The Dead Sea Poems

by Simon Armitage

A collection of poems in which questions of belief and trust, of identity and knowledge, mingle with more mundane considerations, such as the problems of owning a dog, and the vicissitudes of the job market. Simon Armitage was the 1993 "Sunday Times" Young Writer of the Year.

Genres: Poetry

96 pages, Paperback

First published November 5, 2001

About the author

Simon 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."

Reviews

[Steven Godin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of all the public places, dear,
to make a scene, I've chosen here.

Of all the doorways in the world
to choose to sleep, I've chosen yours.
I'm on the street, under the stars.

For coppers I can dance or sing.
For silver — swallow swords, eat fire.
For gold — escape from locks and chains.

It's not as if I'm holding out
for frankincense or myrrh, just change.

You give me tea. That's big of you.
I'm on my knees. I beg of you.

[Helena Bartlett · Rating 2 out of 5]

The only poem I really liked in this collection is 'Give'. It reminds me that the homeless need to have attention paid to them; even if we don't have change on us to give, they're still existing human beings who deserve to be noticed. A small smile is just something to add to their day so why are we so scared of looking at them?

The rest of the collection, however, I found dull and boring, especially the last poem in the collection. 20 pages is just, a no. Just as it is in Carol Ann Duffy's 'Feminine Gospels'. Just, no.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

This man can write!! Most of the poems I found accessible but even those ifound difficult threw up such beautiful images that it didn't matter. Some about dogs - he seems to like dogs! Lots to think about in this volume. The authors love of humanity shines through.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book from a lovely second hand bookshop in Whitby called Endeavor Books, a great place to lose yourself for an hour or two. As always with poetry books I flicked it open and if something does not catch my eye, I put it back. This one fell open on A Hip Flask and I was hooked. I read the whole book in an evening and found many that I liked and have shared with others many times. While some of the longer poems do not appeal as much, the shorter ones I find interesting and intriguing.
I tend to mark my favourites so I can easily find them when I need to revisit them. In this book these include the strange and disturbing Man with a Golf Ball Heart, the almost nightmarish, Dr Phibes quality of The Anaesthetist, or the funny but poignant C.V. It contains a mixture of rhyming and non rhyming poems.

[Abi. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not much of a fan for poetry and this was in fact a book that we have been set to read for out wider reading at school.
I did however enjoy reading I say, I say, I say as I completely sympathize with this poem as it deals with self harm, etc. It was the only poem throughout the whole book that I found mildly well written and interesting though.
Overall, I didn't enjoy reading most of the poems and I did skip a few or them such as the one about Football.

[Joe Avary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ah, Simon Armitage, the rock star or modern poetry rides again...

This collection didn’t connect with me with much oomph. I mean, it had its moments but there weren’t any instances where I was dazzled by the language or floored by knockout lines.

Very reliable, serviceable work but not flashy IMO - it is surely the Volkswagen Golf of his catalogue.

[Henrietta · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book turned me into a writer. I have it to thank for the inspiration of so much of the last few years of my life. Armitage is phenomonal.

[Jennifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

aka. Poems My Grandma Would Quite Like

[Peter Longden · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a delightful surprise as I found it amongst other poetry books on my bookshelf, realising I’d bought it with other books and it had been put away unread by me - a Simon Armitage I hadn’t read! Perfect for day 28 of #thesealeychallenge.
It opens with its titular poem describing, in allegory, the process of discovery of, not the scrolls of the same name, but of a poem. There are whimsical looks at ‘The Anaesthetist’, a ‘Man With a Golf Heart’ and a ‘Goalkeeper with a Cigarette’ giving rise to memories of ‘50s keepers who wore cloth caps and roll neck sweaters for kit. ‘On an Owd Piktcha’ is in Yorkshire dialect with the collection ending in the wide ranging ‘Five Eleven Ninety Nine’.
The collection opens up questions of belief, trust, identity and mixes more grounded subjects , such as the problems of owning a dog, and the vicissitudes of the job market.
A joy of a collection!

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Simon Armitage reading project continues.

This collection, published in 1995, consists of 24 short poems and 1 long poem, Five Eleven Ninety Nine. The latter is really good a kind of firework night madness poem. A Bacchae without anyone being torn to pieces.

The shorter poems are on a variety of topics, but poems about dogs crop up a bit. Sad poems about dogs. In fact I'll remember this collection not as 'The Dead Sea Poems' but as 'The Sad Dog Poems.' That might just be me though.

I want to write something more detailed but for some reason my brain really isn't functioning this evening. I don't know if it the weather or just my general lack of...something.

I might come back to this review after a re-read.

[Hattie Long · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started very strongly and I say I say I say is probably now one of my top poems however he lost me towards the end and by five eleven ninety nine I had completely lost interest. Ironically I was about to give up on the 500 word poem but it got a lot better on those last four pages! Not sure what it meant tbh something about the millennium. Not his strongest collection but not the worst at

[Richard Clay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like a long poem and 'Five Eleven Ninety Nine' is a wonderfully exaggerated evocation of an annual festival that, at the time the poem was written, was just in the process of disappearing from most British people's back gardens. This brought back many pleasant childhood memories.

[Ian Cragg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m not sure this is Armitage’s best work - he’s still in Ted Hughes’s footsteps for much of the time- but I have a fond memory of buying this at a reading in Canterbury in 1995 and hearing Armitage read ‘Goalkeeper with a Cigarette’ (the goalkeeper in question was the Italian legend Dino Zoff).

[Vehka Kurjenmiekka · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first and last poem were really good, some of the others not so much.

[Ollie B. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't get much out of this.

[Elvis Gregory-sayce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very Enjoyable Poems

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved particularly - Five Eleven Ninety Nine - hooked like a spell. The poem made me enjoy my role as observer more. I want to soak up the words and bask in them.

[Genetic Cuckoo · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice collection of poems, I like the opening open and the once titled Give.

[Ron Kastner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Five Eleven Ninety Nine is worth the price of admission.

[Zara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I dnf this book i enjoyed the first few poems bit after that it went down hill

[Jayli Wolf · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quiet, elemental.

[Lubna · Rating 2 out of 5]

this was a fun, light read. A few of the poems needed a trigger warning imo.

the poem titled On an Owd Piktcha stood out to me cause I have no idea what it says lmao, so I googled it and found a paper written on it. this is the link for reference https://journals.openedition.org/ebc/...

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are some very strong poems is this collection - it is worth reading just for the poem "The Man with a Golf Ball Heart." Other poems felt a little too gimmicky for my taste - but that's a personal thing.