Nature

by Carol Ann Duffy

One of the English language’s best-loved living poets, in Nature Carol Ann Duffy presents us with her favourites among her poems on the natural world. Drawing on work written over four decades and arranged chronologically, Duffy also adds to her selection one wholly new poem.

Genres: Poetry, Nature

56 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 2, 2023

About the author

Dame Carol Ann Duffy, DBE, FRSL is a Scottish poet and playwright. She is Professor of Contemporary Poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University, and was appointed Britain's Poet Laureate in May 2009.

She is the first woman, the first Scot, and the first openly LGBT person to hold this position.

Her collections include Standing Female Nude (1985), winner of a Scottish Arts Council Award; Selling Manhattan (1987), which won a Somerset Maugham Award; Mean Time (1993), which won the Whitbread Poetry Award; and Rapture (2005), winner of the T. S. Eliot Prize.

Her poems address issues such as oppression, gender, and violence, in an accessible language that has made them popular in schools.

Reviews

[Ella Oakley]

“Ah, you thought love human,
Till you lost yourself in the forest,”

“Stinking seas
below ill winds. Nothing swims.
A vast plastic soup, thousand miles
wide as long, of petroleum crap.”

“How they can ruin a day, the funeral cars proceeding”

[Edwin]

She is my favourite. Thank you Carol Ann Duffy I will always think of you when I see the moon or a bee or a grassy ditch. Your words have always connected

[Katie]

Poetry about nature is, of course, multi-faceted. Yet, I believe there is a certain expectation that is evoked when the term is used as a descriptor, as is the case here. Now, knowing Duffy, I was aware I was not going to get a collection of beautifully serene poems plucked right out of romanticism. That's not her style, and it's not what I wanted, either. Still, I would have expected a greater focus on harmonious coexistence, perhaps a few pieces praising the sublime beauty of nature. Instead, the book is filled with (mythological) references and jarring poems about the cruelty of humankind and the suffering of animals. The first three poems positively took me out right away; I would not have expected such a rough beginning, but once I'd settled into the text, I found myself enjoying it.

[Dani Ringrose]

It's so interesting that even a mid Duffy collection is still epochs above other poets.


"A woodpecker heckled.
A vulture picked at its own breast.
Thrice from the cockerel, as ever.
The macaw squawked:
Nouns I know --
Rain. Forest. Fire. Ash.
Chainsaw. Cattle. Cocaine. Cash.
Squatters. Ranchers. Loggers. Looters.
Barons. Shooters.

A hawk swore."

"Water crosses the border,
translates itself, but words stumble, fall back,
and there, nailed to a tree, is proof."

[Sharlene]

This is a moving collection of poetry. If you're interested in climate change, love animals and nature and (bonus point) if you're vegan or vegetarian then you'll really enjoy this. I found Duffy's writing engaging and I thought she captured the emotions she wanted you to feel very well! She explores nature and the cruelty of humankind which makes you question what you can do to help make positive changes.

[Meaghan]

Beautiful poetry with a mastery of language. Duffy really honors nature in this work.
.
My favorites from the collection:
-"The Dolphins"
-"Ape"
-"The Legend"
-"River"
-"Spring"
-"The Woman in the Moon"
-"Blackbird"

[Alicia Lovely]

There were some powerful poems in this little collection. I’ve not read any of Duffy’s work since A Level and I wanted to give it a little re-visit. She’s still not my favourite poet but I do appreciate her work.

[Kerry]

I particularly enjoyed The Dolphins, A Healthy Meal, Elephants, and Io. I greatly prefer when Duffy acknowledges the destructiveness of mankind and how we affect the animal kingdom and our environment.

[Annabelle]

Solid, not life changing

[Lisa Doran]

Forever one of my favourite poets. I especially loved Io and Virgil's Bees.

[Molly Stocks]

Beautiful poems

[Jeimy]

Lovely collection.

[nat]

💚

[Lucia Jane]

Some beautiful and powerful stuff…

My favourite poems:
Demeter
Haworth
Spring
Virgil’s Bees
Hive
Luke Howard, Namer of Clouds
Elephants