Feeling disgruntled at having to work through the Jubilee weekend - even though I hadn't been planning to brave the crowds and the rain - I've been giving myself tea-breaks with The World's Wife, the Poet Laureate's brilliantly clever and funny collection of feminist poems. I loved The Kray Sisters.
There go the twins geezers would say
when we walked down the frog and toad
in our Savile Row whistle and flutes, tailored
to flatter our thr'penny bits, which were big,
like our East End hearts.
I loved the rhythms and her masterly (mistressly?) command of language. You can hear Carol Ann Duffy here reading her Jubilee offering but she's not a good reader and it's hard to hear what she's saying, so much better on the page.
I finished the poems - drank lots of tea - and even finished (most of) the work.
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7 comments:
Someone like Fiona Shaw, brilliant. But I hate that self-conscious BBC 'I'm reading poetry' voice that always sounds like Mrs Bucket at a candlelit soirée.
I like that bit of poetry too, Mary. My favourites either make you weepy or make you smile and I have come across a fair bit that do neither.
There wasn't much reading done in my house over the weekend with so much Jubilee coverage. And definitely lots of tea drinking going on...in a Queen mug, of course!
I'm slightly mad at myself that I didn't brave the crowds to see the boats, Darlene.
Reading poetry is a challenge, I'm always shocked at how poorly it's taught in school. Bring back Elocution lessons, since it became Speech and Drama, there's just too much emphasis on the Drama and not enough on the speech!
This book is made for reading aloud, Jude. If nobody's listening!
That 'I'm reading poetry' voice is called (I think) declamation and sounds dreadful. I liked The Kray Sisters.
Mrs Faust was another good one.
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