Signs, Music

by Raymond Antrobus

‘I became fatherless at 26 and a father
at 35 and whenever I look out

the living room window I feel myself
become the child left alone in the house’

Centred around two lyric poems on imminent fatherhood and the birth of a child, Signs, Music is a book about masculinity, fatherhood, and love. The speaker, looking backwards to his late father and forwards to his new son, prepares to become a parent for the first time. Meditating on the cognitive and emotional dissonances between the ‘hypothetical’ and the ‘real’ of becoming a father, this irreversible transition causes the poet’s ‘lines [to] lead towards my father (again!)’.

Charting the ways parenthood disrupts the poet’s sense of self, and how the pain of the past triggers fears of ‘fatherly failure’, Signs, Music is a staggeringly profound collection from one of Britain’s most adept poets writing today.

Genres: Poetry, Disability

68 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 17, 2024

About the author

Raymond Antrobus is a deaf poet and teacher. He has won the Ted Hughes Award and became the first poet to be awarded the Rathbones Folio Prize. About Can Bears Ski?, his first picture book, he says, "It's the book I could see myself reaching for as a child, and I can't wait to have it exist in the world.” He lives in England.

Reviews

[Donna Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know that feeling when you finish a book and immediately feel like you need to reread it but aren't sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing

[Brittany Mishra · Rating 5 out of 5]

First words of a father
are, of course, prayers.

This is a collection of prayers and poetry, liminal nd stream of conscious. This is such a wonderful book, loving proof of fathers loving their children, of healing wounds of moving through the hurt of trauma by loving and loving in the thick of vulnerability as a parent. This is an ode to parenthood and fatherhood.

Gorgeous and timely.

[George McCadden III · Rating 4 out of 5]

I almost leapt after finishing this poetry collection. Raymond Antrobus makes me think.. about.. it.. ALL. I was curious about what I would feel reading about fatherhood and if I’d be cut out for it. The words that stained on me like delicious smelling cologne will be on my mind for quite a while. Maybe, even until the day I become a father myself. We are all learning and experiencing our own self-doubt about being a parent, but not until you are will you see how capable and willing you need only be.

My favorite quote : “I am his surfboard during the Flood, an unsettled shore, an ark of clean and unclean animals, the end of all flesh.”

[Meghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am such a fan of Antrobus' work, his last book "All the Names Given" is powerful, exquisite, and such a gift. This new collection is also a gift to us. Intimate and beautiful, the poems follow his vulnerable journey of becoming a father to his newborn son, while unfolding themes of names, of signs, of music, of birds, of deafness, of noticing, of home. I highly recommend this tender, thoughtful collection. I was touched by so many of the poems, especially because I was holding my own newborn while reading.

[Tanja Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful meditation on anticipating fatherhood and then dealing with the reality of it all. What to name the child? The conflicting thoughts of bathing with your child. Seeing him say his first words. Yes, seeing him say his first words, because the poet is part of the deaf community. I will need to re-read this collection!

Btw, I recommend going to the author’s website to hear him read an earlier poem of his on the struggles of deaf students within the British and British Commonwealth school systems. Which makes me think I need to hear this non of poetry read aloud by him, too.

[Caity · Rating 5 out of 5]

No part of me can relate to this - I don’t want children, I would not be considered the father in a child’s life - yet it was intriguing to follow the questions both before and after the arrival of the baby boy that filtered through Antrobus’ mind. The reflections honed in on micro-moments of the world we’re in, the influence of wealth and environment when it comes to rearing a child. Though I’m not usually a poetry reader, this collection still held appeal with its realism and timeline.

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

a few months ago i had the opportunity to see raymond antrobus perform some of his poetry (and read alongside him, crazily) and i was struck by the multimedia nature of poetry - so often we have this preconception that it is just words on a page, but poetry in performance transposes it into something so much more than that. at the reading raymond performed the final poem in this collection, with his BSL interpreter doing a live translation alongside it; i could both hear the words raymond was saying and see its themes (deafness, fatherhood, language) enacted alongside it. in this book, obviously, i can't hear or see raymond performing - but i am still fascinated by the way he makes poetry into something that transcends our perceptions of the medium, with BSL diagrams and snatches of verse and no distinct indicators as to where a poem starts or finishes. raymond antrobus is such a master of his craft; his is the kind of writing where you can sit and marvel at the meaning and at the same time understand the deliberate thought behind each language or structural choice. nothing feels superfluous.

rated this one slightly lower than all the names given simply because a) i'm being super harsh with my ratings these days and b) all the names given captured my emotions more - there are poems in there that i still think about regularly. i would still absolutely recommend this one though! it's so articulate and vulnerable and tender as raymond antrobus' poetry always is.

[Raoul W · Rating 4 out of 5]

"In the street, I stop, stare at the dads
with babies strapped to their chests.

They've always been here. I'm just
moving slowly enough to see them.

Tamed dads in the dense city. Dads
who've struggled to love themselves,

love their babies resembling them!"

Moving collection of poetry about becoming and being a father

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

  Recording the cycle of life, Antrobus takes us on a journey of becoming a father, undulating between what-if and real life scenarios. Bringing life into this world and with that, bringing love and joy and uncertainty into this world.

[Henny Beaumont · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this. Very moving, very alive, very relatable.

[Chris Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This just didn't do it for me. The subject matter is interesting and a few of the poems are moving but not as many as I would have liked.

[Isaac Jackson Nock · Rating 3 out of 5]

i feel like using poetry to contribute to my reading challenge feels like a bit of a cop out but i’m really struggling with reading at the moment! undecided on if i liked this more or less than ‘all the names given’, which would be antrobus’ previous collection. i have not yet read his debut collection, ‘the perseverance’, so i can’t speak about that one yet but i am getting round to it! i’m also undecided on if i like antrobus as a poet - I really admire what he is doing and some of his work certainly connects with me, on a format and aesthetic level there’s some stuff i really love - particularly in ‘all the names given’, i think it’s great he has such a platform and i would absolutely love to see him read - missed out on last years MLF unfortunately! - but at certain points I find his work a little eye-rolling. my one gripe with this collection - prior to reading - was opening with the poem ‘dear mimi’, a poem for mimi khalvati, when this book was considered for the eliot prize, which was judged by khalvati. initially, i thought putting it at the start of the book, with this knowledge in mind, was a little.. off putting, however, it is probably one of my favourites in the collection so now i am less annoyed by it, and i can see why he opened with it! it’s an incredibly strong poem. i think i maybe liked his previous collection, ‘all the names given’, a little bit more, but this was still an enjoyable read. it is interesting to consider them both, with the previous collection being largely about his relationship to his father, and this one being about his relationship to fatherhood and his new born son.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book was a pleasure, an astonishment, and occasionally stunningly disturbing - deliberately so, I felt. It's a quarterly choice from the Poetry Book Society (PBS) and worthily so in my opinion.
Two long sections, leading up to and following the birth of his son - snatches of verse, in many different styles, some a couple of pages long, others a line or two. I felt drawn in from the very start, and read it greedily right through in a couple of sittings. The uncertainties of the first part - how will it be to be a father?
I don't think my child is going to be a good person,
Says someone's mother
To an expectant father.
The segments, scraps of verse, range over all kinds of emotions, fears, memories, vignettes, building to a wideranging portrait of a human with all his hopes and anxieties. And anger, too, as he looks beyond his home into the world he has introduced the young child to.
This is the third of his collections to be the Quarterly choice from the PBS, and I've enjoyed each one very much indeed. I'd add that there's a tremendous variety of theme and manner in the three books too.
Like other reviewers, I'm certain I'll read this again - perhaps several times - to tease out more meaning and resonance. Lovely book

[Olivia-Savannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Raymond Antrobus is one of my favourite poets for a reason.

This collection is half written as he expects to become a father, and then half of it is afterwards when he is one. It focuses on fatherhood, but specifically what it means to be a father while still processing your own (father related) childhood trauma.

It's so easy to read his poetry. It's smooth like water. Easy to understand, but nonetheless still beautifully worded and put together.

I'm not a parent myself but it felt like it rang very true, and very honest. Antrobus clearly translates what it means to want the best for someone else, while simultaneously fearing that you won't be able to give that to them.

Unlike his other collections these poems are two long pieces that flow into each other, rather than individually titled poems. And it works for this collection, I'd say.

[Andy Oram · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first set of poems ("Towards Naming") in this book is competent but rather conversational, a recording of an author's impressions. I think that the real payoff comes with the much longer set of poems, "The New Father," where Antrobus's ability to make deep connections and invoke [] scenes emerges. One page about the birds that Antrobus sees and hears in town ( a special commission) is entrancing.

[Konstantin R. · Rating 2 out of 5]

[rating = C-]

Antrobus is a talented poet. His first collection was amazing. However, he is going in a different direction (topographically) here, and it just doesn't work quite as well. This collection is more like a long poem injected with pauses. It is more ramble than successful gamble. Though he brings up interesting issues like fatherhood and inheriting a world and coming into society, they would be better explored in a smoother style, even a prose-poem style.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Powerful poems!

"I became fatherless at 26 and a father
at 35 and whenever I look out

the living room window I feel myself
become the child left alone in the house."

*

"There have already been days
I thought about leaving
thinking I need
myself back need
to stop the trigger
of seeing my child
get what I needed.

[Sabrina A · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this collection because I heard him perform "Signs, Music" on a podcast. Unfortunately, I didn't connect with the form of this book, I didn't like that it felt like poems run into each other since there isn't an obvious division between pieces. The standout poem was still "Signs, Music" but I wish there was more that I felt spoke to me.

[Diana Arterian · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful, rigorous collection that makes me feel tender feelings about breaking the traumatic cycle—but, above all, just being alive in the world. Antrobus' similes are incessantly surprising. A gorgeous collection.

[Caitlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Give us strength/to do nothing/but watch the baby/discover/his right hand…The quietest thing— cash in my dead father’s wallet.”

Sublime. A fantastic meditation on new fatherhood, and one that was particularly salient in my own new-parenthood.

[Kayla Boss · Rating 4 out of 5]

a lovely, tender meditation on fatherhood, the felt sense of wanting to love your child in the best of ways coupled with the anxiety of never being sure you know how to. on the uncertainties of life, but also the certainties. on the smallest moments that make up a life

[Katelyn]

In poetry, Antrobus examines the time before he became a father--anticipating this change, trying to decide on a name--and after.

[Mya Matteo · Rating 5 out of 5]

devastating wordplay, very grounded in reality / sensuous descriptions interrogating / meditating on fatherhood.

[Kristen Brida · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful, intimate collection on the journey of fatherhood and how does one make that transformation before their child enters the world.

[Sapphire Allard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect

[Mark Sexton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Impressive tour de force on impending and then new fatherhood

[Lucía · Rating 3 out of 5]

El autor escribe sobre sus sentimientos al perder a su padre y convertirse en uno.

[Connie · Rating 5 out of 5]

from "The New Father": "...I find myself / preferring the trees above us, the way the wind // moves through them and the leaves hold on / so tenderly."

[Tom Collingridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not every poem, but several are outstanding.

[Logan Furlonge · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I want to keep your name safe"