50 Poems & The Fire of Belonging: The Life and Work of Mick Imlah and the influence of the work on my poetic development By Robert Edward Selby A Doctoral Thesis in Creative Writing Presented to Royal Holloway, University of London February 2015 Declaration of Authorship I, Robert Edward Selby, hereby declare that this thesis and the work presented in it is entirely my own. Where I have consulted the work of others, it is always clearly stated. Signed: ___________________________________________________________ Date: ____________________________________________________________ 2 Abstract This is the most sustained study to date of the late poet Mick Imlah. The close reading it makes of a number of his poems is informed and placed in context by biographical information gathered from archival research and interviews with his friends and colleagues. The study argues that Imlah’s first collection, Birthmarks, can be understood in the context of his predilection for the fictive potential of poetry being complemented by a contemporaneous, wider renaissance in interest in the Browningesque dramatic monologue and narrative. The study argues that his second collection, The Lost Leader, can be understood in the context of Imlah’s increased identification with his Scottish heritage, triggered by creative and personal crises and encouraged by Scotland’s growing sense of nationhood towards the end of the twentieth century. The implication is that Imlah’s oeuvre, contrary to the perception that it is sui generis, can be regarded as in dialogue with changes that took place within and without British poetry towards the end of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first: the re-appreciation of Victorian verse, for instance, or the emergence, from the 1980s, of a more confident Scottish voice. Informing – and informed by – this study of Imlah’s poetry is a collection of fifty poems by the study’s author that displays a movement, similar to that which characterised Imlah’s career, towards a preoccupation with extolling a place. Both parts of the study contribute to our understanding of Imlah’s body of work, which, half a decade on from his death, is still well-regarded but becoming obscure. It is hoped that this study acts as a springboard for more specific explorations of his poetry over the coming years. 3 Acknowledgements I would like to express my gratitude to my PhD supervisor, Professor Andrew Motion, and my adviser, Professor Robert Hampson. I would also like to extend my gratitude to Professor Mark Ford and Alan Hollinghurst, the co-executors of Mick Imlah’s literary estate, as well as to Maren Meinhardt, Jane Wellesley, Professor John Fuller, Professor Bernard O’Donoghue, Professor Andrew McNeillie, Professor Robert Crawford, and Dr John Morton. Finally, my special thanks to Declan Ryan; and to my mother and father, without whom this work could not have been undertaken. 4 List of Publications An earlier version of the poem ‘The Sycamore’ appeared in the Times Literary Supplement, No. 5481, 18 April 2008, p. 8. An earlier version of the poem ‘Balfour’ appeared on the Guardian website, ‘Poetry workshop: heroes and heroines’, 8 October 2009. [http://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/oct/08/national-poetry-day-workshop] The poems ‘Acting’ and ‘Outside Elizabeth Greenwood’s’ appeared in Royal Holloway’s academic e-journal Exegesis, No. 1, Spring 2013, p. 66 and pp. 73-74. The poem ‘Acting’ was discussed by Dr John Morton in his paper ‘Poetry and the Neo- Victorian’, delivered to the conference ‘Neo-Victorian Cultures: The Victorians Today’ at Liverpool John Moores University, 24 July 2013. The poem ‘The Firecrests’ appeared in Ambit, No. 216, Spring 2014, p. 3. 5 Contents Declaration of Authorship ...................................................................................... 2 Abstract ................................................................................................................... 3 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................ 4 List of Publications ................................................................................................ 5 50 Poems ................................................................................................................. 9 Part One: An Act of Terror ...................................................................................................... 10 Scotland 12 Ireland 8 ........................................................................................................ 11 Dunnottar .......................................................................................................................... 15 The Firecrests .................................................................................................................... 17 Acting ................................................................................................................................. 19 Outside Elizabeth Greenwood’s .................................................................................... 21 Balfour ................................................................................................................................ 23 An Aurelian Watches His Wife ....................................................................................... 25 Matilda Tennyson Recalls Encountering Arthur Hallam’s Ghost ............................. 28 The Party ............................................................................................................................ 30 The Sycamore .................................................................................................................... 34 The Land Girl’s Story ....................................................................................................... 36 The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders ........................................................................ 40 Trouble ............................................................................................................................... 44 Part Two: Chevening ................................................................................................................. 45 I............................................................................................................................................ 46 II .......................................................................................................................................... 47 III ........................................................................................................................................ 49 IV ........................................................................................................................................ 50 V .......................................................................................................................................... 51 VI ........................................................................................................................................ 52 VII ....................................................................................................................................... 53 VIII ..................................................................................................................................... 55 6 IX ........................................................................................................................................ 56 X .......................................................................................................................................... 57 XI ........................................................................................................................................ 58 XII ....................................................................................................................................... 60 XIII ..................................................................................................................................... 61 XIV ..................................................................................................................................... 62 XV ....................................................................................................................................... 63 XVI ..................................................................................................................................... 65 Part Three: East of Ipswich ....................................................................................................... 67 1. In God’s Prevenient Grace ....................................................................................... 68 2. Orford .......................................................................................................................... 69 3. The End of the Horse Age ....................................................................................... 71 4. Elysium ........................................................................................................................ 73 5. When That Which is Perfect is Come .................................................................... 75 6. Visiting Day ................................................................................................................ 76 7. The Divide .................................................................................................................. 78 8. We May Allow Ourselves