Face of it (Paperback)

R.F. Langley

ISBN 10: 1857549007 / ISBN 13: 9781857549003

Published by Carcanet Press Ltd, Manchester, 2007

About this Item

Paperback. Roger Langley's poems explore perception. They take their bearings from forms as diverse as Renaissance hermeticism, a Greek vase, Rauschenberg's painting, Bottom's dream, a green beetle. Here the world may chime, like a building by Palladio, or disappear on a parting wave as in a film by Bergman. Surprise and truth come together. Things are both ordinary and vivid, distinct and universal. Langley's poems take delight in the sound and sense of language: for him, etymology can be revelation. In the interplay of word and object, each poem attempts an epiphany. Features poems that explore perception, taking their bearings from forms as diverse as Renaissance hermeticism, a Greek vase, Rauschenberg's painting, Bottom's dream, and a green beetle. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9781857549003

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Face of it (Paperback)
• Publisher: Carcanet Press Ltd, Manchester
• Publication Date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1857549007
• ISBN 13: 9781857549003
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

Visual art, French film, Shakespeare, natural history, and weather are all put under a unique microscope in this selection of poems. Originally based upon a series of notebook observations, the poems—presented in a late modernist style—range in subject from Palladian architecture to Rauschenberg’s pop art, from Bresson’s cinematography to Bottom’s dream. Demonstrating a nostalgic affection for rural English and European landscapes, these poems uncover surprise and truth in the most ordinary of moments.

About the Author

R. F. Langley is a retired English and art history teacher. He is the author of Collected Poems, which was shortlisted for the Whitbread Poetry Prize and was an honored recommendation by the Poetry Book Society.