Deaths and endings; love; sex and the soldier; personae; the romantic personality; the straitening; the name and nature of poetry; a voice in opposition; strong feelings; jokes; hell gate and Parnassus; contacts and reversals.
A long-awaited appraisal of a critically neglected poet
John Bayley has published numerous critical works, of which the most recent is The Short Story: Henry James to Elizabeth Bowen (1988). He is a regular contributor to the Times Literary Supplement and the London Review of Books.
`John Bayley's Housman's Poems makes a cogent argument for the
continuing value of this poet ... Bayley is very good at sorting
out the poems in Housman's many books that are still of interest.
The book is clearly written and economical, and it contains a good
deal of wit and insight. It provides readers, above all, with
methods of coming to terms with a poet who has been discredited in
the last thirty years.'
Magill's Literary Annual 1993
`marvellous new study of the poetry - not a biographical account,
but perfectly willing to admit, the poet's uneventful life as a
witness when needs be. ...Bayley's book is more than a rearguard
action. It comes out fighting for the virtues of the verse ...'
The Independent
`Addicts of Housman will be grateful to ... John Bayley, for taking
us in critical detail through the poems again and drawing our
attention to points we would have missed.'
J. Enoch Powell, Daily Telegraph
'The book, though short, is taxing and illuminating; it may be read
not merely as a reappraisal of Housman but as a meditation on the
nature of poetry by a leading member of the Oxford English
school.'
Anthony Curtis, Financial Times
'Being an exceptionally good judge of poem's tone, Bayley is well
able to catch the meanings buried within meanings, or the sense
implanted in creative monsense.'
Andrew Motion, The Observer
`John Bayley's study of Housman's poems is a brilliant and rambling
book ... Bayley produces literary criticism of the "close-reading"
school at its purest and most old-fashioned. Next term John Bayley
will surrender his chair at Oxford to Terry Eagleton. I fear we
shall not look upon his like again.'
Caroline Moore, The Times
`Addicts of Housman will be grateful to ... John Bayley, for taking
us in critical detail through the poems again and drawing our
attention to points we would have missed.'
J. Enoch Powell, Daily Telegraph
`...it is studded with gems, some new-cut, some repolished.
Professor Bayley ingeniously strips down well-known Housman
issues...'
Roderic Dunnett, Church Times
`a witty, inquisitive essay that itself digs out a dangerous wit in
a poet who has, until now, failed to receive his critical
dues.'
Anthony Lane, Independent
`a marvellous book, the kind that shows you what a study of English
literature ought to be about, but to a great extent no longer
is.'
John Whitworth, The Spectator
`Housman's Poems, by John Bayley, is a sympathetic and generally
wise book, akin to an extended seminar.'
Roderic Dunnett, Church Times
`Readers familiar with the work of Professor Bayley will welcome
this new book. The writer is noted for the breadth of his interests
and the sensitivity and humanity of his criticism, couched in prose
which is subtle and persuasive but free from jargon; ... Professor
Bayley has shown superbly throughout his book the appositeness to
Housman's own poetry of the line quoted in `The Name and Nature of
Poetry' from Wordsworth - `Sorrow, that is
not sorrow, but delight'. Alan Holden, Honsman Society Journal Vol
18, 92
'this book is written with assurance, with many telling phrases and
pointed observations, however much its principal notions seem to
merge: a high and respectful intelligence is at work here'
L.K. MacKendrick, University of Windsor, Choice, January 1993
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