Good poetry allows us to see into the soul of another person. Great poetry allows us to see into our own.
Over the course of its lifetime, the Fat Tony’s Discord server received thousands of posts in it’s Anti-library channel. In the first of series of articles, I’m going to group the best of these book recommendations by genre and present them here for posterity. This month, poetry.
Good poetry allows us to see into the soul of another person. Great poetry allows us to see into our own soul. It offers us a rare, soothing glimpse of ways of thinking about the world outside of our conventional experience. Like all great art forms, it is both therapeutic for reader and listener, and can be a soothing antidote against the stress of modernity.
To help calm your soul, Here are five of the best Fat Tony recommendations…
Summoned by Bells
What is it?
Summoned by Bells, the blank verse autobiography by John Betjeman is split into nine chapters, and describes the author’s life from his early memories of a middle-class home in Edwardian Hampstead, London, to his premature departure from Magdalen College, Oxford. The book ends in disaster, with Betjeman sent down from Oxford and enrolling in desperation as a cricket master at a private prep school. When asked why the biography only covers his younger years, Betjeman famously replied “I think people’s lives are interesting only up until they’re 21”.
Why should I read it?
Themes of memory, a yearning for the lost recent past, and self reflection on events (both fair and unfair), and episodes of failure that make us who we are. Summoned by Bells is full of nostalgia; the good kind. Betjeman’s verse simply feels soothing to read — like being wrapped in a warm blanket. Commentary on an Edwardian privileged childhood, with an Oxford setting partway through — If you are a fan of Brideshead Revisited, you will love this.
Notable Poem
The whole book is written in blank verse, as one piece. A particular favourite excerpt, lamenting a father’s hopes that his son will carry on the family firm:
To all my father’s hopes. In later years, Now old and ill, he asked me once again To carry on the firm, I still refused. And now when I behold, fresh-published, new, A further volume of my verse, I see His kind grey eyes look woundedly at mine, I see his workmen seeking other jobs, And that red granite obelisk that marks The family grave in Highgate cemetery Points an accusing finger to the sky.
Five Tang Poets
What is it?
A collection of poetry from five of the great poets of the T’ang dynasty (eighth and ninth centuries A.D.) are represented in this collection: Wang Wei, Li Po, Tu Fu, Li Ho, and Li Shang-Yin. Each poet is introduced by the translator and represented by a curated selection that showcases the poet’s development and career.
Why should I read it?
The poems in this collection constitute some of the greatest lyric poems ever written. Obviously some context is lost in translation, BUT, the collection is still remarkable and introduces the reader to some of China’s greatest poets; it is considered a ‘classic’ in the field of translated Chinese poetry. The collection comprises of arguably the most ‘beautiful’ poetry on this list.
Not only are the poems hauntingly beautiful, but as an added bonus, the author’s introductions allow for greater understanding and offer a lot of helpful insight into each poet’s work.
Notable Poem
White Horse.
Zoom!
What is it?
His debut collection, Zoom!, appeared in 1989 when Simon Armitage was still in his mid-twenties. He was a parole officer at the time, and had taken up poetry as a hobby. His raw, northern style fit perfectly with the punk (alternative) period in which it was released. Simon displays breathtaking mastery of the medium for a debut poet, which took the literary world by storm upon its release.
The voice employed by Simon is edgy, uncompromising, and tackles issues as diverse as lost love, death, and violence. Simon doesn’t shy away from addressing disturbing topics, and his years working as a probation officer gave him plenty of contact with people down on their luck, or at the end of their tether.
Simon’s poetry is good. Very good. So good that he was appointed Poet Laureate in May 2019.
Why should I read it?
Firstly because it is a seminal work. Very few modern poets garner this much attention with their first collection; especially ones from unconventional backgrounds.
In length, this is a short, concise collection, however it is densely packed with a northern English vernacular; much of which you just don’t hear anymore, and perfectly captures the time and place in which it was written. Anglophiles will enjoy picking apart (and discovering) the rich, delicious use of colloquialisms employed throughout.
Notable Poem
Zoom! — self-titled and the last in the collection, is especially memorable for its dizzying pace and scope. The free verse poem takes the reader on a journey from a house on a typical, British street, across the universe, through a black hole, and back again, all the while questioning the scope of our knowledge, and our place in the world.
A Glass Half Full
What is it?
Felix Denis built a publishing empire, starting in the 1960’s and 70’s, when he was put on trial for his involvement in OZ magazine, an underground magazine started in London. After acquittal, and a bit of luck with Kung Fu magazines in the 1970’s, Felix went on to build a publishing empire, and was valued at $750m before his death in 2014.
However, Felix was not your conventional entrepreneur. Known for his extreme lifestyle (he was once quoted as saying that he had spent £120m on crack cocaine and hookers throughout his life), Felix lived his life like a debauched Roman emperor. He had mansions and harems scattered across the world. The stories about him are legion, and have now passed into legend.
A serious illness in 1999 saw him bedridden in hospital, and it was during this time he started writing poetry. It quickly turned into an obsession, taking over his life.
A Glass Half Full is Felix’s first published collection of poetry, released in 2004.
Why should I read it?
Raw, witty, and unexpectedly moving. Felix’s poetry is unpretentious and easy to read, being written almost entirely in contemporary free verse.
The collection is a fascinating insight into the mind of one of the 20th century’s most notorious entrepreneurs.
Notable Poem
The Better Man is the stand-out poem in this collection; an elegy to a dear friend (or should that be rival). The poem is moving in its juxtaposition of anger, regret, and respect. You can watch a video of Felix reciting this poem at his Ted talk, here.
100 Love Sonnets
What is it?
Pablo Neruda needs no introduction. The Chilean Poet-Diplomat won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1971, This collection was first published first in 1959 in Spanish. The poems are dedicated to his third wife Matilde Urrutia. In the book poems are kept in four sections — Morning, Afternoon, Evening and Night.
Why should I read it?
The most structured of the entries on this list, this collection of poetry is written in strict sonnet format. Romantics, and fans of Shakespeare will immediately take to it. Constraints are a well spring for creativity, in this case giving rise to exquisite poetry…
“I love you as certain dark things are to be loved, in secret, between the shadow and the soul.”
Notable Poem
“If you forget me” is a masterpiece. Trust us, this poem hits hard. Have tissues at the ready.