Published Poems 1980-1989

An annotated checklist

Poems Collected and Uncollected 1980-1985

23 January 1980

Written 23 January 1980 or thereabouts, in the University Library and Roxana Waterson's house, Emery Street, Cambridge. Published in Granta new series, no. 2, 1980; Naked Masks, 1980; Dragon, 1980-81; Anaglypta (London: Many Press, 1985); This Other Life (Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1988). Included in Selected Poems.

For My Wife to Be

Alluding to the marriage with Rosemary Laxton, 3 November 1979. Written early 1980 in Roxana Waterson's house, Emery Street, Cambridge. Published in Granta new series, no. 2, 1980; This Other Life (Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1988).

What the Matter Could Be

Written early 1980 in Roxana Waterson's house, Emery Street, Cambridge. Published in the Trinity Review, 1980; Overdrawn Account (Many Press: London, 1980); This Other Life (Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1988).

Responsibilities and Distances

Tonight, the foreshortening
attenuates - beyond me
apprehensive, certain rooms.

Squat or tall, alternately,
trees along the pavement edge
emerge from spilt shadow

where the avenue's lamp-tubes'
milky lights illuminate
then flicker out this late.

Expected home four hours ago
and thinking I won't be long now -
my promises have emptied.

Preempting in my mind rebukes
you would hardly sink to,
words come for me distances.

You were saying, I grow apart
when what I want is to belong.
Leafage seconds that pointedly.

My footsteps clack another reply.
Let me be, a part of things
further still attached to you.

Written in Cambridge, spring 1980. Published in the Trinity Review, 1980. Uncollected.

There Again

Begun in Searle Street, summer 1979, the middle verse written in Via Sabbotino, Verona, June 1980. A version with two verses published in Twofold no. 2, 1980; three-part final text published in Poetry Wales vol. 22 no. 2, 1987 and This Other Life (Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1988). Scheduled for Selected Poems.

Cleaning

Written with a memory of Hugo von Hofmannsthal's 'Ballade des Ausseren Lebens' as a formal model, early 1980 in Roxana Waterson's house, Emery Street, Cambridge, employing some fragments from draft poems of summer 1978. Published in Twofold no.2, 1980; Siting Fires no. 1, 1982; Anaglypta (London: Many Press, 1985); This Other Life (Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1988). Included in Selected Poems.

These Last Days

Written in 62 Searle Street, Cambridge, and the University Library during 1980. Published in Delta no. 62, 1981; Dragon 1980-81; This Other Life (Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1988). Included in Selected Poems.

In Our Own Time

Written while borrowing Eric Griffiths' rooms in Christ's College, Cambridge, as a place to stay over Easter 1980. Published in Delta no. 62, 1981, and Ink vol. 4 no. 5, 1981. Collected in This Other Life (Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1988).

A Summer Thunderstorm

Written in Aberystwyth, Wales, during autumn 1981. Published in Siting Fires no. 1, 1982; Dragon 1982; This Other Life (Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1988).

English as a Foreign Language

Written in my office in Aberystwyth, Wales. Dated 30 May to 5 June 1982, with the epigraph 'foscia, f; mist, haze.' Published in Siting Fires no. 1, 1982, and This Other Life (Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1988).

Bay Hotel

Written early February 1981 on the way to and at Aberystwyth when taking up a temporary lectureship. Published as 'Guest House' in Dragon 1982; as 'Bay Hotel' in English, vol. 32 no. 143, 1983; dated February 1981 in Anaglypta (London: Many Press, 1985); This Other Life (Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1988).

Feeding the Dead is Necessary

Written in 12 Selsea Avenue, Southsea, Christmas 1980. Title bottowed from W. S. Graham, 'Implements in their Places' no. 64. Published in Dragon 1982; English, vol. 32 no. 143, 1983; Anaglypta (London: Many Press, 1985); This Other Life (Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1988).

For Different Friends

Begun in Searle Street, 9 December 1980, as an elegy for John Lennon. Revised in Catford, South London, summer 1981. Published in English, vol. 32 no. 143, 1983; Trinity Review, 1983; dated 1980-1 in Anaglypta (London: Many Press, 1985); This Other Life (Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1988). Reprinted, with slight but definitive revisions, in Liverpool Accents: Seven Poets and a City ed. P. Robinson (Liverpool University Press: Liverpool, 1996).

The Earthly Remains

Written 1 November 1982 in Hyndewood, Forest Hill. Published in Trinity Review, 1983; Poetry Now no. 4, 1985; This Other Life (Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1988).

A Short History

Written 1980-1. Published in Other Poetry nos. 11 and 12, 1983. This Other Life (Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1988). Reprinted, with slight but definitive revisions, in Liverpool Accents: Seven Poets and a City ed. P. Robinson (Liverpool University Press: Liverpool, 1996). Included in Selected Poems.

Editorial Footnote

Written in 62 Searle Street, Autumn 1980. Published in Aquarius vol. 15 no. 16, 1983. This Other Life (Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1988).

After the Explosion, 1654

Written 1981-3, the first draft in Catford, the finished version in Forest Hill. Published in PN Review 38 vol. 10 no. 6, 1984. This Other Life (Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1988).

News Abroad

Written in early January 1983 in Via Bixio and at the Breakaway School, Via Levanto, Verona. It alludes to Tim Dooley's 'Above Genoa', collected in The Interrupted Dream (London: Anvil Press, 1985), and hence the dedication. Published in PN Review 38 vol. 10 no. 6, 1984; dated 1983 in Anaglypta (London: Many Press, 1985); but then dated 1982 as an allusion to the Falklands Crisis, in This Other Life (Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1988). Reprinted in Liverpool Accents: Seven Poets and a City ed. P. Robinson (Liverpool University Press: Liverpool, 1996). Included in Selected Poems.

Granny, After Chardin

Written in Hyndewood, Forest Hill. Published texts give the date as 7 October 1982, presumably the day of my grandmother's funeral; but notebook dating reads 10 Oct to 4 Nov 1982. Published in PN Review 38 vol. 10 no. 6, 1984; Anaglypta (London: Many Press, 1985); This Other Life (Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1988). Included with small revisions in Selected Poems.

Towards Darkness

Published in PN Review 43 vol. 11 no. 5, 1984. This Other Life (Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1988). Included in Selected Poems.

Hackney Marshes

Published in PN Review 43 vol. 11 no. 5, 1984. This Other Life (Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1988).

In the Small Hours

The dream reported was triggered by being ask to write a reference for a Czech research grant made by Andrew Shelley. It was written in the English Faculty Library, West Road, Cambridge, in autumn 1983. The form is imitated from Pascoli. Published in PN Review 43 vol. 11 no. 5, 1984. Collected in Anaglypta (London: Many Press, 1985) and This Other Life (Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1988). Included in Selected Poems.

Landscaping Near Heslington

Written on holiday in the Dordogne, September 1983, soon after returning to York for an Open University Summer School. Published in the Trinity Review 1984, English, vol. 34 no. 150, 1985. Collected in Anaglypta (London: Many Press, 1985) and This Other Life (Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1988).

472 Claremont Road

First verse written in Peter Swaab's flat in Chesterton Road, Cambridge, during the Lent term of 1984, the morning after being shown the T. S. Eliot epigraph by him; completed in Hyndewood, Forest Hill, soon afterwards. Published in the Trinity Review 1984 and English vol. 34 no. 150, 1985. Collected in Anaglypta (London: Many Press, 1985) and This Other Life (Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1988). Related to the early poem 'Language's Condition' in my '"As wallpaper peels from a wall": Words and Things for Donald Davie', Donald Davie at 70: A Celebration, PN Review 88, vol. 19 no. 2, 1992. Included in Selected Poems.

Change of Place

Published in English vol. 34 no. 150, 1985. This Other Life (Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1988).

In my Father's House

Partly written in the National Gallery, London, while waiting to meet Andrew Shelley sometime in 1984. Published in Poetry Now no. 4, 1985. This Other Life (Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1988). Included in Selected Poems.

Temporary Poems

Written in Aberystwyth and Sydenham 1981. Published in Trinity Review 1985. This Other Life (Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1988).

At Salo

Revised over Christmas 1994 in Southsea. Published in Trinity Review 1985; Tom Raworth's series of Infolio no. 60, 13 Feb 1987. This Other Life (Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1988).

Towards Twyford

Written in Southsea after visiting Adam Clarke-Williams in Winchester. Published as 'Towards Twyford, 23 March 1985' in Trinity Review 1986, Critical Quarterly vol. 30 no. 3, 1988, and This Other Life (Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1988).

Depending on the Weather

Written in Cambridge in June 1985. Published in Trinity Review 1986; Acumen no. 4, 1986. With revisions in This Other Life (Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1988). Included in Selected Poems.

South Parade

Published in The Fiction Magazine vol. 5 no. 9, 1986. This Other Life (Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1988).

Their Late Effects

Published in English vol. 36 no. 155, 1987. This Other Life (Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1988).

A Difficult Passage

Published in English vol. 36 no. 155, 1987. This Other Life (Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1988).

Nearly in the Clouds

Published in PN Review 55 vol. 13 no. 5, 1987. This Other Life (Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1988).

For Lavinia

Written in Fen Ditton, 1985-6, after seeing the BBC production of Titus Andronicus. Published in PN Review 58 vol. 14 no. 2, 1987; This Other Life (Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1988); Liverpool Accents: Seven Poets and a City; A Choice of British Poetry; included in Selected Poems.

Overlooking Verona

Published in PN Review 58 vol. 14 no. 2, 1987.This Other Life (Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1988).

Faith in the City

Published in PN Review 58 vol. 14 no. 2, 1987. This Other Life (Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1988). Included in Selected Poems.

Plain Money

Written in Fen Ditton, Cambridge, in 1985. Published in PN Review 59 vol. 14 no. 3, 1987 and This Other Life (Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1988). Reprinted in The Oxford Book of Money ed. K. Jackson (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995) and Liverpool Accents: Seven Poets and a City ed. P. Robinson (Liverpool University Press: Liverpool, 1996). Quoted and commented on in my '"Come Home to Myself": Matt Simpson's Poetry', Making Connections: a Festschrift for Matt Simpson, ed. A Topping (Exeter: Stride, 1996). Included in Selected Poems.

By the Lines

Published in PN Review 59 vol. 14 no. 3, 1987. This Other Life (Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1988).

After a Quiet Life

First part published in The North, 1987. This Other Life (Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1988).

Poems Collected and Uncollected 1986-1989

Unfaithful Translations

Published in Poetry Durham no. 19, 1988, More About the Weather (Cambridge: Robert Jones, 1989). Collected in Entertaining Fates (Manchester: Carcanet, 1992). Included in Selected Poems.

Towards Levanto

Published in Poetry Durham no. 19, 1988, More About the Weather (Cambridge: Robert Jones, 1989). Collected in Entertaining Fates (Manchester: Carcanet, 1992). Included in Selected Poems.

A Change of Heart

Published in PN Review 65 vol. 15 no. 3, 1988, More About the Weather (Cambridge: Robert Jones, 1989). Collected in Entertaining Fates (Manchester: Carcanet, 1992). Included in Selected Poems.

On Van Gogh's La Crau

Completed during the spring of 1988 in Fen Ditton. Published in PN Review 65 vol. 15 no. 3, 1988; More About the Weather (Cambridge: Robert Jones, 1989). Collected in Entertaining Fates (Manchester: Carcanet, 1992). Included in Selected Poems.

Not Yet Out of the Wood

Published in Folded Sheets no. 5, 1988, More About the Weather (Cambridge: Robert Jones, 1989). Collected in Entertaining Fates (Manchester: Carcanet, 1992). Included in Selected Poems.

Nearer to the Absent

Published in Folded Sheets no. 5, 1988. Collected in Entertaining Fates (Manchester: Carcanet, 1992).

After Dinner Speech

Published in Folded Sheets no. 5, 1988. Collected in Entertaining Fates (Manchester: Carcanet, 1992).

After the Last Train Leaving the Capital

Published in Folded Sheets no. 5, 1988. Collected in Entertaining Fates (Manchester: Carcanet, 1992).

At Swarkestone Pavilion

Published in Folded Sheets no. 5, 1988, More About the Weather (Cambridge: Robert Jones, 1989). Collected in Entertaining Fates (Manchester: Carcanet, 1992).

In Summer Wind

Published in Folded Sheets no. 5, 1988, More About the Weather (Cambridge: Robert Jones, 1989). Collected in Entertaining Fates (Manchester: Carcanet, 1992).

Consorts of Phantasms

Published in Verse vol. 5 no. 3, 1988, More About the Weather (Cambridge: Robert Jones, 1989). Collected in Entertaining Fates (Manchester: Carcanet, 1992). Included in Selected Poems.

A Disturbed Night

Published in The Threepenny Review vol. 9 no. 1, 1988, More About the Weather (Cambridge: Robert Jones, 1989). Collected in Entertaining Fates (Manchester: Carcanet, 1992). Included in Selected Poems.

The Woman in the Photograph

Published in More About the Weather (Cambridge: Robert Jones, 1989). Collected in Entertaining Fates (Manchester: Carcanet, 1992). Included in Selected Poems.

The Person of Envy

Published in More About the Weather (Cambridge: Robert Jones, 1989). Collected in Entertaining Fates (Manchester: Carcanet, 1992).

At San Massimo

Published in More About the Weather (Cambridge: Robert Jones, 1989). Collected in Entertaining Fates (Manchester: Carcanet, 1992).

Above the Weather

Published in More About the Weather (Cambridge: Robert Jones, 1989). Collected in Entertaining Fates (Manchester: Carcanet, 1992).

To the Dutch Italianists

Published in More About the Weather (Cambridge: Robert Jones, 1989). Collected in Entertaining Fates (Manchester: Carcanet, 1992). Included in Selected Poems.

A Warm Spell

Published in More About the Weather (Cambridge: Robert Jones, 1989). Collected in Entertaining Fates (Manchester: Carcanet, 1992). Included in Selected Poems.

More About the Weather

Published in Pequod nos. 26-7, 1989, More About the Weather (Cambridge: Robert Jones, 1989). Collected in Entertaining Fates (Manchester: Carcanet, 1992). Included in Selected Poems.

These Few Words

Published in Pequod nos. 26-7, 1989, More About the Weather (Cambridge: Robert Jones, 1989). Collected in Entertaining Fates (Manchester: Carcanet, 1992).

Easter Break

Published in English vol. 38 no. 161, 1989, More About the Weather (Cambridge: Robert Jones, 1989). Collected in Entertaining Fates (Manchester: Carcanet, 1992).

Rumours of Summer

Published in English vol. 38 no. 161, 1989, More About the Weather (Cambridge: Robert Jones, 1989). Collected in Entertaining Fates (Manchester: Carcanet, 1992). Included in Selected Poems.

The Dredger

Published in Working Titles no. 1, 1989. Collected in Entertaining Fates (Manchester: Carcanet, 1992).

Interrupted Sleep

Published in Working Titles no. 1, 1989. Collected in Entertaining Fates (Manchester: Carcanet, 1992).

This World Elsewhere

Published in The Cambridge Review vol. 110 no. 230, 1989. Collected in Entertaining Fates (Manchester: Carcanet, 1992).

A Quiet Day

Published as 'Foreign Affairs' in The Cambridge Review vol. 110 no. 230, 1989. Collected in Entertaining Fates (Manchester: Carcanet, 1992).

Trying the Patience

Published in Critical Quarterly vol. 31 no. 2, 1989, More About the Weather (Cambridge: Robert Jones, 1989). Collected in Entertaining Fates (Manchester: Carcanet, 1992).

At Fountains

Published in Poetry Durham no. 24, 1990. Collected in Entertaining Fates (Manchester: Carcanet, 1992).

Forgotten Holiday

Published in Poetry Durham no. 25, 1990. Collected in Entertaining Fates (Manchester: Carcanet, 1992).

Oradour-sur-Glane

Drafted in the Dordogne during a holiday there with Robert Jones and Rosemary Laxton in September 1988. Accepted for PN Review and proof corrected, but inexplicably it never appeared. Published in Entertaining Fates (Manchester: Carcanet, 1992).

Tournesol

Near Verteillac

The event recorded is from the Dordogne holiday, 1988, but the poem was begun in the Yorkshire Dales during the following September and finished soon afterwards in Kyoto. Accepted for PN Review and proof corrected, but inexplicably it never appeared. Published in Entertaining Fates (Manchester: Carcanet, 1992). Licenced by Chadwyck-Healy for their Literature database. Included in Selected Poems.

At Como

Written in Shugakuin, Kyoto, in May or June 1989, remembering a visit to Como for the first time since 1975 in September 1988. Published in Ariel vol. 21 no. 4, 1990, and Entertaining Fates (Manchester: Carcanet, 1992). Included in Selected Poems.