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The Shout: Selected Poems
Simon Armitage is one of Britain's most respected poets. He is considered Philip Larkin's successor in both the easy brilliance of his verse and the national acclaim he has received. His subjects have ranged from yardwork to politics, from the fidelity of dogs to the negotiations of lovers. A selection of poetry that is wry, unpretentious, and constantly inventive, The Shout collects Armitage's best work from the past three decades and includes many of his most recent poems.
Man with a Golf Ball Heart
They set about him with a knife and fork, I heard,
and spooned it out. Dunlop, dimpled, perfectly hard.
It bounced on stone but not on softer ground-they made
a note of that. They slit the skin-a leathery,
rubbery, eyelid thing-and further in, three miles
of gut or string, elastic. Inside that, a pouch
or sac of pearl-white balm or gloss, like Copydex.
It weighed in at the low end of the litmus test
but wouldn't burn, and tasted bitter, bad, resin
perhaps from a tree or plant. And it gave off gas
that caused them all to weep when they inspected it.
That heart had been an apple once, they reckoned. Green.
They had a scheme to plant an apple there again
beginning with a pip, but he rejected it.
Man with a Golf Ball Heart
They set about him with a knife and fork, I heard,
and spooned it out. Dunlop, dimpled, perfectly hard.
It bounced on stone but not on softer ground-they made
a note of that. They slit the skin-a leathery,
rubbery, eyelid thing-and further in, three miles
of gut or string, elastic. Inside that, a pouch
or sac of pearl-white balm or gloss, like Copydex.
It weighed in at the low end of the litmus test
but wouldn't burn, and tasted bitter, bad, resin
perhaps from a tree or plant. And it gave off gas
that caused them all to weep when they inspected it.
That heart had been an apple once, they reckoned. Green.
They had a scheme to plant an apple there again
beginning with a pip, but he rejected it.
- GenresPoetry
107 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2005
6 people are currently reading
80 people want to read
About the author
Simon Armitage
143 books367 followersSimon Armitage, whose The Shout was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, has published ten volumes of poetry and has received numerous honors for his work. He was appointed UK Poet Laureate in 2019
Armitage's poetry collections include Book of Matches (1993) and The Dead Sea Poems (1995). He has written two novels, Little Green Man (2001) and The White Stuff (2004), as well as All Points North (1998), a collection of essays on the north of England. He has produced a dramatised version of Homer's Odyssey and a collection of poetry entitled Tyrannosaurus Rex Versus The Corduroy Kid (which was shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize), both of which were published in July 2006. Many of Armitage's poems appear in the AQA (Assessment and Qualifications Alliance) GCSE syllabus for English Literature in the United Kingdom. These include "Homecoming", "November", "Kid", "Hitcher", and a selection of poems from Book of Matches, most notably of these "Mother any distance...". His writing is characterised by a dry Yorkshire wit combined with "an accessible, realist style and critical seriousness."
Armitage's poetry collections include Book of Matches (1993) and The Dead Sea Poems (1995). He has written two novels, Little Green Man (2001) and The White Stuff (2004), as well as All Points North (1998), a collection of essays on the north of England. He has produced a dramatised version of Homer's Odyssey and a collection of poetry entitled Tyrannosaurus Rex Versus The Corduroy Kid (which was shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize), both of which were published in July 2006. Many of Armitage's poems appear in the AQA (Assessment and Qualifications Alliance) GCSE syllabus for English Literature in the United Kingdom. These include "Homecoming", "November", "Kid", "Hitcher", and a selection of poems from Book of Matches, most notably of these "Mother any distance...". His writing is characterised by a dry Yorkshire wit combined with "an accessible, realist style and critical seriousness."
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
June 27, 2013
Well I've read the title poem "The Shout" and i think it is a good one. It seems a nostalgic poem and the speaker here is remembering his past days at school and how he used to signal the shouting of his friend. The friend's name is not clear to the speaker he might have forgotten like we forget our many friend's name from childhood. Anyway it seems that his friend has committed suicide (with a gunshot hole in the roof of his mouth) or may me murder any way he is dead right now i think. Even though he was the speaker's old friend with forgotten name, the speaker still remembers his friend. I think thats the poem means.
July 18, 2008
Simon Armitage, The Shout (Harcourt, 2005)
According to Charles Simic's introduction to this volume, Simon Armitage is one of Britain's most popular modern poets. This collection, while a bit hefty for a single-author outing, makes it easy to see why; like Billy Collins, Armitage is a master at balancing the quotidian with the poetic, coming up with poems that are without a doubt poetry, yet still easily readable and, oftentimes, a good deal of fun (though with a dark tang):
“No gearing up or getting to speed, just an instant rage,
the rush of metal lashing out at air, connected to the main.
The chainsaw with its perfect disregard, its mood
to tangle with cloth, or jewellry, or hair.
The chainsaw with its bloody desire, its sweet tooth
for the flesh of the face and the bones underneath,
its grand plan to kick back against nail or knot
and rear up into the brain.
I let it flare, lifted it into the sun
and felt the hundred beats per second drumming in its heart,
and felt the drive-wheel gargle in its throat.”
(“Chainsaw versus the Pampas Grass”)
Good stuff both for the seasoned poetry reader and the novice who got soured on it in school. I do wish they'd chosen a slightly slimmer volume, though; Armitage's stuff can definitely give meaning to the phrase “too much of a good thing.” Peruse at leisure. ***
According to Charles Simic's introduction to this volume, Simon Armitage is one of Britain's most popular modern poets. This collection, while a bit hefty for a single-author outing, makes it easy to see why; like Billy Collins, Armitage is a master at balancing the quotidian with the poetic, coming up with poems that are without a doubt poetry, yet still easily readable and, oftentimes, a good deal of fun (though with a dark tang):
“No gearing up or getting to speed, just an instant rage,
the rush of metal lashing out at air, connected to the main.
The chainsaw with its perfect disregard, its mood
to tangle with cloth, or jewellry, or hair.
The chainsaw with its bloody desire, its sweet tooth
for the flesh of the face and the bones underneath,
its grand plan to kick back against nail or knot
and rear up into the brain.
I let it flare, lifted it into the sun
and felt the hundred beats per second drumming in its heart,
and felt the drive-wheel gargle in its throat.”
(“Chainsaw versus the Pampas Grass”)
Good stuff both for the seasoned poetry reader and the novice who got soured on it in school. I do wish they'd chosen a slightly slimmer volume, though; Armitage's stuff can definitely give meaning to the phrase “too much of a good thing.” Peruse at leisure. ***
August 7, 2015
I enjoyed the poems in this collection immensely. The language is decidedly approachable, and there are echoes of the wit, humor, and cleverness one finds in Larkin and Auden. The poems' formal structures at first glance seem strikingly unpoetic (very scant use of rhyme, no traditional stanza forms), and there is an intentionally posey, anti-lyrical quality in the work--but that is a smokescreen concealing deftly handled metrical maneuvers and sophisticated rhetorical skill. The subject matter for the poems is sometimes oddball: a parable about a dead donkey, a soccer goalkeeper who smokes cigarettes during a match, a poem ostensibly about a chainsaw. Armitage also writes a number of poems about a character named Robinson to apparently do homage and advance the Robinson poems penned by Weldon Kees (1914-1955). Armitage's poems are cerebral without seeming erudite. His writing comes across as natural, the right words in the right order, a unique voice that makes most contemporary poetry seem mannered and forced.
February 19, 2015
So two resolutions for 2015: run half marathon (race booked for end of May...fingers crossed) and read more poetry.
Anyway so here we are with the easier of the two and a new poet (to me) Simon Armitage who's been on my radar for a while. As good, direct and beautiful as you'd expect a good Yorkshireman to write. Very sharp and stark imagery at times, which is how I like it.
Anyway so here we are with the easier of the two and a new poet (to me) Simon Armitage who's been on my radar for a while. As good, direct and beautiful as you'd expect a good Yorkshireman to write. Very sharp and stark imagery at times, which is how I like it.
August 14, 2024
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE SO BEAUTIFUL SO MASTERFUL CRAFT AND SUBJECT R BOTH SO GOOD OMFGGG
Read
December 28, 2022 "Then midnight when you slip the latch and sneak
no further than the call-box at the corner of the street;
I'm waiting by the phone, although it doesn't ring
because it's sixteen years or so before we'll meet."
no further than the call-box at the corner of the street;
I'm waiting by the phone, although it doesn't ring
because it's sixteen years or so before we'll meet."
August 2, 2022
Literally I love my gemini king Simon Armitage so much. Americans start stanning Simon the way they do in the UK pls……
October 9, 2010
Interesting for the way Armitage uses assonance, various kinds of rhyme, and other sound effects. The rhythm is quite discombobulating, in a pleasant way, and it takes quite a bit of rereading to work out what he's doing. For the most part, though, the content of the poems was less interesting to me.
My favourite was the titular poem, which is quite different from the others.
THE SHOUT
We went out
into the school yard together, me and the boy
whose name and face
I don’t remember. We were testing the range
of the human voice:
he had to shout for all he was worth,
I had to raise an arm
from across the divide to signal back
that the sound had carried.
He called from over the park—I lifted an arm.
Out of bounds,
he yelled from the end of the road,
from the foot of the hill,
from beyond the look-out post of Fretwell’s Farm—
I lifted an arm.
He left town, went on to be twenty years dead
with a gunshot hole
in the roof of his mouth, in Western Australia.
Boy with the name and face I don’t remember,
you can stop shouting now, I can still hear you.
My favourite was the titular poem, which is quite different from the others.
THE SHOUT
We went out
into the school yard together, me and the boy
whose name and face
I don’t remember. We were testing the range
of the human voice:
he had to shout for all he was worth,
I had to raise an arm
from across the divide to signal back
that the sound had carried.
He called from over the park—I lifted an arm.
Out of bounds,
he yelled from the end of the road,
from the foot of the hill,
from beyond the look-out post of Fretwell’s Farm—
I lifted an arm.
He left town, went on to be twenty years dead
with a gunshot hole
in the roof of his mouth, in Western Australia.
Boy with the name and face I don’t remember,
you can stop shouting now, I can still hear you.
March 19, 2017
Maybe I'm not British enough, maybe I'm not smart enough, but man did most of these poems sail right over my head. A brilliant poem hits me in the heart, not just the brain, but most of these poems left me grasping for anything.
I'll tell you what, though: the titular poem is hands down amazing. I wish more of the poems in this collection were like it instead of instead of having repeating phrases (See what I did there?) and subtle and obvious rhymes.
Standout poems:
The Shout (emotional punch / surprise ending)
The Lost Letter of the Late Jud Fry (cool line breaks / structure)
To His Lost Lover
Robinson's Life Sentence
You're Beautiful (alternating refrains)
I'll tell you what, though: the titular poem is hands down amazing. I wish more of the poems in this collection were like it instead of instead of having repeating phrases (See what I did there?) and subtle and obvious rhymes.
Standout poems:
The Shout (emotional punch / surprise ending)
The Lost Letter of the Late Jud Fry (cool line breaks / structure)
To His Lost Lover
Robinson's Life Sentence
You're Beautiful (alternating refrains)
November 24, 2018
The variety and skill in metrical forms and rhyme and the imaginative words are wonderful in these poems. The long poem - Five Eleven Ninety Nine (takes place on Guy Fawkes Day) - is particularly breathtaking and sweeps up a whole citizenry, almost like a Breughel painting or the story the Wide Net by Eudora Welty. The poem At Sea has a specially lovely stanza form that underlies the movement of its narrative. I agree with notes here about the links to Larkin.
February 24, 2019
The rating being only for the title poem, for love of which it's been strongly suggested I should not read the rest.
October 26, 2025
This is my final word. Nothing will follow.
April 25, 2016
The title poem, "The Shout," is breathtakingly moving. I only enjoyed two other poems from this collection, so I can't rate the whole book as three stars.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews