An illustrated collection of poetry by the British poet John Heath-Stubbs. Prolific during the 1940s and 1950s, Heath-Stubbs received the Queen's Gold Medal for poetry in 1958, and later the O.B.E for services to literature.

John Heath-Stubbs' new collection is wise, wry and unexpected. In his eighty-sixth year, the poet commands his medium with a virtuoso's easy lightness of touch, returning to lifelong preoccupations with a fresh and intimate attention. His responsiveness to the natural world, to birds in particular, is deepened by a lifetime's observation and listening, and invigorated by delight in nature's unfailing newness. Genial and tolerant, this collection mixes an inevitable nostalgia with light-heartedness; satirical squibs are balanced by moments of elegiac beauty. The grace of the moment is highlighted by an awareness of the continuities of natural and human history. C.H. Sisson called Heath-Stubbs 'a Johnsonian presence with a Miltonic disability' (a reference to the poet's blindness); like Johnson in his later years, Heath-Stubbs' learned urbanity is enormously generous and beguilingly gruff.

C.H. Sisson called John Heath-Stubbs `a Johnsonian presence with a Miltonic disability’ – a reference to the poet’s blindness. This selection of an abundant poet restores him to a new readership with the work on which his popularity was based. His ground-breaking early poetry is given its due, especially the major long poem Wounded Thammuz, printed here in its entirety. Heath-Stubbs was at the centre of the New Romantic school. The Second World War left him as almost the sole representative of one stream of English poetry. He remains crucial to the 1940s and ’50s, and was a popular presence into the 1980s, composing his later poems in his head and reciting from memory. Too long he has been sidelined by shifts of critical fashion. Selected Poems includes a critical preface by John Clegg who essentialises and celebrates the work. Three of Heath-Stubbs’ translations of Leopardi – revered by subsequent translators, and long out of print – are included.

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.