David Wright: Poems and Versions

by David Wright

These writings by David Wright collect his written conversations with friends, most of them fellow poets. Norman Nicolson, C.H. Sisson, George Barker and Charles Causley are among those included. The elegies, written in informal and direct language, strike a note of celebration and bear witness to what survives loss. The clarity and nuanced rhythms of the poetry are all the more remarkable as Wright has been deaf since childhood.

Genres: Poetry

64 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1992

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

David John Murray Wright was an author, poet and editor. He was born in South-Africa of normal hearing. When he was 7 years old he contracted scarlet fever and was deafened as a result of the disease. He immigrated to England at the age of 14, where he was enrolled in the Northampton School for the Deaf. He studied at Oriel College, Oxford, and graduated in 1942.
(Source: Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Bohemian Book Lover · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Personally I found the majority
*Of the poems in this collection far more
*Enjoyable than the ones in Wright's
*MORAL
*STORIES. It has an

*Assortment of
*Nostalgic pieces, but the ones
*Dealing with the poet's South African memories were my favourites. There is a

*Variety of poetic styles in here:
*Epistolary, elegy, ekphrasis, etc. Wright's
*Range &
*Scope are
*Impressive. There were lines, similes & imagery that stood
*Out for their impactful pathos, emotion & beauty.
*Not to mention his translated versions of a representative
*Selection of poems from the enigmatically sublime Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa, which includes my favourite of his existential poems, 'The Tobacconist's (being the main reason why I bought this book).

[Tristan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fine but rather unexciting collection. Wright is tender and honest but his actual verses are somewhat prosaic and bland for my taste--fully competent, readable, and you can really feel the strength of the friendships that make up the network of adressees of the poems. I liked the translations better than the original work, but I can't speak to them as translations, since I don't speak Portuguese and Wright doesn't provide the originals anyway.
It is, however, an excellent text if you're looking for contemporary verse epistles.