Arthurian Things: A Collection of Poems

by Melissa Ridley Elmes

The legends of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table are among the most beloved stories of all time. This poetry collection, the first of its kind, approaches the Arthurian world through the various lenses of its nonhuman creatures and things, presented alongside glimpses into the thoughts of some of its major characters. The poems in this book range in tone from lightly humorous to darkly meditative, and small things--cats, ants, flies, bees, an ingot in the treasury, a flower on the table, a cup, a lyre, a sword--explore big themes: relationships, mortality, gender issues, violence, and identity. These poems fracture the overarching legend, piercing its smooth veneer of unquestioned noble and valiant chivalry to reveal cracks that are by turns vulnerable, cynical, gentle, and uncertain.At every turn, they ask the reader to consider what we know and how the perspective through which we view a subject influences how we perceive it and what we think it means.This unique and original book offers fresh insights into (some of) the inner worlds and unconsidered corners of the Arthurian legend, breathing new life into the ancient stories and bringing the myth into a modern idiom.

Genres: Poetry

120 pages, Paperback

Published February 1, 2020

About the author

Melissa Ridley Elmes is the author of Arthurian Things; A Collection of Poems, winner of the JayZoMon Open Contract challenge and nominated for the 2022 Elgin Award for best book of speculative poetry by the Science Fiction Poetry Writers Association. Her fiction and poetry appear in a variety of literary journals and popular magazines, including Star*Line, Eye to the Telescope, Spectral Realms, Illumen, Haven, Gyroscope, In Parentheses, Thimble, Heartwood, and World of Myth. A medieval scholar and associate professor of English and gender studies, she has authored articles on various subjects including the Arthurian and Robin Hood legends, Chaucer, women and gender in medieval literature, medievalism, and pedagogy, and she is the co-editor of an introduction to literature textbook (Lenses: Perspectives on Literature, Second Edition) and co-editor of Food and Feast in Premodern Outlaw Tales (Routledge, 2021) and Melusine's Footprint: Tracing the Legacy of a Medieval Myth (Brill, 2017). She has held fellowships at the Folger Shakespeare Library and with the National Endowment for the Humanities and National Endowment for the Arts.

Reviews

[Douglas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr Elmes is a friend of mine. She's also a modern day "Renaissance Woman." The poems in this collection are related to King Arthur and Camelot. She list works relating to the topic and defines images in the poems in the afterword. Animals and inanimate objects narrate most of these poems. They are viewed through modern sensitivities. The poems become vehicles for giving a voice to the voiceless. Inner thoughts of characters are explored in the last fifth of the collection. A variety of styles of poetry are utilized in this book. That and the afterword would make this an interesting book for teaching poetry to undergraduates. It's also is an entertaining read for your day off. Anna, the author's daughter, illustrates this book. She brings great emotions to the subjects with her drawings.

[Robert Stanton · Rating 5 out of 5]

People who love poetry, find Arthurian worlds endlessly generative, and just want to read something great, will want to know about this amazing collection. Every poem is a riff, a mood, one dig deeper than the layer you thought the story was at. Toxic masculinity, female desire, fucked-up institutions: it's all here, kids. Go get it!

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cannot express how much fun I had reading this collection of poems. 5/5 amazing!!! It is funny, witty, and written by one of the coolest people I’ve ever had the pleasure of becoming friends with. Also, her daughter illustrates the book and I adore her cat drawings to the max! Go Anna!

[Misty · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved every page, every insight, every philosophical zinger, sneaky in-joke, and poignant surprise that laces through these lively, vibrant, and oh-so-imaginative poems. The notion to reflect on Arthurian society, all its lofty ideals and gaping flaws, using the perspective of the everyday items and artifacts enmeshed in this society is nothing less than brilliant. Even I, a long-established Arthur fan, felt refreshed by the humanity that Ridley Elmes, an accomplished medieval scholar as well as gifted poet, brings to these contemplations of ordinary things and creatures. We hear from the flies, cats, bees, and rats. We listen in on the thoughts of the lyre, Excalibur, the hall, the Grail, and Guinevere’s sheets. The sonnet cycle from each of the main characters in the legends and the final insight in Arthur’s dilemma moved even this jaded reader. Accessible to hard-core Arthurian fans as well as those only passingly familiar with the Malory-inspired retellings, this collection does what poetry should do: refract life back to us in all its complicated beauty. There’s not a single entry that doesn’t hold its own, but my very favorite is the wishing well, which makes it own wish that all those fleeing for favors and miracles
Would come to visit ME, just to see
a well-crafted well, instead of begging
for things we all know I can’t give.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Melissa is one of my favorite poets and her collection of Arthurian poems doesn't disappoint.