who I expected to dislike because I'd never liked Sylvia Plath) at a market stall. His work absolutely blew me away. My other favourite poets are ee cummings, TS Eliot and John Milton - I'm not sure if that's relevant, but it might put my tastes a little more into context. Hughes has a remarkable gift for language and dark descriptive insight, disturbing and gorgeous turns of phrase and perfect timing. I keep a self-collated quote book, and excerpts from his poetry are now the most commonly occurring entries. It's always very difficult to describe what makes certain poetry great, so I'll just give some examples of lines I think are magnificent...
"The bright mirror I braved: the devil in it
Loved me like my soul, my soul.
Now that I seek myself in a serpent
My smile is fatal."
(I like it dark, sublime and metaphoric, whether it be poetry, music, art or whatever)
My favourite modern poet, and he died just one year after I discovered he existed. My timing is abysmal. But his poetry is quite the opposite. Immerse...