The Sleeping Lord: And Other Fragments

by David Jones

The Sleeping Lord is perhaps the best introductory volume to Jones's work; the contours can be seen most clearly here, and the textures, though rich, are less elaborate than in The Anathemata , since there is an open, dramatic quality running through the book.' Peter Scupham, New Statesman Published months before David Jones's death in 1974, and modestly presented by the author himself as a collection of 'fragments', The Sleeping Lord continued the exploration of themes begun by its predecessors In Parenthesis and The Anathemata. Set mainly in different parts of the Roman Empire, either in the Holy Land or on the Celtic fringes, animated by his Catholic faith and by his own experiences as a soldier, formidably erudite and of a visionary intensity, the book springs from a lifetime's concern with questions of history, culture and religion. Mysterious, musical and alive with a sense of the wilderness and the elements, the poems show the startling development of Jones's imagination in his later years.

Genres: Poetry

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

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

David Jones is one of the finest modernist poets. He was born in London in 1895 and was both a painter and a poet. His reputation as a poet rests largely on two works: In Parenthesis and The Anathemata. The former is a deeply moving account of Jones' experiences in the trenches in the First World War.

In Parenthesis won the prestigious Hawthornden Prize in 1938. In his preface to the 1961 edition, T S Eliot had no hesitation in including Jones along with Joyce, Pound and himself as a premier exponent of literary modernism. The poem is a mixture of prose and verse and is accompanied by Jones' notes. What stands out is the fundamental decency and humanity of those men as they made their way to the slaughter on the front line. This journey is described with such brilliance that the reader becomes immersed in the moment and almost forgets the horrors that await. The notes are equally remarkable and could make a poem in themselves.

W H Auden callled The Anathemata "Very probably the finest long poem written in English in this century" and it is a remarkable work, packed full of the 'mixed data' referred to above and providing a dizzying tour of our cultural past. This too has notes provided by Jones and a long introduction which both explains and justifies the nature of its composition.

Reviews

[Judith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just wish I could remember where I read about this guy - could have been my paper. The language is lovely - seem to remember being told that TS Eliot was a great admirer of David Jones work. I can see why. David Jones style is a cross between Gerald Manley Hopkins & TS Eliot; it’s quite adjectival, very poetic, very musical. Be warned, there are a number of Welsh words, tho’ there are translations. And if I’ve got a quibble it’s I do prefer my poetry in sentences rather than block paragraphs. Definitely repays close reading & I need to return to this.

[Brigitte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as strong as his epic long poems, but still very much worth the read.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of several amazing works by David Jones in which I am currently immersed. I've been meaning to read Jones for a couple of years, and now I'm just sorry I waited this long. Like discovering a new major river.

[Adriaan Krabbendam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jones is a rather enigmatic poet/painter producing no easy to grasp poetry with many allusions to classical works, celtic myth and religious cult. Even without the manifold notes an absolute wonderful experience to read and re-read.

[John Birchall · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are some quite exceptional passages in this, particularly in the poem entitled 'The Sleeping Lord'. "Does the land wait the sleeping lord - or is that wasted land the very lord who sleeps?" Perhaps the best Arthurian work of the 20th century.