Wowsers

by Groves, Paul

• ISBN13: 9781854113078
• ISBN10: 1854113070
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-10-01
• Publisher: Seren

Summary

In Paul Groves's fourth book, which consolidates his reputation as one of the most able and consistent poets of his generation, we encounter such unlikely stablemates as Rudolf Hess, Virginia Woolf, Dylan Thomas, and Otto von Bismarck. It ends with 'The Orthodox Chapel of St. Dyfrig', an anagrammatical tour de force. While his characteristic wit enlivens 'So Now You Know' and 'In the Kabul McDonald's', elsewhere darker forces congregate. 'Three Devils', for example, conflates the ordinary and extraordinary with chilling brio. An unsettling perspicuity is apparent throughout these pages, as is an equal facility with vers libre and formal structures. Wowsers is a wonderfully accessible and entertaining collection.

Author Biography

Paul Groves is a critic, creative writing lecturer, and tutor with the Open College of the Arts.

Table of Contents

At Partrishow in the Black Mountains	7	(1)
Rudolf Hess at White Castle, Monmouthshire	8	(1)
To the Tenant Farmer with the Lee-Enfield Rifle	9	(1)
Bequest	10	(1)
So Now You Know	11	(1)
When Paul McCartney Stayed	12	(2)
Visit to Virginia	14	(1)
Wish You Were Here	15	(1)
Protector	16	(1)
Christ of the Deep	17	(1)
Nessiteras Rhombopteryx	18	(1)
The Inner Sound	19	(1)
Just Fancy	20	(1)
Lost Cause	21	(1)
The Trier	22	(2)
The Poetry Pool	24	(1)
The Last Resort	25	(1)
Incommunicado	26	(1)
Thomas William Ellis	27	(1)
Stranger in Town	28	(1)
My Father, Shaving	29	(1)
Late Discovery	30	(1)
Helvellyn Incident, 1805	31	(1)
Fabulist	32	(1)
Alma Mater	33	(1)
The Experiment	34	(1)
The Farmer's Wife and her Brood	35	(1)
Life: Made in Taiwan	36	(2)
Polaroid: Chandpur	38	(1)
In the Kabul McDonald's	39	(1)
Overlooked	40	(1)
Homunculus	41	(1)
Hans Werner Schneider, 22 May 1942	42	(1)
Otto von Bismarck, 1870	43	(1)
The Father of Danish Astronomy	44	(1)
The Exception and The Rule	45	(1)
The Spirit of Robin Hood	46	(1)
The Proposal	47	(1)
Omission Accomplished	48	(1)
Three Devils	49	(1)
Troglodytes, 1884	50	(1)
Inspiration and Expiration	51	(1)
According to the Statute Book	52	(2)
Wowsers	54	(2)
Bridges	56	(1)
Chicken Kiev for One	57	(1)
Imaginary Intervention	58	(1)
Mrs.	59	(1)
The Orthodox Chapel of St. Dyfrig	60	(4)
Acknowledgements	64