This is the 1,600th post at Eyewear. In the year 1600, the anthologist Allott published Englands Parnassus; or, The Choysest Flowers of our Moderne Poets, with their Poeticall Comparisons. And Sumo wrestling began. Let's hope this blog gets to 2,000. Or at least its 5th anniversary!
THAT HANDSOME MAN A PERSONAL BRIEF REVIEW BY TODD SWIFT I could lie and claim Larkin, Yeats , or Dylan Thomas most excited me as a young poet, or even Pound or FT Prince - but the truth be told, it was Thom Gunn I first and most loved when I was young. Precisely, I fell in love with his first two collections, written under a formalist, Elizabethan ( Fulke Greville mainly), Yvor Winters triad of influences - uniquely fused with an interest in homerotica, pop culture ( Brando, Elvis , motorcycles). His best poem 'On The Move' is oddly presented here without the quote that began it usually - Man, you gotta go - which I loved. Gunn was - and remains - so thrilling, to me at least, because so odd. His elegance, poise, and intelligence is all about display, about surface - but the surface of a panther, who ripples with strength beneath the skin. With Gunn, you dressed to have sex. Or so I thought. Because I was queer (I maintain the right to lay claim to that
Comments
I have been brooding on Jeffrey Side's remark that it was a 'happy coincidence' that several young poets selected by Roddy Lumsden for Identity Parade were subsequently snapped up by Bloodaxe, Salt and Seren. Of course it was no coincidence at all but simply another egregious example of how the British Poetry Establishment operates. I never cease to be astonished by the fuss surrounding some young poets who have managed to complete one collection when poets like me, who have written ten, are systematically ignored.
Best wishes from Simon
I can see no real need for Identity Parade to exist. It seems to be a Bloodaxe marketing exercise, consisting of largely unknown or marginal poets.
No offence intended to these individual poets, by the way. I'm sure they are very nice people.