Clive James is one of our finest critics & best-loved cultural voices He is also a prize-winning poet Since he was first enthralled by the mysterious power of poetry he has been a dedicated student In fact for Clive poetry has been nothing less than the occupation of a lifetime & in this book he presents a distillation of all he's learned about the art form that matters to him most With his customary wit delightfully lucid prose style & wide-ranging knowledge Clive explains the difference between the innocuous stuff that often passes for poetry today & a real poem the latter being a work of unity that insists on being heard entire & threatens never to leave the memory A committed formalist & an astute commentator Clive offers close & careful readings of individual poems & poets (from Shakespeare to Larkin Keats to Pound) & in some case second readings or re-readings late in life
- just to be sure he wasn't wrong the first time! Whether discussing technical details of metaphorical creativity or simply praising his five favourite collections of all time he is never less than captivating Filled with insight & written with an honest infectious enthusiasm Poetry Notebook is the product of over fifty years of writing reading translating & thinking about poetry