Book description
Part of the pleasure of poetry is unravelling the mysteries and
difficulties it contains and solving the puzzles that lie within. Who,
for instance, is Ozymandias? What is the Snark? Who is the Emperor of
Ice-Cream? Or indeed, who is 'you' in a poem?
In this perceptive and playful new book, acclaimed poet John Fuller
looks at some of our greatest poems and considers the number of
individual puzzles at their heart, casting light on how we should
approach these conundrums as readers. From riddling to double
entendres, mysterious titles to red herrings, Fuller unpicks the
puzzles in works that range from Browning to Bishop, Empson to Eliot,
Shelley to Stevens, to help us reach the rewards and revelations that
lie at the centre of some of our best-loved poems.
John Fuller is an acclaimed poet and novelist. He has written
eighteen collections of poetry, most recently
Pebble & I
and
Song & Dance
, both chosen as Poetry Book Society Recommendations. His 2004
collection,
Ghosts
, was shortlisted for the Whitbread Award for Poetry;
The Space of Joy
, published in 2006, was shortlisted for the Costa Poetry Award. He is
an Emeritus Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford.
