A Book of Lives (Poetry Book Society Recommendation)

No wonder Edwin Morgan was Scotland's bestloved poet. His poems teem with lives and loves and are marked by an unusual love of the present and the future. He finds forms for themes and ideas just out of reach. In this collection poems both profound and witty are to be found: occasional verse that transcends its occasion, explorations of the human condition conducted with a virtuosic lightness of touch. A Book of Lives draws together the themes that inform his poetic world. The largest vistas of human history, from twenty billion years BC to 9/11 and the 'war on terror'; Scotland from Bannockbu.;Cover; Title Page; Table of Contents; Acknowledgements; For the Opening of the Scottish Parliament, 9 October 2004; Acknowledge the Unacknowledged Legislators!; The Cost of Pearls; Lines for Wallace; The Battle of Bannockburn; James IV To his Treasurer; Retrieving & Renewing; Planet Wave; Valentine Weather; Three Songs; Old Gorbals; 1955 -- A Recollection; My First Octopus; Boethius; Charles V; Oscar Wilde; Hirohito; New Times; Gorgo and Beau; Questions I; Questions II; The Welcome; Brothers and Keepers; The Old Man and E.A.P.; An Old Woman's Birthday. No Wonder Edwin Morgan Was Scotland's Best-loved Poet. His Poems Teem With Lives And Loves And Are Marked By An Unusual Love Of The Present And The Future. He Finds Forms For Themes And Ideas Just Out Of Reach. In This Collection Poems Both Profound And Witty Are To Be Found: Occasional Verse That Transcends Its Occasion, Explorations Of The Human Condition Conducted With A Virtuosic Lightness Of Touch. A Book Of Lives Draws Together The Themes That Inform His Poetic World. The Largest Vistas Of Human History, From Twenty Billion Years Bc To 9/11 And The 'war On Terror'; Scotland From Bannockburn To The Opening Of The Scottish Parliament; Portraits - Of Rimbaud, The Emperor Hirohito, Raeburn's Skating Reverend Walker... Poems For Birthdays And Elegies Celebrate Friends; A Dramatic Dialogue About Cancer Sets Personal Experience In A Wry Evolutionary Context. At The Heart Of The Collection, A Major Sequence, 'love And A Life', Affirms The Inextinguishable Energies Of Love And Art. Cover Title Page Table of Contents Acknowledgements For the Opening of the Scottish Parliament, 9 October 2004 Acknowledge the Unacknowledged Legislators! The Cost of Pearls Lines for Wallace The Battle of Bannockburn James IV To his Treasurer Retrieving & Renewing Planet Wave Valentine Weather Three Songs Old Gorbals 1955 -- A Recollection My First Octopus Boethius Charles V Oscar Wilde Hirohito New Times Gorgo and Beau Questions I Questions II The Welcome Brothers and Keepers The Old Man and E.A.P. An Old Woman's Birthday. For David Daiches, on his Ninetieth BirthdayA Birthday: for I.H.F. Wild Cuts (with Hamish Whyte) Five Paintings Love and a Life The War on the War on Terror Conversation in Palestine Also by Edwin Morgan from Carcanet About the Author Copyright. Containing poems written by Edwin Morgan during the past six years, this collection looks at human life from a variety of perspectives, encompassing a range of themes, the foremost of which is history. This new work displays the author's characteristic willingness to experiment with a variety of subjects, from the history of cancer to the new Scottish parliament. Features poems that teem with lives and loves and are marked by an unusual love of the present and the future. This title includes poems for birthdays and elegies that celebrate friends, as well as a dramatic dialogue about cancer that sets personal experience in a wry evolutionary context. Edwin Morgan, Scotland's poet laureate, ia an internationally renowned and widely anthologised writer. This is his first new collection of poems in over four years