The Meanest Flower (Poetry Book Society Recommendation) - Softcover

Khalvati, Mimi

Softcover

ISBN 10: 185754868X ISBN 13: 9781857548686

Publisher: Carcanet Press Ltd., 2007

Synopsis

Inspired by Shakespeare’s songs, the short poems of Emily Dickinson, and Wordsworth’s Lucy poems, this collection of songlike poetry is based on the ubiquitous spread of weeds—like the shallow rooting plants, small poems can grow anywhere. Featuring a number of traditional forms but also showcasing the ancient Persian Ghazal, these poems reinstate the joyful audible aspect of the lyric.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Poetry Book Society Recommendation / Shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize 2007

Wordsworth's 'meanest flower that blows' suggested to him 'thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears'. The lyrics, elegies, songs and ghazals in Mimi Khalvati's new book pay attention to things the imagination generally disregards, an attention that is concentrated, intense and unapologetically Romantic. Hers is the true voice of feeling, undeflected by irony or self-deprecation. There is rapture in these poems as well as a tragic sense: nature, childhood, motherhood and family relationships all have a double valency, a give and take, to which Khalvati witnesses with a feeling sharpened by love and grief.

About the Author:

Mimi Khalvati is a visiting lecturer at Goldsmiths College. She is the author of The Chine, In White Ink, and Mirrorwork.

About this edition

• Publisher: Carcanet Press Ltd.
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 185754868X
• ISBN 13: 9781857548686
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 96