Robert Hillyer (1895–1961)

This new poetry collection contains six of Hillyer's pre-Pulitzer books in their entirety, including a longer narrative poem (Carmus) that is a haunting fairy tale for adults with beautiful imagery and sentences.

While poets of Hillyer's era were flirting with modernism, imagism and symbolism, Hillyer was working with sonnets with constricted forms with meter and rhyme, and pastorals, mostly rejecting free verse and the "existential agonies of modern man" in order to write about eternal show more themes like nature, love and death, his poems rarely sounded artificial or stilted. Although occasionally the poems used allusions to art and history and mythology, the poems mostly remained accessible and didn't require elaborate footnotes.

This ebook edition also contains illustrations by Beatrice Stevens and two books of a collection of 19th and century Danish poetry and an improved translation in verse of the Egyptian Book of the Dead. This sensibility is apparent in his poems as well and were sounded with the mastery that conceals its art.

This volume includes English translations Hillyer did of Danish poems by notable Danish poets from 1779s -1950s. This ebook contains verse lines of various lengths, using a smaller display like a mobile phone is not recommended. For audio book you need quite and restful place to enjoy these poetry. show less

This is quite a lovely book. I was drawn in by a “new” poet, being unfamiliar with Robert Hillier’s work. It’s meaty—quite unlike what is being published today, so it was a welcome introduction. I appreciated the illustrations as well as his Dutch translations and the essay to go along with the Egyptian Book of the Dead, and this is a book I can see myself revisiting again and again. But my favorite was perhaps “New England,” a short but remarkable piece which absolutely evoked show more the dreariness of our cold winters. Thank you to the publisher for providing a copy of this book through LibraryThing. show less

I was not familiar with this Hillyer prior to reading this volume, and now, having read it - thoroughly enjoyed the poems presented. There are a wide range of poems presented including original works as well as translations. Editor provides good narratives to support discussions of the Danish translations and Egyptian works as a background. Great collection of poems. This was an Early Reviewer volume via LibraryThing.

Pre-Pulizer Poetry was an undertaking to read. It is a literary work and required time and effort to get through. Anyone who is a fan of Robert Hillyer will enjoy this collection of the young beginnings of his later artistry. There are so many poems/sonnets/musings that define this work. They are lyrical and speak extensively about the external world. His work calls the reader to take pause and reflect. There are many themes. Hillyer delves into such topics as love, loss, passing time and show more his work is timeless and has a depth that is not seem much anymore in modern poetry. One can see in this early work the beginnings of his evolution into a distinguished literary career. This book also includes multiple other poems equally literary and translations from multiple poets. There is some beautiful art work includes in the volume as well. Personally, this would not be a volume of poetry that I would buy. But, I cannot dismiss the excellence of the writing or the thinking that inspired the words. show less