Review of Simon Armitage’s book Out of the Blue (2008). The short essay offers a brief survey of Armitage’s career, focusing particularly on his role as a “public poet”, in the line of Auden and MacNeice. The three poems that make up the book concern major historical events and not all are equally successful. The review focuses closely on the most successful of the three, which gives the title to the book as a whole, and which deals with the terrorist attacks of 2001. It suggests that by providing a specific point of view for the event described – that of an English trader working in the North Tower – Armitage finds a way to use his gifts for colloquial immediacy and observant realism to good effect. The essay also focuses on Armitage’s most characteristic metrical devices, explaining how they contribute to the tone and music of the poems.

Simon Armitage: Out of the Blue

DOWLING, Gregory
2009-01-01

Abstract

Review of Simon Armitage’s book Out of the Blue (2008). The short essay offers a brief survey of Armitage’s career, focusing particularly on his role as a “public poet”, in the line of Auden and MacNeice. The three poems that make up the book concern major historical events and not all are equally successful. The review focuses closely on the most successful of the three, which gives the title to the book as a whole, and which deals with the terrorist attacks of 2001. It suggests that by providing a specific point of view for the event described – that of an English trader working in the North Tower – Armitage finds a way to use his gifts for colloquial immediacy and observant realism to good effect. The essay also focuses on Armitage’s most characteristic metrical devices, explaining how they contribute to the tone and music of the poems.
2009
XXXIX
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10278/4245
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