Carcanet Press - Late Poems

Description
Excerpt
Author
Contents
Awards
Reviews

Tenants in Common

A hiss from near my heel.
A slither up out of the shallows.
And my old opposite
breathed out of the branches in my path.

‘I had been hoping for this.
To solve our joint requirements:
you, needing my nothingness
to quieten your fevers;
I needing the pulse of life
for my inertia.
We were made for each other.

Misplaced here together,
who knows for how long more;
neither asking to take part;

both hoping for the unexpected
to improve matters;
knowing it is unlikely.

I have decided, therefore,
to make as much of things as I can.’

The thin leathery lips approached my neck.

This book collects the poems of Thomas Kinsella from his five most recent Peppercanister pamphlets. As he has throughout his writing, here Kinsella sets himself, clear-eyed, to face hard truths: ‘the waste and the excess’ of the living process; ageing and emptiness; the cancer of war. But against these are the creatively redeeming impulses – of the search for understanding: ‘an imagination arguing with itself / until the ache is eased’; above all, of ‘Grace as desire… Joy of the flesh / Saying all it can of love.’

Marginal Economy (2006)

Wandering alone

First Night

The Affair

Wedding Service

Blood of the Innocent

Marcus Aurelius

Songs of Exile

Marginal Economy

Songs of Understanding

Rhetoric of Natural Beauty

Man of War (2007)

Argument

Retrospect

A Proposal

Notes

1. An Insect Analogue

2. By the Dead Sea

3. A Sleeping Cancer

4. The War Horse

5. Instances from the Greek

Belief and Unbelief (2007)

Novice

Delirium

Superfresh

Echo

Art Object

Belief and Unbelief

Legendary Figures, in Old Age

Lost Cause

Ceremony

Foetus of Saint Augustine

Genesis

Prayer I

Prayer II

Addendum

Fat Master (2011)

Elderly Craftsman at his Bench

Into Thy Hands

The Last Round: an allegory

The Guardians

Summer Evening: City Centre

She continued

Reflection

Free Fall

Fat Master

Love Joy Peace (2011)

Reserved Table

Anatomy

Colloquy of the Carnal

Flesh Eater

The Next Part of the Prayer

Tenants in Common

Love Joy Peace

Thomas Kinsella �(1928-2021) was born in Dublin in 1928. He was educated at University College, Dublin and entered the Irish Civil Service before becoming a full-time writer and teach in the USA. He was the author of over thirty books of poetry and of essays, and editor of The New Oxford ... read more

Awards won by Thomas Kinsella Commended, 2007 Poetry Book Society
(Selected Poems)

'The most complex and multi-layered of the Peppercanister poems...taken with the 1968 and 1973 volumes and some of the earlier poems may comprise the most challenging, most achieved, and therefore most rewarding body of poetry from the British Isles over the past half-century.'
The Cambridge History of Irish Literature 'With unique memorability and force these poems, in the words of 'Belief and Unbelief', coax us to follow their author in search of understanding 'back to the dark / and the depths that I came from'. No one who cares about poetry should hesitate to embark on the journey.'
The Guardian Praise for Thomas Kinsella 'These are not poems to be read swiftly, relished once and set aside. They are often, for all their music, discomforting. Their uncertainties, questionings and images lure the reader to wonder and return.'
Kathleen Bell, Everybody's Reviewing
'Kinsella's lines are beautifully wrought, the stanzas gently rhymed, and the poet, in masterful style, at once delivers and undercuts the 'rhetoric' of beauty and consolation.'
Seán Hewitt, The Irish Times

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Late Poems Thomas Kinsella Categories: 21st Century, Irish Imprint: Carcanet Poetry Publisher: Carcanet Press Available as: Paperback (144 pages) (Pub. Oct 2013) 9781847772435 Out of Stock Description Excerpt Author Contents Awards Reviews Tenants in Common A hiss from near my heel. A slither up out of the shallows. And my old opposite breathed out of the branches in my path. ‘I had been hoping for this. To solve our joint requirements: you, needing my nothingness to quieten your fevers; I needing the pulse of life for my inertia. We were made for each other. Misplaced here together, who knows for how long more; neither asking to take part; both hoping for the unexpected to improve matters; knowing it is unlikely. I have decided, therefore, to make as much of things as I can.’ The thin leathery lips approached my neck. This book collects the poems of Thomas Kinsella from his five most recent Peppercanister pamphlets. As he has throughout his writing, here Kinsella sets himself, clear-eyed, to face hard truths: ‘the waste and the excess’ of the living process; ageing and emptiness; the cancer of war. But against these are the creatively redeeming impulses – of the search for understanding: ‘an imagination arguing with itself / until the ache is eased’; above all, of ‘Grace as desire… Joy of the flesh / Saying all it can of love.’ Marginal Economy (2006) Wandering alone First Night The Affair Wedding Service Blood of the Innocent Marcus Aurelius Songs of Exile Marginal Economy Songs of Understanding Rhetoric of Natural Beauty Man of War (2007) Argument Retrospect A Proposal Notes 1. An Insect Analogue 2. By the Dead Sea 3. A Sleeping Cancer 4. The War Horse 5. Instances from the Greek Belief and Unbelief (2007) Novice Delirium Superfresh Echo Art Object Belief and Unbelief Legendary Figures, in Old Age Lost Cause Ceremony Foetus of Saint Augustine Genesis Prayer I Prayer II Addendum Fat Master (2011) Elderly Craftsman at his Bench Into Thy Hands The Last Round: an allegory The Guardians Summer Evening: City Centre She continued Reflection Free Fall Fat Master Love Joy Peace (2011) Reserved Table Anatomy Colloquy of the Carnal Flesh Eater The Next Part of the Prayer Tenants in Common Love Joy Peace Thomas Kinsella �(1928-2021) was born in Dublin in 1928. He was educated at University College, Dublin and entered the Irish Civil Service before becoming a full-time writer and teach in the USA. He was the author of over thirty books of poetry and of essays, and editor of The New Oxford ... read more Awards won by Thomas Kinsella Commended, 2007 Poetry Book Society (Selected Poems) 'The most complex and multi-layered of the Peppercanister poems...taken with the 1968 and 1973 volumes and some of the earlier poems may comprise the most challenging, most achieved, and therefore most rewarding body of poetry from the British Isles over the past half-century.' The Cambridge History of Irish Literature 'With unique memorability and force these poems, in the words of 'Belief and Unbelief', coax us to follow their author in search of understanding 'back to the dark / and the depths that I came from'. No one who cares about poetry should hesitate to embark on the journey.' The Guardian Praise for Thomas Kinsella 'These are not poems to be read swiftly, relished once and set aside. They are often, for all their music, discomforting. Their uncertainties, questionings and images lure the reader to wonder and return.' Kathleen Bell, Everybody's Reviewing 'Kinsella's lines are beautifully wrought, the stanzas gently rhymed, and the poet, in masterful style, at once delivers and undercuts the 'rhetoric' of beauty and consolation.' Seán Hewitt, The Irish Times You might also be interested in: Parallax Sinead Morrissey New Selected Poems Eavan Boland	Share this... Quick Links Carcanet Poetry Carcanet Classics Carcanet Fiction Carcanet Film Lives and Letters PN Review Video Carcanet Celebrates 50 Years! The Carcanet Blog One Little Room: Peter McDonald read more Collected Poems: Mimi Khalvati read more Invisible Dog: Fabio Morbito, translated by Richard Gwyn read more Dante's Purgatorio: Philip Terry read more Billy 'Nibs' Buckshot: John Gallas read more Emotional Support Horse: Claudine Toutoungi read more
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