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Books > Language & Literature > Literature: texts > Poetry texts & anthologies
The world first publication of a previously unknown work by J.R.R. Tolkien, which tells the extraordinary story of the final days of England's legendary hero, King Arthur. The Fall Of Arthur, the only venture by J.R.R. Tolkien into the legends of Arthur King of Britain, may well be regarded as his finest and most skilful achievement in the use of the Old English alliterative metre, in which he brought to his transforming perceptions of the old narratives a pervasive sense of the grave and fateful nature of all that is told: of Arthur s expedition overseas into distant heathen lands, of Guinevere's flight from Camelot, of the great sea-battle on Arthur's return to Britain, in the portrait of the traitor Mordred, in the tormented doubts of Lancelot in his French castle. Unhappily, The Fall Of Arthur was one of several long narrative poems that he abandoned in that period. In this case he evidently began it in the earlier nineteen-thirties, and it was sufficiently advanced for him to send it to a very perceptive friend who read it with great enthusiasm at the end of 1934 and urgently pressed him "You simply must finish it"! But in vain: he abandoned it, at some date unknown, though there is some evidence that it may have been in 1937, the year of the publication of The Hobbit and the first stirrings of The Lord Of The Rings. Years later, in a letter of 1955, he said that he hoped to finish a long poem on The Fall Of Arthur; but that day never came. Associated with the text of the poem, however, are many manuscript pages: a great quantity of drafting and experimentation in verse, in which the strange evolution of the poem's structure is revealed, together with narrative synopses and very significant if tantalising notes. In these latter can be discerned clear if mysterious associations of the Arthurian conclusion with The Silmarillion, and the bitter ending of the love of Lancelot and Guinevere, which was never written.
A rich anthology that illustrates the enduring narrative of war in Africa. Military strategists, commanders, warriors, conscripts and seasoned fighters come together from diverse battle landscapes to voice the horror & pathos of war. Around them chorus the haunting laments of war-widows, survivors & those who bury the dead.
Kitaar my kruis is vir die eerste keer in 1962 deur H.A.U.M. gepubliseer, en die tweede uitgawe het sewe herdrukke beleef. Small se identifikasie met sy karakters vind neerslag in sy gebruik van Kaaps – volgens hom ’n volwaardige taal waarin mense hul eerste skreeu en hul laaste doodsroggel gee. Wat in heelparty gedigte opval, is die gebruik van refreine en herhaling, wat as ’t ware die gemeenskap se vrese waarskuwings en aanklagte van die tyd eggo (Van Wyk, 2006). Verder is daar ’n sterk Ou Testamentiese inslag, maar ook talle verwysings na die geboorte en wederkoms van Christus. Volgens Steward van Wyk word dié gegewe op die lotgevalle van onderdruktes van toepassing gemaak, oa die geskiedenis van Moses en die Israelitiese volk onder Egiptiese slawerny: Soos Moses met sy staf, moet die digter met sy kitaar sy mense lei, maar omdat die taak so moeilik is, word die kitaar ironies ook sy kruis.
Now in its third year, the AVBOB Poetry Project has garnered several industry prizes. I Wish I'd Said: Volume 2 includes 101 poems with English translations: 55 specially commissioned poems and 44 poems drawn from the 2018 competition. And, following the blueprint of the first volume, we pay homage to the Khoisan languages, by including two poems by the |Xam poet Dia!kwain. South African poets old and new were asked to submit poems on loss, grieving, love and consolation in their mother tongues. This new collection – and the online poetry portal – forms a space where the voiceless may be heard, and where we find common ground. Loss is a universal language and poetry its voice.
Zambezi is die eerste reisbeskrywing in Afrikaans in jare. M.C. Botha, skepper van fiksie, het per Kombi deur Suid-Afrika, Zimbabwe en Botswana getoer en sy waarnemings onvervals neergepen. Hoe hy ontvang is by doeane en padblokkades en deur gewone mense; wat Radio Moskou na Afrika uitsaai en wat die media in Zimbabwe van Suid-Afrika se; hoe wild en ongerep wildtuine noord van die Limpopo nog is, hoe gevaarlik gebiede waar die gewapende onrus is. Zambezi is 'n interessante tydsdokument, onderhoudend geskryf en aangevul met foto's wat die skrywer self geneem het.
TikTok poet Shelby Leigh presents a moving and inspirational collection of poetry about growing up and embracing all the beauty life has to offer. The perfect gift for fans of Rupi Kaur, Connor Franta, and Cleo Wade. Shelby Leigh breaks up her poignant and reflective poetry collection into two themes: the anchor and the sail. While the anchor explores issues of insecurity, heartbreak, and anxiety, the sail focuses on healing and hope after the storm. With an emphasis on self-empowerment, changing with the tides is an evocative and celebratory set of poems for anyone who dreams of following their heart and embracing their true self.
The great Persian poet Hafez is so beloved in Iran that almost every family there keeps his "Divan" close at hand. For some fifteen years, esteemed American poet and author Robert Bly has worked with the great Islamic scholar Leonard Lewisohn to produce this translation, which for the first time captures Hafez's nimbleness, his fierce humor, his astonishing range of thought, and his delight in love--enabling English speakers to fully appreciate the true genius of this master of the "ghazal" form, one of the greatest inventions in the history of poetry.
Soos Hilda Smits se eerste, bekroonde bundel die bome reusagtig soos ons was betrek die verse in hierdie bundel die leser by die hoogs persoonlike en gee dit terserfdertyd betekenis aan die universele belewenis. Die verse is magies soos bewussynstroom, soos drome waar die kloutjie nie altyd by die oor uitkom nie, ʼn mens ervaar dit met jou onderbewuste, in jou maag. Dis dromerig soos meditasie, dis soos sit en staar na reën teen ʼn ruit. Sinne is onvoltooid, werkwoorde hang in die lug sonder naamwoorde, byvoeglike naamwoorde is bedrieglik eenvoudig; “gewone” woorde soos mooi, sterk, fyn, jonk – dis egter die onverwagse beelde wat verras, en woorde wat buite hul normale konteks ingespan word, wat jou uitknikker.
With lyric grace and meditative clarity, Phantom Gang offers a daring dissection of civilizational violence in a variety of contexts from the intimate atavisms and inequalities of Irish history to the insidious growth of the global Big Tech economy in the present day alongside deep, sensually delicate explorations of broken love and salvaged memories. Honouring the work of a range of writers and photographers, including John Clare (1793-1864), Martin Chambi (1891-1973), Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956), and Gerda Taro (1910-1937), these poems unsettle the boundaries between past and present, elegy and tribute, folkloric remembrance and political reportage, interweaving each with all to create a compelling vision of a world in motion and a consciousness alive to change - as spectral voices and still-living presences seep "into the open echo-chamber / of poetry", casting light on the inner and outer landscapes of the poet's life in time. Following his acclaimed first collection, The Buried Breath, O'Rourke here expands and enriches the thematic concerns of his early work to accommodate new forms of portraiture and moral questioning, while further honing the "clean-boned" music of his poetic style, lit always by a profound emotional charge. Phantom Gang confirms O'Rourke as a leading new voice in Irish poetry.
Die liefde, natuur en digterskap is die oorwegende temas van die bundel en elk word vanuit ’n wye spektrum perspektiewe bekyk. Herman de Coninck se werk spreek van innoverende beeldspraak, totaal gestroop van pretensie – en Daniel Hugo slaag daarin om in sy vertalings die unieke karakter van De Coninck se werk te behou. Herman de Coninck het die Afrikaanse en Suid-Afrikaanse leser se verbeelding aangegryp met Liefde, Miskien (vertaal deur Daniel Hugo) in 1998. Die lenige liefde, ’n bloemlesing uit al De Coninck se werke, sal weereens die leser betower. Meer toeganklike poesie kom ’n mens nie aldag tee nie. De Coninck se werk spreek van innoverende beeldspraak waarvan die gebrek aan pretensie die leser maak lees, luister en onthou.
Dié jongste bundel verse deur Philip de Vos is vir jonk én oud, en getuig opnuut van sy vakmanskap as digter, sy slinkse, aweregse humor maar ook sy fyn waarnemingsvermoë. Ritme dien as ruggraat vir elke vers, met ’n goeie skeut tong-in-die-kies stuitigheid, maar soms ook met ’n melancholiese, elegiese ondertoon. Daar is verse oor die Skepping, oor Moses en oor Lot, verskeie oor nig Mara en Maraaia, en ter afsluiting meer as ’n handvol stoute kwatryne.
Die Roebaijat van Omar Khajjam is ’n groep Persiese kwatryne wat beroemd geword het toe ’n Engelse vertaling van Edward FitzGerald in 1859 gepubliseer is. Sedertdien het dit al meer as 650 verskillende uitgawes en ’n groot aantal herdrukke belewe. Meer as ’n honderd komponiste het sedertdien ook toonsettings van die kwatryne geskryf. Ook in Suid-Afrika het hierdie kwatryne (die woord roebai beteken kwatryn) bekend en gewild geword, onder andere deur die Afrikaanse vertalings van bekende digters soos C.Louis Leipoldt en C.J. Langenhoven. Khajjam se oorspronklike verse was nie gerangskik in enige bepaalde volgorde of tematiese samehang nie. FitzGerald het die kwatryne egter gerangskik en soms selfs herskryf om ’n poetiese eenheid daarvan te maak en om iets van Khajjam se hedonistiese lewensfilosofie weer te gee. Die bekende digter en vertaler Daniel Hugo het 50 van die kwatryne wat FitzGerald vertaal het, uitgesoek op grond van hulle vertaalbaarheid in Afrikaans en hulle trefkrag. Hierdie keuse wil steeds die wesenlike karakter van die kwatryne te behou. Hulle kan as eenheid of as selfstandige gedigte gelees word.
The "birds, beasts and flowers" of Isobel Dixon’s new collection are in conversation with DH Lawrence's essay ‘Whistling of Birds’, thus lending this publication its name, though each poem here is its own vivid testament to the natural world, and our often troubled and troubling place in it. Lyrical, vigorous, inventive, the poems share points of creative contact with Lawrence’s iconic collection, Birds, Beasts and Flowers, but also ranges widely through the worlds of other writers and makers. Threaded throughout is the beautiful complexity and vulnerability of the planet, and the joy and difficulty of making art. With its resonant elegies and notes of celebration, this is a collection that flexes, hums and brims with energy, yet draws you surely in to its quiet, reflective heart. Poetry as powerful connection and recapitulation, and, even in landscapes of exile and diminishment, the art of rewilding and replenishing the self.
In setting the poets side by side, this volume also highlights the two main faith traditions of the West: Deane with his Roman Catholic background, rooted in the landscape of Mayo; and Harpur with his Protestant (Church of Ireland and Quaker) heritage, influenced by myth, medieval history and mystics. Their two approaches to everyday life and ultimate reality - including nature, saints and mystics, music, art, prayer, and issues of faith and doubt - combine to make a single volume full of lyrical beauty and powerful witness. In addition, an afterword consisting of an informal dialogue between the two poets complements in prose the themes their poems explore. This is a book to challenge, console, delight and make its readers think again about their own journeys through this "vale of soul-making". |
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