The Complete Poems

by Keith Douglas, Ted Hughes (Introduction), Desmond Graham (Editor)

Mainly remembered as a World War II poet who died in Normandy three days after D-day, Keith Douglas demonstrated a rapidly maturing energy and simplicity of diction through his descriptions of war-time Cairo and contemplations of death. The only complete collection of his poetry available,
this volume contains 105 poems with a section of notes that provides the source, place of first publication, and a record of substantial variations from other versions for each poem.

Genres: Poetry, War, History, World War II

Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

Reviews

[Gavin Lightfoot · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely collection of poetry, from his early years to his time in WW2, where he sadly met his end. Considering he was only 24 yrs at his death it is a very mature body of work.

[Omi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite marking this book as read I'm still putting it on the un-finshed shelf. I only read about 25% of the book but plan to read more of the poems in the future. I think it's strange that a person could read a whole collection of poems as they do a novel. Poems are for dipping into, for studying and for relating to your particular mood.

I think Douglas is seriously underrated as a writer. I'm so surprised that barely anyone has heard of him. I think his poems are brilliant and a bit of a sigh of relief from the types of war poetry I'm used to studying. This collection is a mix of war, life, love, women, sex and growing up and it's a perfect collection. These poems span from a time when Douglas was only my age to when he died aged 24 and it intimidates me that he was able to get so much from the world at that time.

For my coursework essay I focused mostly on the poems about women and love like The Knife, Invaders, and Cairo Jag. All fantastic poems but I think The Knife has to be one of my absolute favourites. I find it hard to rate and recommend poetry because it's so different to every person but I really feel that more people should know about Douglas, he really is a fantastic writer and had he lived longer he would have become one of Britain's best poets.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

These are the complete poems, from schoolboy to World War 2 soldier, of English poet Keith Douglas, who died in Normandy near to the end of the war at the age of 24. For that reason the poems themselves are rather uneven and some are presented in differing versions, still being worked upon. The most powerful and poignant of his poems are from his experiences as a soldier. They are not visceral and emotional, but at times cold and detached perhaps like the warfare he was witnessing. For example "How to kill" talks of How easy it is to make a ghost as he fires on an enemy soldier seen in his cross hairs.

Many of his other poems are quite dense and overworked, a young man developing his style.
A work in progress, he died as a young man.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this because in Ted Hughes' biography, Bate goes on about how much Hughes rated Douglas. He was only 24 when he died in Normandy so what poems there are (albeit prolific given his age) are partially from his Christ's Hospital and Oxford days. The war poems are a significant contribution to war writing and the influence of Owen is clear, even though they are very different. My favourite still remains 'Vergissmeinnicht' which I studied at A Level.

[Loki · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of some fantastic poetry. His metre and melody are impeccable, and his ideas are quite interesting too. I preferred the earlier poems to the later ones, I think because the former are more rhythmical, though I can't remember exactly (I read this a while ago). Anyone who reads poetry should read this book; it is a great example of the form.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Douglas's "How To Kill" is harrowing, one of the most powerful poems of a century of harrowing poems. For that one poem alone, this poet, who died in 1944 at age 24, will last as a master.

[Alex Furst · Rating 4 out of 5]

Keith Douglas: The Complete Poems by Keith Douglas.
4/5 rating.
Book #85 of 2019. Read July 7, 2019.

A great set of poems by a young guy who died in WWII. It's interesting to follow his progression through his tragically short life. Beautiful poems, though you can see the war's effect on him in his life.

Quotes:
"This is my particular monster. I know him;
he walks about inside me: I'm his house
and his landlord. He's my evacuee
taking a respite from hell in me
he decorates his room of course
to remind him of home. He often talks of going -"
"To trust anyone or to admit any hope of a better world is criminally foolish, as foolish as it is to stop working for it."

[Rachel Brand · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read the Army: Middle East section for EN4413: Reading the 1940s.

Some of the poems were wonderful, some of them were interesting and a couple were just plain confusing. Looking forward to my seminar in Douglas tomorrow. I'm not sure if I'll go back and read the rest of his poems right now as I have a lot more to read for this module, but I definitely think that Britain suffered a great literary loss with the premature death of Keith Douglas. 8/10

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the few good things the perennial asshole Ted Hughes did; he championed Douglas's work. It would probably be lost otherwise and it's a strange, magic little book of poems. Depressing that it is so small to comprise his life's work; he was a "war poet" but didn't really write about the war, with a few notable exceptions.

Simplify me when I die.