Books in the British Poets series

ROBERT HERRICK: SELECTED POEMS ROBERT HERRICK (1591-1674) was one of the Cavalier poets (other Cavalier poets included Suckling, Carew and Lovelace). He was born in London and lived much of his life in the rough remoteness of a parish in Devonshire. He studied at Cambridge (St John¿s College and Trinity Hall). His law studies were dropped in 1623, and he was ordained as a deacon and priest in 1624. Herrick¿s major work, Hesperides or The Works Both Humane and Divine of Robert Herrick Esq., was published in 1648. There are some 1130 poems in the first, secular part, Hesperides, and 272 in Noble Numbers, the religious pieces. Herrick¿s poetry (his Hesperides) followed the plan outlined the poem ¿The Argument of His Book¿, with its lyrical evocation of the natural world. Herrick was particularly well situated, geographically, to write nature poetry. Like Coleridge, Wordsworth and Brontë, Herrick lived in the midst of the countryside, in the relative isolation of Dean Prior, on the edge of Dartmoor in Devon. There are many poems in Robert Herrick¿s work of love - about love desired, lost and mourned. Herrick is very definitely a ¿Muse poet¿, to use Robert Graves¿s term. There are many poems about various mistresses, ¿my dearest Beauties¿ he calls them in ¿To My Lovely Mistresses¿ (Anthea, Perilla, Electra, Blanch, Judith, Silvia, and the most beloved of all, Julia). There are many poems to certain ¿muses¿ or ¿maidens¿. The sheer number (and quality) of Herrick¿s poems to Julia attests to his deep passion for the friendship and strength of women: ¿To Juliä, ¿To Roses in Juliäs Bosom¿, ¿To Julia, Her Dawn, or Daybreak¿, ¿The Parliament of Roses to Juliä, ¿Upon Juliäs Recovery¿, ¿On Juliäs Fall¿, ¿His Sailing From Juliä, ¿Her Legs¿, ¿Her Bed¿, ¿On Juliäs Picture¿, ¿The Bracelet to Juliä, ¿To Julia in the Temple¿ and so on. Apart from poems addressed ¿To His Book¿, there are more poems in Robert Herrick¿s output ¿To Juliä than to anything else. Julia is ¿the prime of Paradise¿ (¿To Julia, in Her Dawn, or Day-breake¿). She is utterly adored, often erotically. There are poems which eulogize her breasts and nipples, for instance: ¿Display thy breasts.../ Between whose glories, there my lips I¿ll lay,/ Ravisht¿, he writes (in ¿Upon Juliäs Breasts¿); other paeans to Juliäs breasts include ¿Upon the Roses in Juliäs Bosom¿, and ¿Upon the Nipples of Juliäs Breast¿. Herrick makes the age-old connections between the fertility of nature outside (the rain, the lush vegetation, the rivers of the Paradisal Earth) and the bounty of women inside (Juliäs breasts form a valley of abundance, as in William Shakespeare¿s ¿Venus and Adonis¿, in which the poet would like to languish). Women in Herrick¿s poetry are seen as the givers of pleasure (expressed as sex), nurturance (breast milk), and all things worthy in the world (love). ¿All Pleasures meet in Woman-kind¿, he writes in ¿On Himself¿. They are just as important in his poetry as God, the King or Christianity.

PETER REDGROVE: HERE COMES THE FLOOD A Study of His Poetry by Jeremy Mark Robinson Poems of honey, wasps and bees; orchards and apples; rivers, seas and tides; storms, rain, weather and clouds; waterworks; labyrinths; amazing perfumes; wet shirts and 'wonder-awakening dresses'; the Cornish landscape (Penzance, Perranporth, Falmouth, Boscastle, the Lizard and Scilly Isles); the sixth sense and 'extra-sensuous perception'; witchcraft; alchemical vessels and laboratories; yoga; menstruation; mines, minerals and stones; sand dunes; mud-baths; mythology; dreaming; vulvas; and lots of sex magic. This book looks at poetry (and prose) from every stage of Peter Redgrove's career, and every book. It includes pieces that have only appeared in small presses and magazines, and in uncollected form. This new edition has been rewritten completely and includes a new introduction and bibliography. Illustrated. British Poets Series. EXTRACT FROM CHAPTER ONE, ON POETRY AND LIFE ...this 'strangeness' is 'strange' because reality is so fucking extraordinary, and strange too because most of us try to live without strangeness, and construct something called the 'ordinary' which never existed. Actually, the strangeness is so ordinary as to be quite natural. The strangeness is wonder and what is wondered at is so wonderful that it is strange we do not wonder more. Peter Redgrove, letter to the author (March 5, 1993) Peter Redgrove's poetic code is to create poems which describe or actualize this strangeness of living. The strangeness is here, all around us, he says, but we become immune to it. The poet's task is therefore to refresh body and soul, so that the incredible beauty and strangeness of life is once again experienced. The emphasis is on direct experience, not on abstraction or distance. Redgrove hates the synthetic and artificial. Redgrove's poetic ethic is one of direct touches - the Blakean (and Coleridgean) direct contact stemming from the cleansing of the senses. Peter Redgrove wrote to Jeremy Robinson about this book: Your essay has an infectious enthusiasm, which I'm grateful for, and I especially like the places where you actually grapple with the language of my poems, which is like writing them again. It is a very good piece, which carries the reader with it... Your own approach is irreplaceable because it seems to me founded on your own individuality and personal experience of my poems - which is vastly gratifying... in the majority it is vastly stimulating and insightful. Always, I am grateful to you for your trouble, and your deep response to what I have written.

SEX-MAGIC-POETRY-CORNWALL: THE POEMS OF PETER REDGROVE A new study of the poems of one of Britain's best but underrated poets, Peter Redgrove (1932-2003). This book considers some of Redgrove's wildest and most passionate works, creating a 'flood' of poetry. Philip Hobsbaum called Redgrove 'the great poet of our time', while Angela Carter said: 'Redgrove's language can light up a page.' Redgrove ranks alongside Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath. He is in every way a major poet. Jeremy Robinson's essay analyzes all of Redgrove's poetic work, including his use of sex magic, natural science, menstrual energy, psychology, myth, alchemy and feminism. This new edition has been completely rewritten. With a bibliography and resources. Illustrated. British Poets Series. Peter Redgrove wrote to Jeremy Robinson about this book: Sex-Magic-Poetry-Cornwall is a very rich essay... It is a very good piece... Your essay has an infectious enthusiasm, which I'm grateful for, and I especially like the places where you actually grapple with the language of my poems, which is like writing them again. It is a very good piece, which carries the reader with it... Your own approach is irreplaceable because it seems to me founded on your own individuality and personal experience of my poems - which is vastly gratifying... in the majority it is vastly stimulating and insightful. Always, I am grateful to you for your trouble, and your deep response to what I have written. I like very much the way you have resurrected poems I had forgotten worked, like the clothes magic-wet and the alchemical honeymoon - I thought they didn't work because nobody had put them in context before of the elemental life that nudges into them always - and I like the cragginess of the prose poems in contrast. Your choice of quotations is excellent throughout, and this is the real point - plus enthusiasm.. it is like a laser gas into which you pump your enthusiastic energy, there is a sudden shift of atomic orbits, and the texts shine with their own weird and natural light!

ROBERT HERRICK UPON JULIA'S BREASTS: LOVE POEMS Edited by M.K. Pace ROBERT HERRICK (1591-1674) was one of the Cavalier poets (other Cavalier poets included Suckling, Carew and Lovelace). He was born in London and lived much of his life in the rough remoteness of a parish in Devonshire. He studied at Cambridge (St John's College and Trinity Hall). His law studies were dropped in 1623, and he was ordained as a deacon and priest in 1624. There are many poems in Robert Herrick's work of love - about love desired, lost and mourned. Herrick is very definitely a 'Muse poet', to use Robert Graves's term. There are many poems about several mistresses, 'my dearest Beauties' he calls them in 'To My Lovely Mistresses' (Anthea, Perilla, Electra, Blanch, Judith, Silvia, and the most beloved of all, Julia). There are many poems to certain 'muses' or 'maidens'. The sheer number (and quality) of Robert Herrick's poems to Julia attests to his deep passion for the friendship and strength of women: 'To Julia', 'To Roses in Julia's Bosom', 'To Julia, Her Dawn, or Daybreak', 'The Parliament of Roses to Julia', 'Upon Julia's Recovery', 'On Julia's Fall', 'His Sailing From Julia', 'Her Legs', 'Her Bed', 'On Julia's Picture', 'The Bracelet to Julia', 'To Julia in the Temple' and so on. Apart from poems addressed 'To His Book', there are more poems in Robert Herrick's output 'To Julia' than to anything else. Julia is 'the prime of Paradise' ('To Julia, in Her Dawn, or Day-breake'). She is utterly adored, often erotically. There are poems which eulogize her breasts and nipples, for instance: 'Display thy breasts.../ Between whose glories, there my lips I'll lay,/ Ravisht', he writes (in 'Upon Julia's Breasts'); other paeans to Julia's breasts include 'Upon the Roses in Julia's Bosom', and 'Upon the Nipples of Julia's Breast'. Her eyes, her nose, her mouth, her blush, her legs, her voice, her clothes, her perfume, her teeth - even her sweat. Robert Herrick's major work, Hesperides or The Works Both Humane and Divine of Robert Herrick Esq., was published in 1648. There are some 1130 poems in the first, secular part, Hesperides, and 272 in Noble Numbers, the religious pieces. Most of the poems in Hesperides have printed on a page of their own. Robert Herrick's poetry (his Hesperides) followed the plan outlined the poem 'The Argument of His Book', with its lyrical evocation of the natural world. Herrick was particularly well situated, geographically, to write nature poetry. Like Coleridge, Wordsworth and Brontë, Herrick lived in the midst of the countryside, in the relative isolation of Dean Prior, on the edge of Dartmoor in Devon. Includes illustrations, an introduction to Robert Herrick, and bibliography. 148 pages. www.crmoon.com