Armour

by John Kinsella

With Armour, the great Australian poet John Kinsella has written his most spiritual work to date - and his most politically engaged. The world in which these poems unfold is strangely poised between the material and the immaterial, and everything which enters it - kestrel and fox, moth and almond - does so illuminated by its own vivid presence: the impression is less a poet honouring his subjects than uncannily inhabiting them. Elsewhere we find a poetry of lyric protest, as Kinsella scrutinizes the equivocal place of the human within this natural landscape, both as tenant and self-appointed steward. Armour is a beautifully various work, one of sharp ecological and social critique - but also one of meticulous invocation and quiet astonishment, whose atmosphere will haunt the reader long after they close the book. Praise for John Kinsella: 'Kinsella's poems are a very rare feat: they are narratives of feeling. Vivid sight - of landscapes, of animals, of human forms in distant light - becomes insight. There is, often, the shock of the new. But somehow awaited, even familiar. Which is the homecoming of a true poet' George Steiner

Genres: Poetry, Australia

125 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

John Kinsella is the author of more than twenty collections of poetry. The recipient of the Christopher Brennan Award, he has taught at Cambridge University and Kenyon College. He lives in Western Australia.

Reviews

[Jesse Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

My absolute favourite book of "bush poetry" I've ever read. Kinsella has such a talent in describing the nature of the world around him. From the sound of kangaroo hearts to the first sound of rain after a drought, he really grasps your attention with his evocative language. He understands life. It's so simple yet complex. Beautifully written and thoroughly enjoyed, especially sitting by Lake Parramatta on Saturday mornings. That's all I can really say. It was beautiful and I loved it. My favourite poem is below.





Resurrection Plants at Nookaminnie Rock

They’re full-blown in their early spring
rush – pin cushions a fakir’s bed of nails
so soft to tread on, so easy to make false
comparisons by, and all the baggage that carries –
rest-break on a granite slab looking out over
the island sea of scrub shaded with formations
beneath a green lagoon’s surface. It’s what we
bring to the apogee before the drying-off,
dead crunch beneath our feet as rock-
dragons wake to the heat, and emphatic
belief that the dead will stay dead
and there will be no lift, no rebirth,
wherever you come from, whatever
you believe. Step carefully around these
wreaths hooked into granite sheen, holdalls
for a soil-less ecology, a carpet you know
would say so much more if your boots
were off and skin touched life brought
back, restored, gifted, bristling with death
because death is the most alive district
to inhabit. We could say so much more
if only we had the time.

[Harry Rutherford · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was a lot about these poems which I found sympathetic, like the wildlife/environmental themes, but something about Kinsella’s stylistic quirks made it a bit of a struggle for me. I’m not quite sure what it is… something about the way he uses sentence fragments and run-on sentences? Anyway, there were poems I liked but overall it just didn’t chime for me.

[Mark Friend · Rating 4 out of 5]

For me, there is something initially and immediately accessible in these poems. These poems let you quickly into their spaces through language, image and recognition, but then build into a density of possibilities and paths to ponder and meander as we grapple with their nuances and ambiguity.

I find I am increasingly enjoying works like ‘Armour’ that let you in and the hold you within their sense of necessity, as the artist / poet works their way through something essential to them but have left a place open for us to follow if we are interested.

[Sam Hicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Sand Tale' is a poem I will re-read many times.

[Maggie Emmett · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Kinsella's poems are a very rare feat: they are narratives of feeling. Vivid sight - of landscapes, of animals, of human forms in distant light - becomes insight. There is, often, the shock of the new. But somehow awaited, even familiar. Which is the homecoming of a true poet' so says George Steiner

Not surprising then, the great Australian poet John Kinsella has won yet another major literary prize in Australia.
Armour is is a stunning book: politically engaged and yet deeply spiritual.
Everything in Kinsella's poetic world is alive, real, powerful drawn and evocatively presented whether it be a fox a moth or a kestrel. Yet he seems to get inside his subjects at a much deeper level.

Kinsella shows us the problematic place of human beings within an amazingly vivid natural landscape. He challenges the reader to think about what roles we can assume. Will we nurture and care for this landscape or just live in it? What duty of care do we have? Don't be surprised that this book contains a sharp-edged ecological and social critique as well showing us haunting landscapes of meticulous detail that I promise will trouble you for weeks after reading.
A true poet indeed