Many of the poems in Sean O'Brien's new collection take their emotional tenor and imaginative cue from his acclaimed translation of Dante's Inferno, and occupy a dark, flooded, subterranean world, as dramatically compelling as it is disquieting. Circumstances have compelled O' Brien to return repeatedly to the elegiac form, and The Drowned Book contains a number of powerfully moving poems written in memory of fellow poets and artists. The Drowned Book again shows O' Brien a master of the authoritative line, and underscores his pre-eminence among contemporary English poets.
- Dedication
- The Apprehension
- Water-Gardens
- River-doors
- Eating the Salmon of Knowledge from Tins
- By Ferry
- Drains
- A Coffin-Boat
- The River in Prose
- The Mere
Etc.
"Compelling, with a steady incandescence to the language"
--Independent--
"All life is written in Dante's burning pages, and Sean O' Brien is to be congratulate on his expert rehabilitation of a classic"
--Spectator--
"Combines urgent readability with a muscular forcefulness"
--The Economist--