Collected Poems - Softcover

Larkin, Philip

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0374522758 ISBN 13: 9780374522759

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1993

Synopsis

One of the best-known, best-loved poets of the English-speaking world, Larkin had a relatively small number of poems published during his lifetime. This Collected Poems, which J. D. McClatchy called "a fascinating and indispensable text" in The New York Times Book Review, brings together not only all of Larkin's published verse—The North Ship (1945), the pamphlet of XX Poems (1953), The Less Deceived (1955), The Whitsun Weddings (1964), and High Windows (1974)—but also a vast selection of his uncollected poetry. A brief Introduction by Anthony Thwaite illuminates both the life and verse of this highly perceptive and deeply acerbic poet, a dour yet witty soul whose brilliant writings so often suggest an ongoing conflict between the traditional and the modern.

About this title

From Library Journal:

Thwaite has gathered all the poems Larkin wrote between 1946 and 1985, the year of his death; he also includes a generous selection of work written earlier, before Larkin found his characteristic voice. In all, there are some 240 poems, 83 of them never published before. The unpublished work comes from every period of Larkin's career and increases by half the number of poems in his canon. The poet we now have is considerably more prolific than the one who issued only three small, mature collections in his lifetime. With or without the new poems, Larkin is a major postwar British writer, and this is the best available collection of his poetry. An essential addition to both academic and general libraries.
- Michael Hennessy, Southwest Texas State Univ., San Marcos
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review:

"More than any other English poet since the war, Larkin gave us lines that it is unlikely we'll be able to forget."--Ian Hamilton, The Times (London)

"[The poems are arranged] chronologically, [with] uncollected work mingling with collected and dates of completion printed under each poem. There are many revelations as a result--one sees how productive certain years were, how certain themes cluster together, and how certain images from abandoned poems were rescued later on."--Blake Morrison, The Times Literary Supplement

"A book that everyone interested in poetry will value. It confirms, for those who need confirmation, that Larkin is our most accomplished and memorable poet of the common places of experience."--Alan Shapiro, Chicago Tribune

About this edition

• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 0374522758
• ISBN 13: 9780374522759
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 358
• Editor: Thwaite Anthony