The Letter Box (Paperback)

Paul Matthew St Pierre

ISBN 10: 1035895609 / ISBN 13: 9781035895601

Published by Austin Macauley Publishers, London, 2025

About this Item

Paperback. Two definitions: Poetry is human speech. Poetry is maximal language. The Letter Box is both. In the ancient Chinese form Qing Ping, syllabic verse comprising two quatrains (4/5/7/6, 6/6/6/6), the poems are spare and lucid, eminently readable. Yet, dense in syntax, prosody, imagery, and allusion, they can be demanding, lending themselves to contemplation and explication. They are also funny and sardonic. The nostalgic voice, in reference to letters and other old forms, is wry and double-edged. The human speech is primarily mine - of course, the authorial voice. But each poem also has a speaker independent of me. The maximal language? That is also my responsibility. But it is principally your language as interpreters with the power - by reading them aloud - to make the poems your own. The Letter Box Writers, readers, Senders, receivers, Signifiers, signifieds, Once connected us all. Look in the letter box, There you'll find a packet, Open it now, and read My hundred poems for you. Two definitions: Poetry is human speech. Poetry is maximal language. The Letter Box is both. In the ancient Chinese form Qing Ping, syllabic verse comprising two quatrains (4/5/7/6, 6/6/6/6), the poems are spare and lucid, eminently readable. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9781035895601

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Letter Box (Paperback)
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers, London
• Publication Date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1035895609
• ISBN 13: 9781035895601
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

Two definitions: Poetry is human speech. Poetry is maximal language. The Letter Box is both. In the ancient Chinese form Qing Ping, syllabic verse comprising two quatrains (4/5/7/6, 6/6/6/6), the poems are spare and lucid, eminently readable. Yet, dense in syntax, prosody, imagery, and allusion, they can be demanding, lending themselves to contemplation and explication. They are also funny and sardonic. The nostalgic voice, in reference to letters and other old forms, is wry and double-edged. The human speech is primarily mine - of course, the authorial voice. But each poem also has a speaker independent of me. The maximal language? That is also my responsibility. But it is principally your language as interpreters with the power - by reading them aloud - to make the poems your own. The Letter Box Writers, readers, Senders, receivers, Signifiers, signifieds, Once connected us all. Look in the letter box, There you'll find a packet, Open it now, and read My hundred poems for you.

About the Author

Paul Matthew St Pierre, a retired professor of English, is the author of twelve books and seventy-five journal articles on literature, cinematography, and humour, including monographs on Barry Humphries and Janet Frame. Having dual British and Canadian nationalities, he is currently living off-grid on Lasqueti Island, BC, where he writes poetry, novels, and screenplays in the company of two Hovawarts. He is also a painter and sculptor.