Selected Poems
by Carol Ann Duffy
On This Page
Description
Carol Ann Duffy is one of the most widely-read living poets in Britain, known for being both accessible and yet an academic favorite. She has chosen her favorite poems for this collection, drawing from her first four acclaimed books: Standing Female Nude, Selling Manhattan, The Other Country, and Mean Time (winner of the Whitbread Poetry Award). The poems are read by the author—the first time she's recorded her work as an audiobook.Tags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
I wanted to like the Poet Laureate's work more than I did, but I didn't.
There are some lines that are moving, clever or funny, but mostly I felt I had to force my way through it to get to the end (which last, five-line poem, Mrs Darwin is one of the humorous and clever poems that I liked).
I can see that there is merit here but, given that this is a 'best of...', I don't think I'll be seeking out any more of Duffy's work as it doesn't seem to speak to me in the way that it clearly does to the awards panels and to the Queen.
There are some lines that are moving, clever or funny, but mostly I felt I had to force my way through it to get to the end (which last, five-line poem, Mrs Darwin is one of the humorous and clever poems that I liked).
I can see that there is merit here but, given that this is a 'best of...', I don't think I'll be seeking out any more of Duffy's work as it doesn't seem to speak to me in the way that it clearly does to the awards panels and to the Queen.
Mostly, I don't know why I forced myself to read on through this selection of bleak and depressing free verse poems, most of which made me think of fragments of nightmares. I got this book because I'd come across Carol Ann Duffy when I purchased a beautifully illustrated children's book called The Gift (which I've yet to read) and thought I may as well get a feel for her poetry first. This book seemed like a good choice because it's a selection from her first four acclaimed volumes, Standing Female Nude (1985), Selling Manhattan (1987), The Other Country (1990) and Mean Time (1993) and finally a few selections from The World's Wife (1999), my favourite entries by far. In truth I mostly got this particular volume because I loved the show more cover designed by Petra Borner, an artist I've profiled on a pervious thread. There was one poem, also bleak, but quite beautiful, one of the few which made me think "ah, this is why I've plodded on!", but I didn't mark the page, and just now the thought of having to read through some likely candidates and tripping over so many jagged corners of consciousness was more than I could bear. So instead, the final poem, because it made me smile, taken from The World's Wife which includes entries by Mrs Midas, Mrs Lazarus, Mrs Aesop and Queen Kong:
Mrs Darwin
7 April 1852.
Went to the Zoo.
I said to Him —
Something about that Chimpanzee over there reminds
me of you. show less
Mrs Darwin
7 April 1852.
Went to the Zoo.
I said to Him —
Something about that Chimpanzee over there reminds
me of you. show less
I quite liked a number of the poems collected here for their sentiments but in terms of poetic expression, Duffy does not compare well with many modern poets. Much of her work could be re-arranged into prose without the loss of anything - not the sign of a great poet. Disappointing for the current Poet Laureate.
I love Carol Ann Duffy's poetry. I haven't read it exhaustively, mind you, but I have read quite a bit. This collection includes poetry from her first four volumes, plus six poems from my favorite, The World's Wife. Duffy has her own quirky voice, a great sense of humor, and writes accessibly. She has a way with language that just delights me.
Lovely. One of the books I frequently turn to. Smart, sexy, funny, angry. "Warming Her Pearls" and "Miles Away" are two of my favorites.
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Lists
Books Read in 2016
4,666 works; 199 members
Author Information
106+ Works 4,813 Members
Carol Ann Duffy has published four highly praised collections of poetry. Her last, "Mean Time", won the "Forward" Poetry Prize & the Whitbread Poetry Prize. She lives in Manchester, England. (Publisher Fact Sheets) Carol Ann Duffy was born on December 23, 1955 in Gasgow. She is a Scottish poet and playwright. She is also Professor of Contemporary show more Poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University, and was appointed Britain's Poet Laureate in May 2009. She is the first woman, the first Scot, and the first openly LGBT person to hold the position. She was a passionate reader from an early age, and always wanted to be a writer, producing poems from the age of 11. When Duffy was 15, June Scriven sent her poems to Outposts, a publisher of pamphlets, where it was read by the bookseller Bernard Stone, who published some of them. She applied to the University of Liverpool and began a philosophy degree there in 1974. She had two plays performed at the Liverpool Playhouse, wrote a pamphlet, Fifth Last Song, and received an honours degree in philosophy in 1977. She worked as poetry critic for The Guardian from 1988 -1989, and was editor of the poetry magazine, Ambit. In 1996, she was appointed as a lecturer in poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University, and later became creative director of its Writing School. She has since gone on to write several works of poetry and children's books. Her title's The World's Wife, Rapture, and The Bees made the New Zealand Best Seller List. (Publisher Provided) show less
Some Editions
Work Relationships
Is an abridged version of
Has as a student's study guide
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Selected Poems
- Original publication date
- 1994
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 315
- Popularity
- 100,936
- Reviews
- 5
- Rating
- (3.78)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook
- ISBNs
- 5
