Collected Poems

by E.P. Thompson, Fred Inglis (Editor)

Overview

E.P. Thompson is best known for his seminal historical works, such as The Making of the English Working Class, and his political essays, collected in volumes such as The Poverty of Theory and The Heavy Dancers. Although his poetry is less widely known, it lacks nothing of his famous passion and energy. This is his collected work, edited by Fred Inglis

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781913544133
Publisher:	Liminal Books
Publication date:	11/10/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	283
File size:	475 KB

Table of Contents

CONTENTS

Introduction: Tribute and Memoir

E.P. Thompson: A Select Bibliography

EARLY POEMS (1940-1947)

Redshank

For a Friend of Childhood, Killed in the Air

Timepiece

Untitled

Pedimonte (unfinished)

Song for 1945

Casola Valensio: The Cat

Approach March,

Last Offensive

Untitled

New Fashions

Three Love Poems

Chemical Works

Yugoslav Partisan:

To the Western World

The Place Called Choice

SHORT POEMS (1952-1973)

Declarations of Love

In Praise of Hangmen

Valentine

Homage to Tibor Dery

Homage to Salvador Allende

My Study

INFANT AND EMPEROR POEMS FOR CHRISTMAS 1983

Annunciation

Nativity

The Inn and the Byre

Visitors at the Inn

The Infant Lullaby

Mother and Child

The Massacre of the Innocents

Lamentation in Rama

Scenario for the Flight into Egypt

Prayer for the World's Turning

POWERS AND NAMES (1986)

Speech Art

Naming the Gods

The Scholars

The First Emperor

Rebellion

The Villagers

The Warriors of Hsienyang

History Lessons

The Rectification of Names

A Charm Against Evil

Editorial Reviews

Thompson's social consciousness is evident in his poetry as early as 1940 (when he was still at school) and remained the dominant feature in all his writing until his death in 1993. His major prose works—studies of William Morris and William Blake, and a history of the English working class—were written out of a need to understand the "big picture" of political and literary history. Editor Inglis provides a select bibliography and helpful introductory essay, in which he characterizes Thompson as an "old-fashioned, English radical of letters" and calls him "the writer of the Cold War." In his public work Thompson waved the banner for social justice, yet he understood poetry to be "the ultimate technique for telling truths about the soul in all its nakedness." Although there is polemic in the poems, the naked soul is often visible, as in "My Study": "Even the little dogmas do not bark. / I leave my desk and peer into the world. / Outside the owls are hunting. Dark / Has harvested the moon. Imperial eyes / Quarter the ground for fellow creaturehood: / Small as the hour some hunted terror cries. / I go back to my desk. If it could fight / Or dream or mate, what other creature would / Sit making marks on paper through the night?" Although Thompson's reputation may ultimately rest on his prose writings, his poetry is a pertinent reminder that poetry can address major social and political themes without forfeiting its ability to speak to—and for—the eternal verities of the human heart.

Kirkus Reviews

"...reveals yet another talent of this authoritative figure." - Publisher's Weekly

"Thompson's ... poetry is a pertinent reminder that poetry can address major social and political themes without forfeiting its ability to speak to-and for-the eternal verities of the human heart." - Kirkus

From the Publisher