Collected Poems

by Ivor Gurney, P.J. Kavanagh (Editor)

P.J. Kavanagh's 1982 edition of the Collected Poems established Ivor Gurney (1890-1937) as one of the most original poets of the early twentieth century. His experiences in the First World War, his love of his native Gloucestershire countryside were sources of a unique poetic voice: Vigorous, lyrical and passionate.

In this new, substantially revised edition, Gurney can be enjoyed in his entirety by a new generation of readers. The poems have been re-ordered to take into account new work on Gurney, the texts corrected from the archive and editorial material substantially revised, while retaining P.J. Kavanagh's extensive original introduction.

To many readers, the 1982 edition was a revelation. Re-reading Gurney, writes P.J. Kavanagh, 'is to be reminded how miraculously good he can be: his celebration of the ordinary, his eye for detail, his musical ear that combines traditional rhythms with the unpredictable...'

Genres: Poetry

460 pages, Paperback

First published September 20, 1984

About the author

Composer and author Ivor Gurney was born in Gloucester and was educated at the cathedral there where he proved a very gifted student. He began composing music at the age of 14 and in 1911 secured a scholarship to the Royal College of Music. He was described by Charles Villiers Stanford as potentially "the biggest" of many distinguished pupils he had taught-which included Ralph Vaughn Williams-but, also as "unteachable." This being because of his propensity for mood swings which not only made concentration very difficult for him, but also precipitated in a breakdown in 1913.
After the outbreak of the First World War he enlisted as a private soldier with the Gloucester Regiment. It was during the war where he began to write poetry. Just before completing his first book of poetry, Severn and the Somme, he was wounded in the shoulder in April 1917. He returned to active duty not long after finding a publisher for his book to be gassed in September that same year. While recovering he fell in love with nurse Annie Nelson Drummond who initially reciprocated his feelings only to sever their correspondence before a second breakdown in February 1918.
Following the war his mental condition deteriorated further to the point where he was declared insane by his family in 1922. He spent his remaining years institutionalized, where he yet remained prolific albeit largely unrecognized.
After his death from tuberculosis in 1937 his friend Marion Scott worked to preserve his letters and manuscripts.
Some two-thirds of his musical output remains unpublished.
Ivor Gurney is commemorated as one of 16 Great War Poets in Westminster Abbey.

Reviews

[Carol, She's so Novel ꧁꧂ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5★

Yesterday was quite a strange ANZAC Day for us, as we didn't go to either of the parades - & in fact, don't even know if the parades even happened due to COVID. I still wanted to do my annual war poetry reading, but I ran into a slight snag. I wanted to read a New Zealand war poet, & my Google skills must be lacking as I couldn't find a Kiwi poet from WW1 or WW2. If anyone knows of one (preferably where their poetry is online) please give me the names in the comments for this review.

But Googling did lead me to the very sad case of Ivor Gurney - a British poet from WW1 who had a nervous breakdown before he went to war! He was gassed 1917 & had a second breakdown in 1918. His family had him declared insane in 1922 & he spent the rest of his life in an institution. Gurney died in 1937.

Such a sad life & some of his work has never been published.

So I read a selection from this website. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poet...

Ballad of the Three Spectres Certainly shows a grim set of mind. 3.5★

To the Poet Before Battle Beautiful and sad. 5★

Strange Service Again, beautiful where Gurney realises what he has done enlisting - & what he is sacrificing. 5★

When you know the back story, you can't help but be moved.

https://wordpress.com/view/carolshess...

[Liam Guilar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gurney's editor, P.J.Kavanagh, in a very fine introduction, sums up why Ivor Gurney is not more well known: His reputation is scattered in a series of discrete boxes: a local poet, a war poet, an asylum poet, an important composer...anything but "a poet worth reading".

If you're prepared to accept that the ruggedness of the later poems is the result of syntactical experiments and not the result of being in an asylum, and the sudden clarity of some of the last songs does suggest conscious stylistic choice at work, then the trajectory of the poems is fascinating. The war poems are personal and specific.

Worth reading alongside 'The ordeal of Ivor Gurney" since Gurney's subject is himself.