40 Sonnets

by Don Paterson

This new collection from Don Paterson, his first since the Forward prize-winning Rain in 2009, is a series of forty sonnets. Some take a more traditional form, some are highly experimental, but what these poems share is a lyrical intelligence and musical gift that has been visible in his work since his first book of poems, Nil Nil, in 1993.

Addressed to children, friends and enemies, the living and the dead, musicians, poets and dogs, these poems display an ambition in their scope and tonal range matched by the breadth of their concerns. Here, voices call home from the blackout and the airlock, the storm cave and the séance, the coalshed, the war, the ringroad, the forest and the sea. These are voices frustrated by distance, by shot glass and bar rail, by the dark, leaving the 'sound that fades up from the hiss, / like a glass some random downdraught had set ringing, / now full of its only note, its lonely call . . .'

In 40 Poems Paterson returns to some of his central themes - contradiction and strangeness, tension and transformation, the dream world, and the divided self - in some of the most powerful and formally assured poems he has written to date. This is a rich and accomplished new work from one of the foremost poets writing in English today.

Genres: Poetry, Scotland, Literature

44 pages, Hardcover

First published September 3, 2015

About the author

Don Paterson (b. 1963) is a Scottish poet and writer. He is the author of sixteen books of poetry, aphorism, criticism, memoir and poetic theory. His poetry has won many awards, including the Whitbread Poetry Prize, the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize, the Costa Poetry Award, three Forward Prizes, the T.S. Eliot Prize on two occasions, and the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry.

He is a Professor Emeritus at the University of St. Andrews, and for twenty-five years was Poetry Editor at Picador MacMillan. He has long had a parallel career as a jazz guitarist.

He lives in Kirriemuir, Angus.

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

All but one of the poems in this new book have the sonnet’s traditional 14 lines; “The Version” is a short prose story about writing an untranslatable poem. However, even in the more conventional verses, there is a wide variety of both subject matter and rhyme scheme. Topics range from love and death to a phishing phone call and a footpath blocked off by Dundee City Council. A few favorites were “A Powercut,” set in a stuck elevator; “Seven Questions about the Journey,” an eerie call-and-response; and “Mercies,” a sweet elegy to an old dog put to sleep. There weren’t quite enough stand-outs here for my liking, but I appreciated the book as a showcase for just how divergent in form sonnets can be.

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don Paterson is regarded as one of the most skilled formal poets writing in English today, winner of an intimidating array of Forward Prizes, T.S. Eliot Prizes, Fabers, Whitbreads, etc., etc., and 40 Sonnets (2015) is his latest. All these poems have the air of being "New Yorker poems" -- polished, flintily intelligent, highbrow -- though there is more formal variation here than the book's title might suggest: some of the poems are sonnets in the most traditional sense of the term, while others are written in iambic tetrameter couplets rhymed AABBCC..., while still others are in free verse. The most experimental poem here, "Seance," is fourteen lines long, it is true, but the first two lines go like this: "S p e k e . - s e e s s k s e e k / i e i k s e s s e - . - e s k k s e - s s k."

40 Sonnets contains imitations of Du Fu and Gottfried Benn, tributes to favorite jazz musicians and to the TV show House, excoriations of Tony Blair and of the violence in Gaza, and an homage to photographer Francesca Woodman written in the form of seven aphoristic self-contained heroic couplets (the seventh: "All rooms will hide you, if you stand just so. / All ghosts know this. That's really all they know"). Other poems appear to take cues from less obvious sources of inspiration, like John Crowe Ransom (whose "Piazza Piece" expanded the way we conceive of the divide between octave and sestet) and Arthur Rimbaud. "Fit," for example, seems to have an affinity to Rimbaud's "Le Dormeur du val":

Back there a boy lies where he fell.
How long he's lain he cannot tell
but he is bored with his review
of dirt and roots and wants it through.
Fit your four limbs to his stain
you'll find you cannot rise again.

Many of the collection's most emotionally effective poems touch on death in some way. There is "Funeral Prayer," which really deserves to be read by everyone in its entirety, but which I'll quote only a few lines of here:

May the human dream
arise again to find him woken
at its heart, though to be spoken
once is as miraculous
as a thousand times.

"[T]o be spoken / once is as miraculous / as a thousand times": I believed that fervidly as a preteen playing with the idea of faith for the first time and still hope it to be true now.

"A Threshold" is a movingly understated poem about bereavement, with a gut punch in its rime riche-rhymed final couplet: "This place again. It's where / I wake up and recall I have no daughter / or fall asleep and dream I have no daughter."

"Apsinthion" turns romanticized depictions of warfare on their head: "did we choose to die like sheep? / Hell no - we were men, and blessed / to know the hour and place.... I jest. / One by one we fell asleep...."

"Seven Questions About the Journey" also subverts literary conventions, this time the conventions of the ballad form, to paint a haunting picture of the refugee journey, a hallucinatory mix of Auden's "Refugee Blues" and Auden's "O What Is That Sound":

If the weather is stormy, should we go nonetheless?
- None forecast
Where are the dogs and the horses? Should we guess?
- Slain. Shot. Gassed

One last favorite I must mention is "A Calling," which is an example of my very favorite kind of thing -- a sonnet-shaped modernization of an old figment of folklore (in this case, the Greek myth of Actaeon and Diana) that ends up being about something more, something infinitely deeper: "all my ghost-dogs thrash along the shore, / the dark sea at their back like the police," the last lines intone, with the implication being that the dogs threatening to cannibalize the poet are his own poems; that, in the end, if we are lucky, our work will consume us -- rend us limb from limb -- and survive us.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

What can I say, I like formalism- sue me.

[James Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are sonnets in every conceivable form, I'd guess. Some are traditional in form and meter, some are experimental. One, "Seance," seems to be in some kind of code I couldn't make heads or tails of, though it reminded me, sparked, most likely, by the title, of the poetry in James Merrill's The Changing Light at Sandover. I thought most of them elegant.

[Eleanor]

reading poetry just makes me realise how little I know about what is going on

[Erin]

'and we slept forever under the warm clouds
till something spoiled in us twitched with design
and woke the clock.'

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the last fistful of these on the no. 88 bus, after three glasses of South African wine. It seemed a fitting match for the poems: prosaic and sublime.

Paterson mixes the carefully crafted and the wildcard, the maverick and melancholy. Some hit, some miss.

Kudos to him for the startling range of styles and subjects; unusual for a single-author collection.

[Ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Paterson's 101 Sonnets, a gem from the Faber pocket poetry series, is essential reading; this volume is not.

To be fair when you've published your Selected Poems you've more than earned the right to tinker with the format, test some boundaries. But I still think the more conventional sonnets are best. 'To Dundee City Council', 'Funeral Prayer' and 'Francesca Woodman' (set out in couplets) work beautifully, as does the unrhymed 'For a Drowned Poet'. ‘The Version' is perhaps the simplest sonnet to get to grips with — read and see why. ‘An Incarnation' and 'Seance' alas simply don't work. The volume as a whole is more mixed in terms of quality than Paterson’s previous collections. Better borrowed than bought?

[Rosamund Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

some absolute gems in here; beautiful and unexpected, and a thoughtful use of the form. mixed in with some experiments or joke sonnets that do not seem to sit comfortably with the exemplary ones. i found it an uneven but very worthwhile collection and i know i will come back to it again and again.

[Noits · Rating 5 out of 5]

You never "finish" poetry but I've given each entry a cursory look and will revisit at some point.
Was particularly delighted with the two poems on Francesca Woodman's photography. She's an artist I'm rather obsessed with and I plan on Re-reading this alongside her work.

[Sophie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3⭐ (book 27/25 - 2025)

pro captu lectoris habent sua fata libelli

I have an 8yo Belgian Malinois who I adore more than anything else in the world; this killed me to read. God bless dogs 🐾

My favourite-

Mercies
She might have had months left of her dog years,
but to be who? she'd grown light as a nest
and spent the whole day under her long ears
listening to the bad radio in her breast.
on the steel bench, knowing what was taking shape
she tried and tried to stand, as if to sign
that she was still of use, and should escape
our selection. So I turned her face to mine,
and seeing only love there - which, for all
the wolf in her, she knew as well as we did -
she lay back down and let the needle enter.
And love was surely what her eyes conceded
as her stare grew hard, and one bright aerial
quit making its report back to the centre.

[Raya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of these..... aren’t sonnets? but kay

[ciel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked how unpretentious these are... and short! Sometimes you don't need a thousand pages to say a lot.

Also, it had quite the weird feeling reading some of it as addressed to Nora, but another Nora. Funny enough, 'Sentinel' is not my favourite (even though it made me want to meet the other Nora quite badly) but 'A Vow'. It just summarises a lot, I feel but could not ever express so concisely and simple.

Just enjoy the way he plays with words, it's great :)

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️

[Val Penny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was given the book, 40 Sonnets by Don Paterson as a birthday gift by a friend. I enjoy the form of the sonnet and this modern collection is exquisite. Don Paterson is regarded as one of the most skilled formal poets writing in English today. He has won an intimidating array of Forward Prizes including T.S. Eliot Prizes, Fabers and Whitbreads. 40 Sonnets (2015) is his latest work.

 All but one of the poems in this new book have the sonnet’s traditional 14 lines; “The Version” is a short prose story about writing an untranslatable poem. However, even in the more conventional verses, there is a wide variety of both subject matter and rhyme scheme. I delight in moving from one topic to another when they are all so beautifully covered.

Amongst the topics covered are the traditional subjects of love and death to the less obvious topics of a phishing phone call and a footpath blocked off by Dundee City Council. A few favorites were “A Powercut,” set in a stuck elevator; “Seven Questions about the Journey,” an eerie call-and-response; and “Mercies,” a sweet elegy to an old dog put to sleep and a satirical sonnet referencing former UK Prime Minister, Tony Blair.

I enjoy this book, 40 Sonnets very much and, I often read from it a poetry meetings. If you enjoy poetry, I highly recommend it.

The poet, Don Paterson, OBE, FRSL, was born in 1963. He is a noted Scottish poet, writer and musician.

Val Penny

[Martin Peel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like reading poetry. It challenges you on so many levels and in ways that the novels don't. This was recommended in the Waterstones that I was in and I picked it up. The sonnet is an accessible poetic form, 14 lines, could be iambic, but maybe not, could be a number of different forms, but maybe not, could be personal, but maybe not; I thought I would give it a go.

Don Patterson has a distinctive voice. The sonnets are varied in their form, subject matter and voice. I enjoyed the variation, humor and vivacity of the verse. Patterson experiments with the form, but he uses this exploration to unearth truth. Be that a personal truth or more universal truth. Love, loss, life death, childhood, family, amongst other subjects are engagingly explored.

The last poem of the volume is a ode to that disappeared playground staple; the roundabout. On that whirligig, you used to be able to get that wonderful feeling of spinning out of control on that whirligig. This volume is never out of control but it is certainly a rush of feelings, ideas, and images. I hope you enjoy it as I did.

[George Witte · Rating 5 out of 5]

I went back to school on these sonnets, with a sense that the form and its possibilities were newly revealed to me. The poems seem natural growths that attain their full maturity in 14 lines, rather than being jammed into an uncomfortable suit or stretched to fit 8 lines' worth of poetry into 14. There are many memorable poems here, and simply a high level of quality throughout the entire book; it's just plain better than most. Standouts include The Wave, The Air, A Powercut, Funeral Prayer (which I can imagine being read at services, what a lovely elegy), Francesca Woodman, A Threshold, and Souls. Highly recommended.

[Caspar "moved to storygraph" Bryant]

In the mood for these today & I do enjoy these so. I'm not wiser but I've got older and unexpectedly loved the earlier sonnets whereas I recall wanting less to do with them before - I see that was over two years ago now I read this dear lord where does the time go

I need to find more of Francesca Woodman in poetry I love her so & I'm susceptible to photographers as it is. She was unbelievable I'd want to read a biography but the tears would be everywhere. This is a problem with the geniuses that die at 22 they're [____] & [ungeneralisable] I do wonder how Don came to her. This is a tangent but I've been feeling emotional about Francesca these past few weeks anyway

[Michael Arnold · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've heard some good things about this book, and there are some poems here I really do like. Some of this book went way over my head, but I was very tired when I read it (had just come home from a day at work, I don't do well in heat). I'll be keeping ahold of this book for a long time, it's just too interesting. I guess this is an initial half-thought, but it's mildly positive; that's a good start!

The more I read this book the more I will appreciate it, I know that already, and I'm sure I'll rate it higher then when I've read this a few more times.

[Bailey Tolentino · Rating 3 out of 5]

I personally appreciated the shoutout to the Vic as a St. Andrews student (and by ‘appreciated’ I mean I cackled out loud)

[C. Varn · Rating 4 out of 5]

To say Paterson is laconic and presents his poetic speakers as unsympathetic could be considered an understatement: he is not humorless, but his humor here is black, and none of the chatty elements in his early collections are here. All but one of those poems is a traditional sonnet--"The Version" being a darkly humorous prose poem about translation in the vein of Nicanor Parra--the rhyme, topics, and meter swift dramatically within the lines from conventional to analogous to just a bit weird. Paterson shows himself to be the master of the form. Yet the quality of the work suffers because the thematic range seems limited the Paterson's tonal range: there is little obvious joy here to balance out dark and sometimes bitingly dry wit. Yet the work Paterson has done on Shakespeare sonnets served him while and while these 40 sonnets may actually be too much of a good thing, his genius is apparent even if it sometimes seems a bit airless and glum.

[Goodreeds User · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fair play Don they're all good sonnets

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoy Don Paterson's poetry and his book on Shakespeare's sonnets is a great read too. So it is nice to see him bring out a new collection of poems. These aren't all traditional sonnets, and they don't tell a story or function as a sequence of sonnets through the book although some themes crop up repeatedly. Some of the sonnets that I enjoyed most raised a smirk of recognition as I read them, such as a rant about Dundee City Council or a moan about poetry audiences lack of interest in hearing the actual poems. Others are more political and biting, maybe none moreso than a sonnet on the death of a child in Gaza. I always find with Don Paterson's poems that many of them click or just resonate on the first reading, then they reveal more on looking back at them again and that is true of this collection too.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lovely collection that rambles across from grief to childhood to the supernatural (kind of) to poetry itself. It took me a while to warm up to it, to get the "ear" for Paterson who is one of very few (Successful) people still writing this stuff. I was intrigued and when it started to make it's way, I wasn't disappointed. You have to make the effort though, I think. It doesn't necessarily come easily.

That said, it's so short that going over all or some of it twice is fine. Then again, £14.99 is a little sleep for a volume this slender.

To Dundee City Council and The Version were two highlights, the latter a rather splendid piece of prose dumped right in the middle of a stream of uniformish poetry.

[Russio · Rating 4 out of 5]

A varied and skilful collection, nearly entirely in the sonnet form, although often playing with it and loosening it up to the point of it not really being a sonnet any more. Highlights include A Powercut (an extended riff on our reactions to said irritations); The Fable of the Open Book (written, literally, from the margins); To Dundee City Council (a vicious condemnation of a piece of “planning”); A Scholar (again, a full frontal assault on academics); Aspinthion (in which he identifies the problem of sleepwalking towards war, although solutions are lacking herein) and Mercies (on saying goodbye to a beloved companion).

[Graham Hiscock · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent and fascinating collection. These are sonnets with a difference - Paterson sticks to the 14 line format but plays with and often ignores the other conventions of the form. Favourites: A Powercut, and the heartbreaking A Threshold.

[Brian Henderson · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is on the Griffin short list? The best piece is “The Version” — a longish prose poem. I find the other “experimental” poems less than exciting. The book, unfortunately, is typical: boringly clever.

[Anne, Unfinished Woman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rather a mixed bag of poems I liked and those that were strange. However, the sonnet "Funeral Prayer" goes on my list of those to be read when I cock up my toes, and "Mercies" is particularly poignant.

[Robert Welbourn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed this collection of poetry. Unlike a lot of poetry, particularly the modern stuff, it's very accessible. There are many strong themes clearly evident, and the works flow rhythmically and often beautifully.

[T P Kennedy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice little connection of sonnets. Lovely book for picking up at random. There are some wonderful poems in the collection but also some misfires.