Acceptable words: Essays on the poetry of Geoffrey Hill

Jeffrey Wainwright

doi:10.7765/9781847793966

Geoffrey Hill has said that some great poetry ‘recognises that words fail us’. This book explores his struggle over fifty years with the recalcitrance of language. It seeks to show how all Hill's work is marked by the quest for the right pitch of utterance whether it is sorrowing, angry, satiric or erotic. The book shows how Hill's words are never lightly ‘acceptable’ but an ethical act, how he seeks out words he can stand by—words that are ‘getting it right’. It is a comprehensive critical work on Geoffrey Hill, covering all his work up to Scenes from Comus (2005), as well as some poems yet to appear in book form.

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Contents

Front matter
pp i-iv
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Epigraph
pp v-v
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Dedication
pp vi-vi
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Contents
pp vii-viii
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Acknowledgements
pp ix-x
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Abbreviations
pp xi-xii
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1 - ‘Acceptable words’
pp 1-17
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2 - ‘The speechless dead’: <italic>King Log</italic> (1968)
pp 18-26
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3 - Poet, lover, liar: ‘Lachrimae’ (1975)
pp 27-34
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4 - ‘Our love is what we love to have’: <italic>Tenebrae</italic>(1978)
pp 35-43
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5 - Things and words: <italic>The Mystery of the Charity of Charles Péguy</italic> (1983)
pp 44-57
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6 - History as poetry: ‘Churchill’s Funeral’ and ‘De Jure Belli ac Pacis’ (<italic>Canaan</italic>, 1996)
pp 58-71
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7 - <italic>The Triumph of Love</italic> (1998)
pp 72-94
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8 - ‘Beauty is difficult’: <italic>Speech! Speech!</italic> (2000)
pp 95-107
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9 - ‘Here and there I pull a flower’: <italic>The Orchards of Syon</italic> (2002)
pp 108-123
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10 - <italic>‘In wintry solstice like the shorten’d light’</italic>: <italic>Scenes from Comus</italic> (2005)
pp 124-135
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11 - Afterword: ‘“I have not finished”’
pp 136-137
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Notes
pp 138-143
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Select bibliography
pp 144-148
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Index
pp 149-155
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Acceptable words

Essays on the poetry of Geoffrey Hill

Book description

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Contents

Front matter
pp i-iv

Epigraph
pp v-v

Dedication
pp vi-vi

Contents
pp vii-viii

Acknowledgements
pp ix-x

Abbreviations
pp xi-xii

1 - ‘Acceptable words’
pp 1-17

2 - ‘The speechless dead’: <italic>King Log</italic> (1968)
pp 18-26

3 - Poet, lover, liar: ‘Lachrimae’ (1975)
pp 27-34

4 - ‘Our love is what we love to have’: <italic>Tenebrae</italic>(1978)
pp 35-43

5 - Things and words: <italic>The Mystery of the Charity of Charles Péguy</italic> (1983)
pp 44-57

6 - History as poetry: ‘Churchill’s Funeral’ and ‘De Jure Belli ac Pacis’ (<italic>Canaan</italic>, 1996)
pp 58-71

7 - <italic>The Triumph of Love</italic> (1998)
pp 72-94

8 - ‘Beauty is difficult’: <italic>Speech! Speech!</italic> (2000)
pp 95-107

9 - ‘Here and there I pull a flower’: <italic>The Orchards of Syon</italic> (2002)
pp 108-123

10 - <italic>‘In wintry solstice like the shorten’d light’</italic>: <italic>Scenes from Comus</italic> (2005)
pp 124-135

11 - Afterword: ‘“I have not finished”’
pp 136-137

Notes
pp 138-143

Select bibliography
pp 144-148

Index
pp 149-155

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Accessibility standard: Unknown

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Acceptable words

Essays on the poetry of Geoffrey Hill

Book description

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Contents

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Accessibility standard: Unknown

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