
AS NEW FIRST EDITION dust jacket hardcover, clean text, solid binding, NO remainders NOT ex-library slight shelfwear / storage-wear; jacket clipped WE SHIP FAST. Carefully packed and quickly sent. 201601887 Poet, artist, and translator Charles Tomlinson was born in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire in 1927. Fluent in German, French, and Italian, he read English at Queen’s College Cambridge, studying with poet Donald Davie, who was an early influence and later became a close friend. Tomlinson taught elementary school before joining the University of Bristol, where he taught for 36 years. His collections of poetry include Relations and Contraries (1951), American Scenes and Other Poems (1966), To Be Engraved on the Skull of a Cormorant (1968), The Shaft (1978), Jubilation (1995), Skywriting and Other Poems (2003), for which he won the New Criterion Poetry Prize, and New Collected Poems (2009). Tomlinson’s work is known for its attention to both visual and aural perception, its painterly effects, and its cosmopolitan, even urbane, style and subject matter. Though he wrote of the natural world, especially in his early work, his philosophical bent and interest in other places and cultures—as well as his highly regarded work as a translator—made him somewhat of an outsider in British poetry. According to the critic Michael Hennessy, “Tomlinson is the most international and least provincial English poet of his generation. At a time when most of his contemporaries were drawing inward, nursing and grooming their ‘Englishness,’ Tomlinson was traveling, engaging with the world, and enriching his work through the agency of American, European, and even Japanese poetic traditions.” We recommend selecting Priority Mail wherever available. (No shipping to Mexico, Brazil or Italy.)
This collection captures the evolution of Charles Tomlinson’s poetic vision across two decades of intense observation and stylistic refinement. The poems function as a series of meditations on the intersection of visual perception and linguistic precision, moving from the landscapes of his early work to more cosmopolitan, philosophical inquiries. Tomlinson employs a rigorous, often detached perspective to examine the natural world and human experience, utilizing a framework that prioritizes clarity of image and the structural integrity of the line. The collection serves as a record of a poet engaging with both local environments and international traditions, maintaining a consistent focus on the mechanics of seeing and describing.
Readers and critics frequently highlight Tomlinson’s unique position as an internationalist within the landscape of mid-20th-century British poetry. Discussion often centers on his ability to balance meticulous observation of the natural world with a sophisticated, philosophical detachment that separates him from his more provincial contemporaries. Many observers note that his work demands a high level of attention to both the visual and auditory qualities of the language used. The collection is often cited for its technical discipline and its successful synthesis of diverse cultural influences, making it a significant reference point for those interested in the development of modern English verse.
Page Count:
149
Publication Date:
1978-01-01
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
019211882X
ISBN-13:
9780192118820
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