Martin Seymour-Smith Collected Poems 1943-1993

To the general public Martin Seymour-Smith (1928-1998) is known as a distinguished literary biographer, notably of Robert Graves, Rudyard Kipling and Thomas Hardy. To such figures as John Dover Wilson, William Empson, Stephen Spender and Anthony Burgess he was regarded as one of the most independently-minded scholars of his generation, through his pioneering critical edition of Shakespeare's Sonnets, and his magisterial Guide to Modern World Literature.

To his fellow poets - Graves, James Reeves, C.H. Sisson and Robert Nye - he was, first and foremost, a poet. In this first collected edition of his verse since his death, Martin Seymour-Smith's affinities with the poets of the 17th century becomes clear. He shares their love of argument, ratiocination and a constant wrestling with the self. As this collection, edited by Peter Davies, demonstrates, at the centre of the poems is a passionate engagement with Man, his sexuality and his personal relationships.

184  pages

ISBN: 978-1-87551-47-1