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The Sinai sort: Poems
62 pages, Unknown Binding
Published January 1, 1957
About the author
Norman MacCaig
55 books25 followersMacCaig was born in Edinburgh and divided his time, for the rest of his life, between his native city and Assynt in the Scottish Highlands. He registered as a conscientious objector during World War II. In 1967 he was appointed Fellow in Creative Writing at Edinburgh. He became a reader in poetry in 1970, at the University of Stirling.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 31, 2024
We'll call this his sophomore collection because MacCaig did his absolute best to erase all existence of his first two books, much like Julian Carax in The Shadow of the Wind. It certainly makes you more keen to read them.
Unfortunately, it's a bit of the sophomore blues for me. There are still a few great poems in here but a lot of them are bland. I also noticed again a few times the rhyming twisting MacCaig's arm behind his back and a few poems fall flat because of it.
Favourites included: Celtic Twilight, Stone Pillow, and Maiden Loch.
The final three poems of the collection were also a strong finish: Fetish, Spectroscope, and Pioneer.
After graduating MacCaig supposedly split his time between Edinburgh and Assynt in the Highlands. Some of his more cerebral and intellectual poems are great but I can already sense his talents lie in depicting the wilderness of Scotland.
Having never heard of the Ararats before I've now seen them pop up too many times. At this stage, MacCaig is also obsessed with the rose and it's certainly his predominant metaphor.
The whole collection could be summarised as rose petals in the wind.
Unfortunately, it's a bit of the sophomore blues for me. There are still a few great poems in here but a lot of them are bland. I also noticed again a few times the rhyming twisting MacCaig's arm behind his back and a few poems fall flat because of it.
Favourites included: Celtic Twilight, Stone Pillow, and Maiden Loch.
The final three poems of the collection were also a strong finish: Fetish, Spectroscope, and Pioneer.
After graduating MacCaig supposedly split his time between Edinburgh and Assynt in the Highlands. Some of his more cerebral and intellectual poems are great but I can already sense his talents lie in depicting the wilderness of Scotland.
Having never heard of the Ararats before I've now seen them pop up too many times. At this stage, MacCaig is also obsessed with the rose and it's certainly his predominant metaphor.
The whole collection could be summarised as rose petals in the wind.
Displaying 1 of 1 review