The 20th Century in Poetry
EDITED BY Michael Hulse and Simon Rae
In association with Felix Dennis
EBURY PRESS CONTENTS
I 1900—1914 Never such innocence again
1900 THOMAS HARDY: The Darkling Thrush 13 WILFRID WILSON GIBSON: Flannan Isle 15 1901 LES MURRAY: The Ballad of Jimmy Governor 19 NOEL COWARD: 1901 22 RUDYARD KIPLING: Bridge-Guard in the Karroo 25 LAURENCE HOPE (ADELA FLORENCE NICOLSON): Story of Lilavanti 28 1902 JOHN MASEFIELD: Sea-Fever 30 FRANCES CORNFORD: Autumn Morning at Cambridge 31 A. E. HousMAN:The Olive 32 A. E. HOUSMAN: 'I did not lose my heart in summer's even' 33 1903 JOHN MASEFIELD: Cargoes 34 WILLIAM WATSON: Rome and Another 35 1904 JAMES JOYCE: Tilly 36 JAMES JOYCE: 'Because your voice was at my side' 37 1905 JOHN DAVIDSON: A Runnable Stag 38 H. D. RAWNSLEY:TO the Mikado, Portsmouth, USA 41 STEPHEN PHILLIPS -.from The Apparition 42 1906 J. M. SYNGE: Beg-Innish 43 1907 SHAW NEiLSON:The Sundowner 44 1908 W H. DAVIES:A Beggar's Life 46 J. M. SYNGE: Dread 47 1909 WILLIAM WATSON:/rom Sonnets to Miranda 48 1910 W B.YEATS: No Second Troy 49 LINDA BIERDS: White Bears": Tolstoy at Astapovo 50 EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON: Uncle Ananias 52 c^, CONTENTS
D. H. LAWRENCE: Guards 53 JAMES ELROY FLECKER: The Ballad of Camden Town 54 1911 HILAIRE BELLOC: Lord Finchley 56 D. H. LAWRENCE: Last Lesson of the Afternoon 57 DOUGLAS STEWART:/rom Rutherford 58 ALLEN TATE: The Swimmers 65 1912 KATHLEEN EMERSON: 'Oh! who are these in scant array?' 68 CHARLOTTE MEW: The Farmer's Bride 70 KATHERINE MANSFIELD:TO God the Father 72 RUPERT BROOKE: The Old Vicarage, Grantchester 73 E. J. PRATT.from The Titanic 78 WALTER DE LA MAKE: The Listeners 82 EZRA POUND: The Gypsy 84 THOMAS HARDY:Your Last Drive 85 1913 THOMAS HARDY: At Castle Boterel 87 CHRISTOPHER BRENNAN:'I said, This misery must end' 89 1914 ROBERT FROST: Home Burial 90 EZRA POUND: Abu Salammamm —A Song of Empire 94 G. K. CHESTERTON: The Rolling English Road 96 EDWARD THOMAS: Adlestrop 98 RUPERT BROOKE: The Soldier 99 GEOFFREY HiLL:/romThe Mystery of the Charity of Charles Peguy 100 PHILIP LARKIN: MCMXIV 102
II 1915—1922 War to Waste Land
1915 THOMAS HARDY: In Time of 'The Breaking of Nations' 109 KATHERINE MANSFIELD: TO L. H. B. (1894-1915) no CARL SANDBURG: Buttons in EDGAR LEE MASTERS: Mrs Kessler 112 WALLACE STEVENS: Sunday Morning 113 THOMAS HARDY: The Oxen 117 1916 ISAAC ROSENBERG: Break of Day in the Trenches 118
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DAVID JONES:/TOW In Parenthesis 119 W. B. YEATS: Easter 1916 121 PADRAIC COLUM: Roger Casement 124 CHARLOTTE MEW: Beside the Bed 125 ANNA WiCKHAM:The Fired Pot 126 EDWARD THOMAS: AS the Team's Head-Brass 127 SIEGFRIED SASSOON: The Hero 129 SIEGFRIED SASSOON: 'They' 130 1917 LEON GELLERT: Before Action 131 WILFRED OWEN: Dulce et Decorum Est 132 WILFRED OWEN: Strange Meeting 133 WILFRED OWEN: Anthem for Doomed Youth 135 IVOR GURNEY: Bach and the Sentry 136 RUDYARD KIPLING: Mesopotamia 137 T. S. ELIOT: The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock 139 ALAN BROWNJOHN: Common Sense 144 1918 WILFRED OWEN: The Send-Off 146 ALLEN CURNOW: Survivors 147 SIEGFRIED SASSOON: Reconciliation 148 D. H. LAWRENCE: Piano 149 1919 RUDYARD KIPLING -.from Epitaphs of the War 150 1920 EZRA POUND: E. P. Ode Pour l'Election de son Sepulchre 151 CARL SANDBURG: Mohammed Bek Hadjetlache 155 CARL SANDBURG: Buffalo Dusk 156 EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON: The Rat 157 W B.YEATS:The Second Coming 158 1921 WALLACE STEVENS: The Snow Man 159 ROBERT FROST: The Census-Taker 160 LANGSTON HUGHES: The Negro Speaks of Rivers 162 VICTORIA SACKVILLE-WEST: Full Moon 163 1922 T. S. ELiOT:/rom The Waste Land 164
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III 1923—1939 Danger and hope
1923 WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS: The Red Wheelbarrow 175 D. H. LAWRENCE: Snake, 176 JEAN TOOMER: Portrait in Georgia 179 NICHOLAS VACHEL LINDSAY: The Leaden-Eyed 180 ROBERT FROST: Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening 181 HILAIRE BELLOC: On a General Election 182 1924 A. A. MILNE: Buckingham Palace 183 W H. DAVIES:TO a Lady Friend 184 1925 SHAW NEILSON: The Old Wives Sat at the Table 185 THOMAS HARDY: NO Buyers 187 COUNTEE CULLEN: Incident 188 1926 ROBERT BRIDGES: LOW Barometer 189 ROY CAMPBELL: The Sisters 190 IDRIS DAVIES: 'Cow-parsley and hawthorn blossom' 191 JOHN MASEFIELD: An Epilogue 192 LANGSTON HUGHES: Cross 193 1927 JOHN CROWE RANSOM:Vision by Sweetwater 194 T. S. ELIOT: Journey of the Magi 195 1928 EDNA ST VINCENT MILLAY: Dirge without Music 197 ROBERT FROST: Acquainted with the Night 198 EDGELL RICKWORD: Luxury 199 1929 HART CRANE: A Name for All 200 1930 W. H. AUDEN: Consider 201 ROBERT GRAVES: Song: Lift-Boy 203 1931 BASIL BUNTING: AUS dem Zweiten Reich 204 1932 MARIANNE MOORE: The Steeple-Jack 207 1933 WILLIAM EMPSON: Aubade 210 1934 CHARLES REZNIKOFF: from Jerusalem the Golden 212 DON MARQUIS: mehitabel s morals 214 R. A. K. MASON: Lugete o veneres 215 1935 E. E. CUMMINGS:'may I feel said he' 216 EZRA POUND: Canto XLV 218 1936 WALLACE STEVENS: The Idea of Order at Key West 220
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W. B.YEATS: The Ghost of Roger Casement 222 ROY FULLER: On Seeing the Leni Riefenstahl Film of the 1936 Olympic Games 224 Louis MAcNEiCE:/rom Autumn Journal 225 JOHN CORNFORD: A Letter from Aragon 228 GEOFFREY PARSONS: Lorca 230 1937 W. H. AUDEN: Spain 232 STEPHEN SPENDER: Thoughts during an Air Raid 236 Louis MACNEICE: Bagpipe Music 237 WILLIAM EMPSON: Missing Dates 239 ROBINSON JEFFERS:The Purse-Seine 240 1938 STEPHEN SPENDER: Port Bou 242 DANNIE ABSE: In the Theatre 244 W. B.YEATS: Lapis Lazuli 246 HUGH MAcDiARMiD:The Glen of Silence 248 AUSTIN CLARKE: Penal Law 249 HILAIRE BELLOC: The Pacifist 250 DAVID GASCOYNE: Snow in Europe 251 1939 W. H. AUDEN: In Memory ofW. B.Yeats 252 WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS: The Last Words of My English Grandmother 255 KENNETH SLESSOR: Five Bells 257 ANDREW YOUNG: Walking on the Cliff 262 ROBERT GRAVES: The Thieves 263 Louis MACNEICE: Meeting Point 264 W. H. AUDEN: 'Say this city has ten million souls' 266
IV 1940-1945 War
1940 HENRY REED: Lessons of the War 273 ALUN LEWIS: 'All day it has rained . . .' 276 JOHN BETJEMAN: In Westminster Abbey 278 ROY FISHER: The Entertainment of War 280 EVE LANGLEY: Native-born 282
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T. S. ELIOT: East Coker 284 1941 NOEL COWARD: We Must Have a Speech from a Minister 291 JOHN MAGEE: High Flight 293 H.D.:/rom R.A.F. 294 W R. RODGERS: Escape 295 ALLEN CURNOW: House and Land 296 MARIANNE MOORE: What are Years? 298 CARL RAKOSKTO an Anti-Semite 299 1942 ROY FULLER: Spring 1942 300 ALAN ROSS: Survivors 301 H.D.:from The Walls Do Not Fall 302 SORLEY MACLEAN: Death Valley 304 KENNETH SLESSOR: Beach Burial 306 1943 KEITH DOUGLAS: Cairo Jag 307 KEITH DOUGLAS:Vergissmeinnicht 308 KEITH DOUGLAS: Sportsmen 309 CHARLES CAUSLEY: Rattler Morgan 310 A. R. D. FAiRBURN:Tapu 311 1944 CHARLES SIMIC: Prodigy 312 E. J. SCOVELL: A Refugee 313 DOROTHY PARKER: War Song 314 JOHN MANIFOLD: Fife Tune 315 Louis SIMPSON: Carentan O Carentan 316 MARIANNE MOORE: The Mind is an Enchanting Thing 318 ROBINSON JEFFERS: The Eye 320 1945 CLAUDE MCKAY: Look within 321 RANDALL JARRELL: A Pilot from the Carrier 322 RANDALL JARRELL: The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner 323 PHILLIP WHITFIELD: Day of Liberation, Bergen-Belsen, May 1945 324 JEFFREY HARRISON: Sketch 325 HOWARD NEMEROV: August, 1945 327 EDWIN MuiR:The Castle 328 DYLAN THOMAS:.Fern Hill 329 CONTENTS
V 1946—1968 Peace and Cold War
1946 JUDITH WRIGHT: The Hawthorn Hedge 339 JUDITH WRIGHT: The Company of Lovers 340 R. S. THOMAS: A Peasant 341 ELIZABETH BISHOP: The Map 342 SYLVIA TOWNSEND WARNER: Mr Gradgrind's Country 343 1947 WELDON KEES: The View of the Castle 345 PATRICK KAVANAGH: Epic 346 W. H. AUDEN: Partition 347 1948 THEODORE ROETHKE: Child on Top of a Greenhouse 348 KINGSLEY AMIS: The Last War 349 1949 WILLIAM EMPSON: Let it go 351 1950 R. A. K. MASON: Sonnet to MacArthur's Eyes 352 GWENDOLYN BROOKS: Beverly Hills, Chicago 353 1951 ADRIENNE RICH: The Uncle Speaks in the Drawing Room 355 DYLAN THOMAS: 'DO not go gentle into that good night' 356 LAWRENCE DURRELL: Sarajevo 357 1952 W. H. AUDEN: The Shield of Achilles 358 NISSIM EzEKiEL:The Double Horror 361 1953 JUDITH WRIGHT: The Lost Man 363 1954 EDWARD KAMAU BRATHWAITE:/KWI Rites 364 PHILIP LARKIN: Church Going 367 THOM GUNN: The Wound 369 JON SILKIN: Death of a Son 370 1955 JUDITH WRIGHT: At Cooloolah 372 KIT WRIGHT: Frankie and Johnny in 1955 373 EDWIN MUIR: The Horses 376 1956 ALLEN GINSBERG: America 378 EARLE BIRNEY: Sinaloa 382 ELIZABETH BISHOP: At the, Fishhouses 384 RICHARD WILBUR: A Baroque Wall-Fountain in the Villa Sciarra 387
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1957 STEVIE SMITH: Not Waving but Drowning 390 STEVIE SMITH: I Remember 391 KENDRICK SMITHYMAN: Waikato Railstop 392 1958 LAWRENCE FERLINGHETTI: In Goya's greatest scenes we seem to see 394 PHILIP LARKIN: The Whitsun Weddings 396 1959 R. D. FITZGERALD: The Wind at Your Door 399 Louis SIMPSON: To the Western World 404 JAMES WRIGHT: Eisenhower's Visit to Franco, 1959 405 FRANK O'HARA: The Day Lady Died 407 W. D. SNODGRASS-.from Heart's Needle 409 ROBERT LOWELL: Skunk Hour 411 1960 RANDALL JARRELL: The Woman at the Washington Zoo 413 GALWAY KiNNELL:/rom The Avenue Bearing the Initial of Christ into the New World 415 TED HUGHES: Epiphany 417 TED HUGHES: Pike 419 DOM MORAES: From Tibet 421 INGRID DE KOK: Our Sharpeville 423 1961 MICHAEL HAMBURGER: In a Cold Season 425 ELIZABETH JENNINGS: My Grandmother 430 Louis MACNEICE: The Taxis 431 RICHARD WILBUR: Advice to a Prophet 432 ROBERT LOWELL: Fall 1961 434 1962 PAUL MULDOON: Cuba 435 D. J. ENRIGHT: Apocalypse 436 BOB DYLAN: Blowin' in the Wind 438 KENNETH KOCH:YOU were wearing 439 DAVID CAMPBELL: Mothers and Daughters 441 ANNE SEXTON: All My Pretty Ones 442 SYLVIA PLATH:The Bee Meeting 444 SYLVIA PLATH: Lady Lazarus 446 1963 GWEN HARWOOD: Prize-Giving 449 DAVID CAMPBELL:The Australian Dream 451 C. K. STEAD: Dallas, 1963 453
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1964 ROBERT LOWELL: For the Union Dead 454 FRANK O'HARA: Anxiety 457 JOHN BERRYMAN: Dream Song 41 458 1965 BASIL BUNTING -.from Briggflatts 459 IAIN CRICHTON SMITH: Old Woman 464 ELIZABETH BISHOP: Questions ofTravel 465 1966 WILLIAM PLOMER: A Walk in Wiirzburg 468 ARTHUR NORTJE: At Rest from the Grim Place 470 JOHN BETJEMAN: Mortality 471 1967 RICHARD WILBUR: A Miltonic Sonnet for Mr Johnson on His Refusal of Peter Hurd's Official Portrait 472 ROBERT LOWELL: Waking Early Sunday Morning 473 JOHN BERRYMAN: Sonnet 71 477 ROGER MCGOUGH: Let Me Die aYoungman's Death 478 W S. MERWIN: For the Anniversary of My Death 480 ANTHONY HECHT: 'It out-Herods Herod. Pray you, avoid it.' 481 1968 A. D. HOPE: On an Engraving by Casserius 483 SHARON OLDS: May 1968 488 DEREK WALCOTT: Elegy 490 CHARLES CAUSLEY: Ballad of the Bread Man 492 CHARLES TOMLINSON: Siena in Sixty-Eight 495 W H. AUDEN: August, 1968 497 JOHN BERRYMAN: Dream Song 105 498 JOHN BERRYMAN: Dream Song 343 499 NORMAN MACCAIG: Crossing the Border 500 EDWIN MORGAN: One Cigarette 501 HARRY CLIFTON: Death ofThomas Merton 502
VI 1969—1988 From the Moon to Berlin
1969 JOHN UPDIKE: Seven New Ways of Looking at the Moon 511 W. H. AUDEN: Moon Landing 514 WILLIAM PLOMER: TO the Moon and Back 516
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JAMES MCAULEY: Because 517 JAMES MCAULEY: Tabletalk 519 1970 DAVID MALOUF: Reading Horace outside Sydney, 1970 520 FRANCIS WEBB: Incident 521 JAMES K. BAXTER:/rom Jerusalem Sonnets 523 W S. GRAHAM: 'I leave this at your ear' 526 1971 CHARLES SIMIC: Spoon 527 JONATHAN KARIARA:A Leopard Lives in a Muu Tree 528 CHINUA ACHEBE: Vultures 530 1972 PETER REDGROVE:The Curiosity-Shop 532 PHILIP LARKIN: Going, Going 533 ROBERT PENN WARREN: Natural History 535 JOHN BERRYMAN: Certainty Before Lunch 536 JAMES K. BAXTER: from Autumn Testament 537 1973 DOUGLAS STEWART: B Flat 540 HOWARD NEMEROV: On Getting Out ofVietnam 542 HOWARD NEMEROV: On Being Asked for a Peace Poem 543 1974 PAUL DURCAN: In Memory of Those Murdered in the Dublin Massacre, May 1974 545 1975 SEAMUS HEANEY: Punishment 546 DEREK MAHON: A Disused Shed in Co. Wexford 548 PETER PORTER: On First Looking into Chapman's Hesiod 551 1976 ELIZABETH BISHOP: One Art 554 ARUN KOLATKAR: The Priest 555 JAYANTA MAHAPATRA: The Abandoned British Cemetery at Balasore 557 1977 LES MURRAY:The Future 559 JOHN TRANTER: from Crying in Early Infancy 561 1978 U. A. FANTHORPE: The List 562 PETER PORTER: An Exequy 563 TED HUGHES: Bride and Groom Lie Hidden for Three Days 567 ROBERT GRAY: Flames and Dangling Wire 569 GEOFFREY HILL:'Christmas Trees' 571 1979 DEREK WALCOTT: Koenig of the River 572
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CAROLYN FORCHE: The Visitor 576 SEAMUS HEANEY: Casualty 577 RALPH GusTAFSON:The Old Moscow Woman 581 C. K.WILLIAMS: Tar 583 1980 PAUL MuLDOON:Why Brownlee Left 586 DAVE SMITH: Cumberland Station 587 1981 ANDREW MOTION: Anne Frank Huis 590 DOUGLAS LIVINGSTONE: Bad Run at King's Rest 592 CHRISTOPHER LOGUE:/TOW War Music 593 1982 JAMES FENTON: Dead Soldiers 597 KIT WRIGHT: I Found South African Breweries Most Hospitable 600 NISSIM EzEKiEL:/rom Very Indian Poems in Indian English 602 GAVIN EwART:The Lovesleep 604 ALLEN CURNOW:A Reliable Service 605 ROBERT BRINGHURST: Questions for the Old Woman 606 GILLIAN CLARKE: The Water-Diviner 607 DON CoLES:^rom Landslides 608 1983 JORIE GRAHAM: History 609 MICHAEL LONGLEY:Wounds 611 LANDEG WHITE: Raid 613 JOHN WHITWORTH: These Boys 614 1984 IAN MCMILLAN: Visitors: Armthorpe, August 1984 615 ARVIND KRISHNA MEHROTRA:The Roys 616 FUNSO AIYEJINA: AView of a View 620 SHIRLEY KAUFMAN: Stones 621 CRAIG RAINE: In Modern Dress 622 SEAMUS HEANEY: The Underground 625 PHYLLIS WEBB: 'My loves are dying' 626 MICHAEL ONDAATjE:The Cinnamon Peeler 627 1985 HUGO WILLIAMS: Tangerines 629 DOUGLAS DUNN: Empty Wardrobes 631 PETER READING: 'This is unclean . . .' 632 TONY HARRISON: The Mother of the Muses 633 1986 VINCENT O'SULLIVAN: liberal 642
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VIKRAM SETH: from The Golden Gate 643 MICHAEL HOFMANN: Albion Market 647 WENDY COPE: Waste Land Limericks 649 1987 RICHARD WILBUR: A Fable 651 DAVID CoNSTANTiNE:The Quick and the Dead at Pompeii 652 SEAN O'BRIEN: Cousin Coat 654 CIARAN CARSON: Belfast Confetti 656 SHARON OLDS: Looking at My Father 657 THOM GuNN:The Missing 659 LES MURRAY: Letters to the Winner 661 ROBERT BRiNGHURST:The Reader 663 1988 R. S.THOMAS:The Moor 664 YUSEF KOMUNYAKAA: Facing It 665 WOLE SOYINKA: After the Deluge 667 JOHN ASHBERY: Down by the Station, Early in the Morning 669 CHARLES BOYLE: The Chess Player 670
VII 1989—2000 Endgames
1989 ELIZABETH SPIRES: The Woman on the Dump 675 Roo BORSON: After a Death 677 ELIZABETH SMiTHER:The Forecast for Night 678 SIMON ARMITAGE: Zoom! 679 CIARAN CARSON: Last Orders 680 IMTIAZ DHARKER: Purdah I 681 Toi DERRICOTTE: On the Turning Up of Unidentified Black Female Corpses 683 MATTHEW SWEENEY: Breaches 685 1990 CAROL RUMENS: A Dialogue of Perestroishiks 686 EAVAN BOLAND: Outside History 688 ROBERT PINSKY: Shirt 689 GEOFFREY LEHMANN: Parenthood 691
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GWEN HARWOOD: Bone Scan 694 HUGO WILLIAMS: When I Grow Up 695 1991 MICHAEL LASKEY: Living with the Doctor 697 PETER GOLDSWORTHY: Mass for the Middle-Aged 699 JOHN FULLER: Kent 702 BILL MANHIRE: Jalopy: The End of Love 703 LUCILLE CLIFTON: white lady 704 JOHN ASH: Cigarettes 706 JOHN FORBES: Love Poem 708 DENISE LEVERTOV: Misnomer 710 IAN DUHIG: I'r Hen Iaith A'i Chaneuon 711 JACKIE KAY: ££££ 713 1992 SIMON ARMITAGE: Gooseberry Season 714 PAULINE STAINER: Sighting the Slave Ship 716 GLYN MAXWELL: Helene and Heloise 717 1993 ANDREW JOHNSTON: HOW to Talk 720 CHARLES BOYLE: Timur the Lame 721 DOUGLAS DUNN: A Game of Bowls 722 IMTIAZ DHARKER: Untitled 723 DON PATERSON:The Scale of Intensity 725 1994 STEVE CHIMOMBO: Developments from the Grave 727 ANTHONY THWAITE: Philip Larkin in New Orleans 729 JOHN LEVETT: Early Warning 730 1995 MARY JO SALTER:A Kiss in Space 732 ANNE CARSON: God's Christ Theory 735 W. S. MERWIN: A Taste 736 KEVIN HART: Her Kiss 738 JOHN KiNSELLA:The Fire in the Forty-four 739 AUGUST KLEINZAHLER: Going 741 ALAN JENKINS: Neighbours 743 1996 VIRGINIA HAMILTON ADAIR: One Ordinary Evening 744 MARK DOTY: A Letter from the Coast 746 CHARLES SiMic:What the Gypsies Told My Grandmother While She Was Still a Young Girl 749 CHRISTOPHER REID: Two-Dogs on a Pub Roof 750 LES MURRAY: It Allows a,Portrait in Line Scan at Fifteen 753
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1997 JAMIE MCKENDRICK: Legacies 756 SELIMA HILL: Red Cows 758 1998 VINCENT O'SULLIVAN: Seeing YOU Asked 759 GLYN MAXWELL: Deep Sorriness Atonement Song 760 1999 SOPHIE HANNAH: None of the Blood 762 HUGO WILLIAMS: Her News 763 CAROL ANN DUFFY: The Devil's Wife 764 YVETTE CHRISTIANSE: Sunday School 767 BRIAN MCCABE: Hand 768 ROBERT GRAY: In Departing Light 769 2000 CHRISTOPHER REID: Bollockshire 775 ROGER FINCH: Dancing in the Churchill Lounge 779 DON COLES: Kurgan No. 10 780 KAREN PRESS: Hope for Refugees 783 KIT WRIGHT: Hoping It Might Be So 785 JEFFREY HARRISON: Pale Blue City 786
Acknowledgements 789
Index of poets and titles 801 Index of First Lines 853
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