Collected Poems, 1928-1985

Shares reminiscences of fellow poets and artists, selections from a translation of Sophocles' Oedipus trilogy, and meditations on childhood, exile, travel, loneliness, ambition, mortality, war, home, and language

ea. vol: Random. 1986. index. $19.95. diaries/poetry A central figure of the Auden generation of the 1930s, Spender has since become a significant voice in modern letters. Collected Poems includes nearly 100 selections ranging from the social, political poetry of the early 1930s to several recent previously unpublished works. Spender has carefully shaped the volume, reworking many earlier poems to achieve directness and clarity. The result is a lean and representative collection that displays the best work of an often-uneven poet. Kept intermittently during 40 years, Spender's journals record details from a full and varied life, observations on politics and literature, friends and literary acquaintances. Goldsmith has selected the material for this volume, and Spender introduces each of the 12 sections with a brief commentary. The book is readable and well suited for browsing, giving readers the pleasure of rubbing shoulders with several literary greats, e.g., T.S. Eliot and Auden. Both books are recommended, especially the new Collected Poems , which is now the definitive edition of Spender's poetry. Michael Hennessy, English Dept., Southwest Texas State Univ., San Marcos
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