Reading Walter de la Mare

by Walter de la Mare, William Wootten (Editor)

Walter de la Mare (1873-1956) was one of the best-loved English poets of the twentieth century, his verse admired by contemporaries including Thomas Hardy, Robert Frost, W. H. Auden and T. S. Eliot. This volume presents a new selection of de la Mare's finest poems, including perennial favourites such as 'Napoleon', 'Fare Well' and 'The Listeners', for a twenty-first-century audience. The poems are accompanied by commentaries by William Wootten, which build up a portrait of de la Mare's life, loves and friendships with the likes of Hardy, Rupert Brooke, Edward Thomas and Katherine Mansfield. They also point out the fascinating references to literature, folklore and the natural world that embroider the verse.

Genres: Poetry

ebook

Published June 16, 2020

About the author

Walter John de la Mare was an English poet, short story writer and novelist. He is probably best remembered for his works for children, for his poem "The Listeners", and for his psychological horror short fiction, including "Seaton's Aunt" and "All Hallows". In 1921, his novel Memoirs of a Midget won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction, and his post-war Collected Stories for Children won the 1947 Carnegie Medal for British children's books.

Reviews

[Atri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yet, yet, it seemed, from star to star,
Welling now near, now faint and far,
Those echoing bells rang on in dream,
And stillness made even lovelier seem.

[Carlton · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unexpected delight.
This is a selection of poems by Walter de la Mare (who’s also a novelist (Memoirs of a Midget), short story writer and playwright) who I didn’t really know before this book, but who wrote mainly rhyming poetry, often narrative, and often about fantasy (Faërie), dreams and death.
He is described by Poetry Foundation as “one of modern literature’s chief exemplars of the romantic imagination. His complete works form a sustained treatment of romantic themes: dreams, death, rare states of mind and emotion, fantasy worlds of childhood, and the pursuit of the transcendent.”
There is a small selection of de la Mare’s poetry with full notes to each poem explaining possible meanings (usually more than one reading is possible), literary allusions and unusual words. Some readers may find this elementary, but for an occasional poetry reader such as myself, this book was rather wonderful.
There is also some biographical detail, as necessary, and this usefully places the author in his time and relationships with probably more famous contemporary friends and acquaintances, such as Edward Thomas, Katherine Mansfield, Thomas Hardy and W H Auden.
I suspect that he was someone who is now known for a couple of books of children’s poetry and some horror short stories, but his poetry can be read and reread with pleasure.

[Caomhghain · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read because I love a small number of de la Mare's poems (the Listeners or Song of the Mad Prince to take but two). Wootten has taken a slightly large number (though not a great many) and given sometimes fascinating insights into their conception, analyses of their use of language and prosody, and metrics. It is almost entirely a lovely collection (excepting the excerpts from 'Winged Chariot). De la Mare could be brilliant at creating atmosphere or using the subtlest of metrical changes. He is not the greatest of poets but he wrote some lovely works. He was a friend of Thomas and Frost and one cannot but think of them in reading his Railway Junction. His two friends took a similar theme and wrote masterworks (Adlestrop and Road Not Taken). De la Mare's is a lower key work. His language is almost entirely 'poetic'. Thomas could turn a 'prosaic' line like 'Of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire' and turn it haunting, elegiac. But do read this book. It is well worth it.