⇒ Download Selected Poems Carol Ann Duffy Carol Ann Duffy 9780141025124 Books

Selected Poems Carol Ann Duffy Carol Ann Duffy 9780141025124 Books

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Selected Poems Carol Ann Duffy Carol Ann Duffy 9780141025124 Books

I had never heard of Carol Ann Duffy until recently, when I serendipitously encountered her sonnet "Prayer". I was dazzled. For a broader exposure to her, I chose this British Penguin edition of SELECTED POEMS, which contains seventy-four poems, selected by Duffy from five volumes of her poetry. I also did a little internet research and learned that she is presently Great Britain's Poet Laureate -- the first woman and the first Scot to hold that position.

There is no question that Duffy is a distinctive voice and a strong poet. She can be rather too strong for me. "Intense" is what comes to mind as the single adjective that best captures her poetry. There is alienation, madness, cynicism, a nihilistic sneer and a bitter snarl. Tempering that existential anger, there also is an element of desperate love.

SELECTED POEMS displays an impressively broad diversity of styles. Most of the poems employ a certain measure of structure. A few rhyme. The voice is informal, even colloquial. Duffy has been quoted as saying that she is "not interested in words like 'splash' -- Seamus Heaney words. I like to use simple words, but in a complicated way." Also, a powerful way.

Given the raw originality and in-your-face, no-holds-barred attitude of Duffy's poetry, it probably is inevitable that some of her poems repel me. But the captivating ones can stand with anything else from the past half-century that I am familiar with. For the record, of the seventy-four poems, I marked fifteen to read again at some indefinite time in the future. One of them, which I suspect I will return to often, is the aforementioned "Prayer":

Some days, although we cannot pray, a prayer
utters itself. So, a woman will lift
her head from the sieve of her hands and stare
at the minims sung by a tree, a sudden gift.

Some nights, although we are faithless, the truth
enters our hearts, that small familiar pain;
then a man will stand stock-still, hearing his youth
in the distant Latin chanting of a train.

Pray for us now. Grade 1 piano scales
console the lodger looking out across
a Midlands town. Then dusk, and someone calls
a child's name as though they named their loss.

Darkness outside. Inside, the radio's prayer --
Rockall. Malin. Dogger. Finisterre.

(That last line might baffle those from outside the UK. If "Rockall. Malin. Dogger. Finisterre." does not register with you, check out the Wikipedia article on "Shipping Forecast".)


Tags : Selected Poems: Carol Ann Duffy [Carol Ann Duffy] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Offers a selection of works from five of the poet's previously published volumes, including Standing Female Nude,Carol Ann Duffy,Selected Poems: Carol Ann Duffy,Penguin Global,0141025123,European - English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh,English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh,Poetry,Poetry & poets,Poetry European English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh

Selected Poems Carol Ann Duffy Carol Ann Duffy 9780141025124 Books Reviews

I never liked poetry before discovering the dark, haunting appeal of Carol Ann Duffy. "Valentine" will stick with me the rest of my life.
Carol Ann Duffy, the first woman poet laureate, explores many different themes in this selection of poems from childhood memories to relationships.
Her poems are accessible and entertaining and yet she is touching, sensitive and witty.
I was disappointed to discover that the book I purchased has writing on a lot of the pages in ink, I know it's second hand, but I didn't expect this.
Warm, full of feeling. Duffy is a poet worth reeading
Nice volume of Duffy's poetry.
Having previously read a book of Carol Ann Duffy's poems which moved me profoundly, I was hoping that this book of poetry would again move me with its enlightening vision of life. It has not as yet so moved me. Daniel Liderbach
I had never heard of Carol Ann Duffy until recently, when I serendipitously encountered her sonnet "Prayer". I was dazzled. For a broader exposure to her, I chose this British Penguin edition of SELECTED POEMS, which contains seventy-four poems, selected by Duffy from five volumes of her poetry. I also did a little internet research and learned that she is presently Great Britain's Poet Laureate -- the first woman and the first Scot to hold that position.

There is no question that Duffy is a distinctive voice and a strong poet. She can be rather too strong for me. "Intense" is what comes to mind as the single adjective that best captures her poetry. There is alienation, madness, cynicism, a nihilistic sneer and a bitter snarl. Tempering that existential anger, there also is an element of desperate love.

SELECTED POEMS displays an impressively broad diversity of styles. Most of the poems employ a certain measure of structure. A few rhyme. The voice is informal, even colloquial. Duffy has been quoted as saying that she is "not interested in words like 'splash' -- Seamus Heaney words. I like to use simple words, but in a complicated way." Also, a powerful way.

Given the raw originality and in-your-face, no-holds-barred attitude of Duffy's poetry, it probably is inevitable that some of her poems repel me. But the captivating ones can stand with anything else from the past half-century that I am familiar with. For the record, of the seventy-four poems, I marked fifteen to read again at some indefinite time in the future. One of them, which I suspect I will return to often, is the aforementioned "Prayer"

Some days, although we cannot pray, a prayer
utters itself. So, a woman will lift
her head from the sieve of her hands and stare
at the minims sung by a tree, a sudden gift.

Some nights, although we are faithless, the truth
enters our hearts, that small familiar pain;
then a man will stand stock-still, hearing his youth
in the distant Latin chanting of a train.

Pray for us now. Grade 1 piano scales
console the lodger looking out across
a Midlands town. Then dusk, and someone calls
a child's name as though they named their loss.

Darkness outside. Inside, the radio's prayer --
Rockall. Malin. Dogger. Finisterre.

(That last line might baffle those from outside the UK. If "Rockall. Malin. Dogger. Finisterre." does not register with you, check out the Wikipedia article on "Shipping Forecast".)