Aimed at Nobody
When he died in 1986, although admired by other writers and of interest to academics, WS Graham was virtually unknown by the common reader, and truly one of the most undervalued poets of the twentieth century. Since then his Uncollected (1990) and Selected Poems (1996) have been published along with extracts from his notebooks (1993). The number of reviews and articles concerning his New Collected Poems (2004), and the need for them to find the wide audience they so deserve, demonstrate that previous posthumous publications have not had the desired impact on the general reading public.
It is unfortunate that in his recent review of the collection, Andrew Motion, our Poet Laureate, asks if the New Collected Poems will have the desired effect on the general reader and answers himself glibly, saying "probably not." Motion goads admirers of Graham's work refering to the book as a "necessary thing" but little more.
The new, comprehensive, although not complete, edition of Graham's poems demonstrates the rich diversity of his body of work but within the focus of a collected edition. As with many poets the first poem of the collection, The Narrator, out of sequence with the whole of Graham's second collection, The Seven Journeys (1944), offers the reader an indication of Graham's poetic purpose.
Like The Thought Fox, the first poem in Hughes's selected editions, it is both an indication of a startling style and a stuttering look at a glut of ideas that would recur throughout Graham's poetry.
Although Graham does not deal with an amazing breadth of poems the diversity achieved with his changing style negates any fault found in this feature. For instance, in the late masterpiece, What is the Language Using us For?
Graham revisits his earlier concerns but with a new clarity, and the return to Malcolm Mooney's poetic presence augments the synthesis of ideas that make up the 'folding message' of the poem.
It is exceptional that Graham is able to construct such powerful emotion, especially in his later more concise poetry, while highlighting the fundamental lack of connection between the reader and poet.
Although Graham's poetry has a certain aura of difficulty about it, especially in its initial verbose form, suggesting a reason for its relative unpopularity, this comprehensive volume demonstrates the self awareness with which he wrote in the 1940s.
With the current fascination with the relationship between an author and his work Graham's poetry clearly holds a new residence, and his visionary status is confirmed.
This New Selected Poems, with two insightful, yet different, introductory passages, truly demonstrates the brilliance of Graham's poetry. I thoroughly suggest you read it.
6th May 2004