Happiness

by Martin Harrison

Martin Harrison (1949-2014) prepared and delivered this final manuscript at the end of a prolific creative life. With the vulnerability of a lover, the poet peels back one cover of truth after another; reckless for the evidence of the senses, he sifts light, sound and smell.

Poems like the skin of a world: breathing, walking, touching. Martin Harrison's culminating poetic achievement is a crossing over, stylistically, thematically, emotionally. Mapping the tragic chiasmus of love and death, it finally asserts the transcendent power of poetry to bear witness, to join us in a greater communion.

Cosmopolitan and local, these triumphs of a 'late style' remind us what poetry is when its mastery allows the irony of existence to walk naked and to exult.

Genres: Poetry

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2015

About the author

Martin Harrison is a British art historian, curator, and author, internationally recognized for his expertise in photography, stained glass, and the work of painter Francis Bacon. Beginning his career in the 1960s as a photographer’s assistant at Vogue, Harrison later emerged as a leading authority on British photojournalism with his influential book Young Meteors: British Photojournalism, 1957–1965. He played a key role in reviving interest in forgotten photographers, including Lillian Bassman and Saul Leiter.
Harrison’s curatorial work spans major institutions such as the Victoria and Albert Museum and the National Portrait Gallery, with exhibitions held across Europe, the United States, and Mexico. A founding trustee of the English Stained Glass Museum at Ely Cathedral, he also contributed significantly to the study of Victorian stained glass and Pre-Raphaelite art.
His most celebrated contribution lies in his extensive scholarship on Francis Bacon. Since 1999, Harrison has authored several critical texts on the artist’s work and its sources, culminating in the five-volume Francis Bacon: Catalogue Raisonné (2016), a landmark in Bacon studies. He continues to lead academic discourse as editor of the Francis Bacon Studies series, focusing on the artist’s intellectual and visual influences, particularly cinema and photography.
Across a multifaceted career, Harrison has combined visual analysis with rigorous scholarship, leaving a lasting impact on the study of modern art and visual culture.

Reviews

[Dale Harcombe · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a present from me to myself, because I wanted to own Martin Harrison’s last book of poetry. I own a couple of his others and enjoy his poetry. Martin died in 2104 before this book was published. I was so looking forward to reading it. Sadly it did not live up to expectation and that is the fault of the publisher rather than the poet. Despite its striking cover the book presentation was let down for me, when I had to sit and physically cut the pages apart because they had not been cut properly. There also appear to be a couple of poems that just end up hanging and seem to be missing last lines to finish abruptly in the middle of a phrase. I felt so disappointed I put the book aside for many months before coming back to it.
But enough of the negatives. The poems are beautiful. Martin Harrison focuses a lot on light, rain and water images as well as that of the countryside. I love the way words and images are strung together. I’m not going to quote lines from the poems as the words and lines need to be read in context to get the impact of them. Plucking phrases and lines out will only diminish the effect. The poems are sensual and rich in detail. I know there are a number I need to read again to grasp the full meaning. The poems I would rate a four and a half. The lack of editing and poor presentation lets the collection down so I have only ended up giving the book three and a half stars. What a pity Martion’s legacy of words was not honoured better.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first time I’ve read poetry by Martin Harrison and I have been thoroughly impressed and bamboozled in the way I like best to be bamboozled by poetry! These are the kinds of poems that you can let wash over you. A great first book of the year! 4.5 stars