Poetry

a selection by Carol Ann Duffy:

Mrs Beast (from The World's Wife)

Anon (from Feminine Gospels)

Kipling (from Answering Back)

As part of my reading of new (to me) poetry (mentioned ages ago), I've acquired three books by Duffy, staple of GCSE and A-Level English lit and beloved by critics. This is thanks to the ever-wonderful Book People, who offered this selection of three books for a total cost lower than buying one individually. Hurrah for the Book People!

The main reason I bought it was for the highly intriguingAnswering Back collection, in which 50 poets have written new poems in response to classics (though don't expect to have actually heard of a great deal of the new authors or that many of the 'classic' poems). Duffy's Kipling is in answer to the Nation's Favourite Poem, If--... and isn't even close to being as good, or as memorable. Anon, on the other hand, is a much better piece on a famous poetry author.

These few are ones I've read as a randomish initial selection; I'll be reading the collections in full later.