Full Description
In his foreword to this book, Derek Mahon notes that P.J. Kavanagh's poems 'elude the obvious categories. He has never been one of a "school"'. A poet of rural England, yet of Irish ancestry, Kavanagh 'has always stood slightly apart'. He championed the poems of Ivor Gurney and shares with Gurney not only a personal landscape (that of Gloucestershire) but a poetic commitment to the actual and specific, to nature writing at its most rootedly precise. His is, in Mahon's words, 'a unique personal record': 'a lifetime's dedication has produced its rich results'.
Contents
Foreword by Derek Mahon
from One and One (1959)Dedication Poem Djakarta Yeats's Tower Intimations of Unreality Merton Garden Beggar at the Villa d'Este
from On the Way to the Depot (1967)Saint Tropez The Spring August by the RiverWestwell, OxfordshireOn the Way to the DepotAfternoon in SneemThe Temperance Billiards RoomsIn the Rubber DinghyPerfection Isn't Like a Perfect StoryNot Being a Man of Action Satire IGoldie sapiensMayNo One
from About Time (1970)One: Son and Father Seven: from 'Albert Poems' Nine: 'Domesticities' Ten: Father and Son
from Edward Thomas in Heaven (1974)Occasional Birds Sometimes Commuter For Bruno Eclogue All I Want Real Sky A Box of Sons November the First Child's Walk Driving Back Opened and Fastened Picture a Father And Light Fading The Clapham Elephants Edward Thomas in Heaven Consolations
from Life Before Death (1979)Dome A Hard SettingWhile the Sun ShinesWhere You Watching AreA Single TreeDon't Forget the Keeper, SirA Great Gale, 1976Breakfast in ItalyIvor GurneyThe DeadSimileGardeningBeyond DecorationThe Moon in ChargeSun OvercastElderDandelionPilgrimsBorris House, Co. CarlowFor C.E.K.Spring ArrivalThank-You LetterPrayingSealIllnessMemory
from Presences (1987)Birth of Middle AgeWalmer CastleA Small WorldLate AcknowledgementFarmworkerArs est celare artemPoliticsBirthday Visit Prayer in Middle Age Constitutional Nature Poet1. Voices 2. The Attempt 3. One Sentence, and Another 4. Companions 5. A Clean Sensation
from An Enchantment (1991)A ghost repliesThe old notebook Autumn Memorial service No more songs January evening Blackbird in Fulham They lift their heads Minimal prayer suggestion Natural history Hope Falklands, 1982 Whitsun Resistance ITMA In the middle of the wood The belt Quieter than Clichy Inishmaine Severn aisling Message
from Something About (2004)Slow as grassThe new man November Angels Tug o' war A gottle o' Guinness Mood indigo, tune Irish After Westwell 'Constancy to an ideal object' Ascension window at Fairford Whitsun Vox pop Small voice Seasonals1. 'Summer...' 2. 'Combine-harvesters...' 3. 'Rain...' 4. 'Later, pale-faced hogweed...' What I didn't say to Thomas Two syllabics1. Christmas walk2. Test Match SpecialFor Kate Three score and ten Gold Dawns London Bridge Job Something about
Index of Titles Index of First Lines
