Who Is Ozymandias?: And Other Puzzles in Poetry - Softcover

Fuller, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0099541696 ISBN 13: 9780099541691

Publisher: Vintage UK, 2013

Synopsis

Part of the pleasure of poetry is unraveling the mysteries and difficulties it contains and solving the puzzles that lie within. Who, for instance, is Ozymandias? What is the Snark? Who is the Emperor of Ice-Cream? Or indeed, who is 'you' in a poem? In this perceptive and playful new book, acclaimed poet John Fuller looks at some of our greatest poems and considers the number of individual puzzles at their heart, casting light on how we should approach these conundrums as readers. From riddling to double entendres, mysterious titles to red herrings, Fuller unpicks the puzzles in works that range from Browning to Bishop, Empson to Eliot, Shelley to Stevens, to help us reach the rewards and revelations that lie at the center of some of our best-loved poems.

About this title

About the Author:

John Fuller is an acclaimed poet and novelist. He has written eighteen collections of poetry, most recently Pebble & I and Song & Dance, both chosen as Poetry Book Society Recommendations. His 2004 collection, Ghosts, was shortlisted for the Whitbread Award for Poetry; The Space of Joy, published in 2006, was shortlisted for the Costa Poetry Award. He is an Emeritus Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford.

Review:

Committed readers, as well as those newer to poetry, will find this an enjoyable read...Fuller's book should encourage many to go off and puzzle out poems for themselves."  —Sunday Times

"John Fuller is both a well-published poet and a well-tested critic of contemporary poetry. This new book gets to grips with the essential puzzlement of poetry...It is not a densely theoretical book, but written engagingly and approachably."  —Independent

About this edition

• Publisher: Vintage UK
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0099541696
• ISBN 13: 9780099541691
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 248