Despite having a very sure idea of the type of poetry I enjoy however, I do (from time to time) take pleasure in picking up a book from someone I have never read before. In this case, it was a copy of ‘Rhapsody For Lessons Learned Or Remembered’, by Georgia Ann Banks-Martin.

As I’m prone to do, I first opened this anthology at a random page and proceeded to read ‘Early Morning’, a poem about walking with man’s best friend first thing…well, in the morning. What struck me straight away was how relatable the speaker in this particular poem is. I don’t own a dog myself, but I have had my auntie’s King Charles Spaniel prop his head on my lap whilst I’m working, “as if it were a pillow.”

Intrigued, I decided to read from the beginning. I have always liked the quote from Francis Bacon, that “some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.” Rhapsody is certainly the latter. As much as I wanted to read every poem straight away and more or less devour each of them, I instead found myself closing the book in order to consider what I’d just read, or indeed, re-reading the poems.

Banks-Martin is a beautifully visual poet, there’s no doubt about that. I could see each item clearly in my mind’s eye, and at no point was there a hint of awkward word placing, which meant there were no uncomfortable jolting back into the ‘real world’ until the item had been finished. The work is also emotive, but in a sort of abstract way. You find yourself rooting for the speakers, or wanting to know more about them than the brief snapshots they offer.

I’m very picky when it comes to poetry, as anyone who read my Seamus Heaney review will no doubt have already realised. All I can really say about this piece of work however, is “stop dawdling and go and buy it.” The poems themselves may not be life-changing in the sense that they aim to change your perceptions of huge issues such as religion, love or politics (and suchlike). Nor are they all of the same quality (indeed, one or two unfortunately fall short of rave reviews). They’re however, snapshots of lives that instead stop and make you ponder. And on the whole I have to say that I’m rather impressed with the anthology.

Now please excuse me whilst I go and re-re-read my personal favourite poem of the lot, “The Persistence of Time.”

“The only difference between
me and a madman
is that I’m not mad.” – The Persistence of Time, Georgia Anne Banks-Martin

To some she’s a feminist hero, but to others, she’s the reincarnated version of a famous German dictator (minus the moustache). You could almost forget she was a poet if, like me, you didn’t study her at school.

When someone gave me a free copy of ‘The World’s Wife for World Book’ Night, (you’re most welcome – Ed) the first thing I wanted to do was buy a crotch protector. I had this weird idea that as soon as I opened the book, the author’s hand would stretch out of it, wielding a knife and aiming to take out my testicles. Surprisingly, that didn’t happen and even more surprisingly I’ve found a new favourite poet; although I struggled at first to leave my ideology and biases at the door. Despite these preconceived notions of Duffy as a woman likely to declare war against the penis however, I couldn’t deny the wonders and originality of her imagination. This just proves a poet’s skills, like any writer’s, can’t be judged on their politics…even if they do influence the subject matter.

The anthology’s thirty poems, each focus on the plight of wives and women, related or married to certain famous men throughout history, mythology and fiction. Each individual poem has its own quirks and charms, like ‘Mrs Darwin’ which delivers a short burst of humour and skill; to the more rhythm-driven longer pieces like ‘Little Red Cap’. However, others like the sonnet ‘Anne Hathaway’ and the darker poem ‘Salome’ failed to deliver the same sense of intrigue and poetic thought. In terms of rhythm, structure, and her choice of perspective imagery, she is both credible and creative in painting mental pictures that remind me of the works of Sylvia Plath.

What she does differently (and what, perhaps, makes some of her poems different to any others), is the characterisation of her heroines and their male counterparts. They have their own distinct personalities, perhaps not dissimilar to the women in the poetry of Plath and Clark, but unlike the protagonists of those poems, Duffy’s women are more individuals than they are “everywoman”. They are strong, independent women, but at the same time flawed or scorched by the opposite sex and life.

I can’t say I was fully able to put my gender biases and political opinions aside. At times male readers might feel like they are being subtlety kicked in the gonads because they are constantly reminded of how imperfect men can be, through Duffy’s ability to humorously showcase the worst of mankind. I would like to remind Duffy and other feminists that there are good men out there and women can suffer from the same vices as men, but she does seem aware of this. In poems like ‘Little-Red Cap’, for example, which shows men as animalistic and a predatory, the woman is fully aware of it and enjoys his company. Poems like ‘Mrs Beast’, however, seem to tell women the best way to control their men is to physically and emotionally abuse them; although that might just be an ironic use of her source.

Overall, whether intentionally or not, gender politics will be present to both male and female readers. Whatever Duffy believes about men and women, readers shouldn’t let it affect how they feel about her undeniable skill as a poet.

The collection started out rather nicely, with a couple of poems which are dedicated to his mother. Although these two come across as slightly abstract in their imagery, after reading through them once or twice the intimacy which the poet has with the subject matter is obvious. These two poems also seem to have the warmest tone out of the entire collection, making them a nice starting-read to ease you into ‘Part 1’.

Part 1

This section plunges the reader straight into the realms of Greek Mythology with a poem entitled ‘Antaeus’. It then changes to a number of works regarding Ireland, with the heavily recurring themes of bog land and identity. The works themselves don’t seem to have any heavily set rhythm or rhyme to them, although Heaney does use rhyme, alliteration and enjambment on a number of occasions. I couldn’t help but to feel as though the latter of the methods, along with his short sentences and slightly difficult-to-follow imagery only served to give the poems a disjointed feel. That isn’t to say that these works seem to be scrawlings of nonsense. Indeed, within them there are a few true gems which really capture the message of the collection. Such as “When he stripped off blanket bog / The soft piled centuries / Fell open like a glib”, from the poem ‘Belderg’. The section ends with ‘Hercules and Antaeus’, almost as though it was coming full circle back to the Greek mythology written about in the first poem.

Part 2

This section began by throwing me a little. Expecting a poem of the same type of feel as those in the previous part, it instead began with a prose-poem. The first word, “Archimedes” is yet another tip of the hat to Heaney’s love of Greek mythology, although the prose-poem then goes on without another mention of it. As it turned out, ‘The Unacknowledged Legislator’s Dream’ was probably one of my favourite poems of the entire collection, with the last line of “Were those your eyes just now at the hatch?” leaving me as a reader with a chill running down my spine. Especially when taking into consideration the poems which occurred previously within the collection. In this regard, I can certainly see why this work was put in near the end of the book.

The rest of the poems in this part tend to not feel as disjointed as their Part 1 predecessors. They also cover more modern aspects of Irish national identity, moving away from the Vikings and Celts to concentrate on a period known as ‘The Troubles’. Whether Heaney meant to make these poems more accessible to his readers on purpose is not really something I’d count on, but nevertheless they do seem to be a little easier to follow.

Opinions

Although there’s nothing glaringly wrong with this collection of poems, after having been blown away by his translation of Beowulf, I couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed, and even a little bitter at having spent £9.99 on this book. The few gems of genius within a few of the poems were, I felt, overshadowed by the disjointed and difficult-to-grasp aspects of the text. These works were surprisingly difficult to follow, and unless the reader has knowledge of Irish Ancient history or Greek Mythology, some of the poems are more or less completely inaccessible. Although the book doesn’t come over as particularly pretentious, I feel that it nevertheless shows a certain unconscious elitism on Heaney’s behalf. I also can’t help wondering that the poet made it intentional for non-Irish people to find the poems hard to follow. Whilst that’s obviously his choice, it did irk me that there seemed to be a barrier between me and the poetry, thus hindering my enjoyment of it.

All in all, a few good pieces here…although unless you’re Irish, I’d get it from a local library or second-hand bookshop instead of spending so much money on it straight away.

Plot Outline: This is a story narrated by one of the Pilgrims from Chaucer’s ‘Canterbury Tales’. The story itself comes after a long prologue by the narrator, in which she describes her various husbands and her own sensibilities (or arguable lack thereof). The tale itself is about a knight who is due to be executed for a misdeed, unless he find out within a year exactly what it is that women seek. After finding no answer, the man comes across a loathly lady, who tells him that she will give him the correct answer, if he should pledge to do something for her in return. The man complies readily, and she informs him that all women want is matriarchy. The knight returns and tells the correct answer to the court, whereupon the loathly lady steps forward and tells the knight to marry her. He does so entirely against his own wishes. On their wedding knight, the lady asks the knight a question, whereupon he tells her to do as she wishes, ensuring an ending befitting both of them.

Characters: The Wife herself has come under much critical scrutiny for decades, and for good reason. The narrator of this tale is a lively, rounded character that has that edge of realism that many characters in modern novels seem to lack. Similarly, the Lady in the tale seems to be a character that the reader roots for. Whether by design or accident, the Knight on the other had is someone that changes his mindset drastically within the space of a few lines, and his characterisation seems to change solely for the story, thus making him rather flat. The Knight is also a character that the readership doesn’t particularly care for, and for this reason the anxiety that might be felt for his situation isn’t present.

Style: Well, unless you’ve got yourself a translation, it’s written in Middle English, for a start. The style itself is that of a poem, using a rhyme scheme that is surprisingly easy to follow. Youwill find yourself wanting to read the poem out loud in order to get into the flow properly, but there were no points at which the style doubled back on itself or turned into something else. Consistency ruled ok. Thankfully.

Opinions: I have mixed feelings about this Canterbury Tale. Although I immensely enjoy the portrayal of the Wife herself, the Prologue to the Tale can be rather slow in places. That’s easy enough to skip over however, and apart from the sudden turn of mind the Knight has at the end of the actual tale (something which seemed to go against his character and therefore became a peeve), the story itself is a rather intriguing one. Would I recommend it? Only if you’re familiar with Chaucerian style, and you enjoy similar stories of ‘English Legend’, such as those of King Arthur.

Audience: Young Teenagers +

Plot Outline: Two Knights, Arcite and Palamon, are captured by Duke Theseus of Athens. Whilst in prison, Palamon looks out of the window to see Emily in the garden below him and falls instantly in love. His moan of love is heard by Arcite, who then looks out of the window to also see the woman. The two men argue over Emily’s love, causing them to break the bond of brotherhood they held to one another. After a number of years, both escape the prison and are interrupted in their fighting by Theseus, who – by request of Emily and his wife to spare the convicts lives – decrees that Emily’s hand will be won by the victor of a tournament. A year passes and the fight begins, each of the men praying to their Gods for victory…

Characters: With a ‘main cast’ of four characters, it’s easy to keep up with who-is-who. Despite the plot being mostly action base, the development of each of the main characters is interesting to see. The female, Emily, is given a voice rather late-on in the story, but this is a strategy that works well to jostle the way in which she’s seen through the earlier parts. I found it easy to warm to each of the characters, and although they all seem to be flawed in some way, that merely serves to make them more realistic.

Style: Unlike the Miller’s Tale, the Knight’s Tale is written in a higher vocabulary, with the use of rhetorical devices. It’s written in Middle English, although you’re able to get some rather good translations if you’d prefer to read in modern language. The tale has a nice flow to it, with each line rhyming with another. Although admittedly, the somewhat archaic word order might take a bit of getting used to for those who aren’t familiar with it.

Critics: The Knight’s Tale is the most critiqued of all the Canterbury Tales. Every theme from Marriage (G. Kitteredge) to Mercenaries (T. Jones) has been looked at over the years. Such criticisms are interesting to look at, allowing a view of the tale that may not previously have been thought of.

Opinions: I can certainly see why this tale has received so much literary criticism. It’s a good read, although I’d have to be honest and say it isn’t for anyone searching for a ‘light read’. For those of you who enjoy epic poetry or myths and legends, you might want to give this a try. Translations of the poem are even found online, so unless you want it in book form, you don’t need to spend a penny.

Audience: 16 / 18+