Penguin Modern Poets - Issue 1 - Biographical Notes and Table of Contents

Sep 30, 2026

Uploaded by Rowan

Biographical introductions profile three poets—Lawrence Durrell, Elizabeth Jennings, and R.S. Thomas—covering origins, education, careers, and major published works. The selection’s publication information is included, along with copyright and printing details. A comprehensive contents listing follows, enumerating poem titles attributed to Durrell, Jennings, and Thomas, and ending with an index of first lines for easier reference.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages132

Reading Time3 h 23 min

AccessFree to download

Acknowledgements

Prospect of Children

Christ in Brazil

Carol on Corfu

This Unimportant Morning

'Je Est un Autre'

Truth

A Portrait of Theodora

A Rhodian Captain

On Ithaca Standing

Sarajevo

Delos

The Parthenon

Orpheus

Style

The Dying Fall

A Bowl of Roses

On Mirrors

The Sirens

Green Coconuts

On Seeming to Presume

The Prayer-Wheel

In Rio (from Journals of Progress)

Asphodels: Chalchidice

Clouds of Glory

A Water-Colour of Venice

Pomona de Maillol

Song at the Beginning of Autumn

Kings

The Enemies

For a Child Born Dead

In the Night

Beyond Possession

A Fear

Teresa of Avila

Fountain

Letter from Assisi

A Death

Old Woman

Absence

The Shot

The Annunciation

In a Foreign City

Disguises

Ghosts

The Roman Forum

My Grandmother

Ata Mass

To a Friend with a Religious Vocation

Two Deaths

The Counterpart

Harvest and Consecration

The Diamond Cutter

Song for a Birth or a Death

Family Affairs

A Game of Chess

Greek Statues

A Peasant

Affinity

An Old Man

The Cry of Elisha after Elijah

The Evacuee

Depopulation of the Hills

Cynddylan on a Tractor

Death of a Peasant

Welsh Landscape

Soil

Bread

The Lonely Farmer

Meet the Family

Children's Song

The Village

Song at the Year's Turning

Invasion on the Farm

A Person from Porlock

The Slave

Taliesin 1952

The Poacher

Priest and Peasant

The Last of the Peasantry

In a Country Church

No Through Road

Index of First Lines

PENGUIN MODERN POETS 1Lawrence Durrell Elizabeth JenningsR.S.Thomas 月11422 # PENGUIN MODERN POETSI LAWRENCE DURRELL was born in India in I9I4 and educated atDarjeeling and St Edmund's School,Canterbury.After leading abohemian life in London for some years,he went abroad,and he hasspent most of his life near the Mediterranean.He has worked at theembassy in Cairo,and has been a press officer there and at Athens,anda press attaché in Alexandria and Belgrade.He has been a directorof British Council institutes in Kalmata(Greece)and Cordoba(Argen-tina),and was Director of Public Relations for the island of Cyprusduring the troubled fifties.He now writes books at his home inProvence.He is probably best known for The Alexandria Quartet(I957-6o),a‘word continuum'consisting of the four novels,Justine,Balthazar,Mountolive and Clea,but it was as a poet that he began writ-ing.His various books of poetry include A Private Country(I943),Cities,Plains and People(I946),On Seeming to Presume(I948),The Treeof Idleness(I955),and Collected Poems(I950). ELIZABETH JENNINGs,born at Boston,Lincolnshire,in r926,waseducated in Oxford at the High School and St Anne's College,whereshe read English.She is a free-lance writer,and describes herself as'unmarried and a Roman Catholic³.Her books of verse are:Poems(1953),which won an Arts Council prize,AWay of Lookeing(I955),which was given the Somerset Maugham Award,ASense of the World(I958),Songfor a Birth or a Deatb(I96r),Recoveries(I964),The Mind basMountains(I966)and Collected Poems(I967).In 1961 she also broughtout Every Changing Shape,a study of‘the relationship between mysticalexperience and the making of poems',and a translation (in collabora-tion)of Michaelangelo's sonnets. R.S.THOMAS was born in Cardif in I9I3.He gained a Latin degreefrom University College of North Wales at Bangor.He is a clergyman,and was Rector of Manafon,Montgomeryshire,where he wrote manyof the poems in Song at the Year's Turning(I956),for twelve yearsbetween I942and I954.He is now Vicar of Eglwys Fach,Machynllyth,Cardiganshire.Mr Thomas was brought up to speak English,andtaught himself Welsh when he was adult.His other collections ofpoetry are Tbe Stones of the Field(1946),An Acre of Land(1952),TbeMinister(1953),Poetryfor Supper(I958)and Pieta(1966). # Penguin Modern Poets I LAWRENCE DURRELL ELIZABETH JENNINGS R.S.THOMAS Penguin Books Ltd,Harmondsworth,Midlesex,EnglandPenguin Books Australia Ltd,Ringwood,Victoria,Australia 一 This selection first published 1962Reprinted 1963,1965,1967,1969,1970 一 Copyright CPenguin Books,r962 一 Made and printed in Great Britain by C.Nicholls &Company LtdSet in Monotype Garamond This book is sold subject to the conditionthat it shall not,by way of trade or otherwise,be lent,re-sold,hired out,or otherwise circulatedwithout the publisher's prior consent in any form ofbinding or cover other than that in which it ispublished and without a similar conditionincluding this condition being imposedon the subsequent purchaser ontentsAcknowledgements9AProspect of ChildrenI3Christ in Brazil LAWRENCE DURRELL I4Carol on CorfuI5This Unimportant MorningI6'Je Est un Autre'I7TruthI8A Portrait of Theodora I9A Rhodian Captain2IOn Ithaca Standing22Sarajevo23Delos24The Parthenon25Orpheus28Style29The Dying Fall30A Bowl of Roses3IOn Mirrors32The Sirens33Green Coconuts34On Seeming to Presume35The Prayer-Wheel37In Rio(from Journals of Progress)40Asphodels:Chalchidice42Clouds of Glory 4少4 A Water-Colour of VenicePomona de Maillol Song at the Beginning of Autumn5IKings52The Enemies53For a Child Born Dead54In the Night55Beyond Possession56A Fear57Teresa of Avila58Fountain 6o Letter from Assisi62A Death63Old Woman64AbsenceThe Shot66TheAnnunciation67In a Foreign City68Disguises69Ghosts70The Roman Forum7IMy Grandmother73Ata Mass 74To a Friend with a Religious Vocation75Two Deaths76The Counterpart77Harvest and Consecration78The Diamond Cutter79Song for a Birth or a Death8o

FAQs

Which poets are featured in this Penguin selection?

The selection profiles Lawrence Durrell, Elizabeth Jennings, and R.S. Thomas, providing biographical notes and listing poems for each poet.

What publication and copyright information is provided?

It states the selection’s first publication year and later reprints, includes copyright details, and provides production notes such as typesetting and printing in Great Britain.

How can readers navigate the poems in the table of contents?

The contents list poem titles grouped by poet and includes an index of first lines near the end for quick lookup.

Sep 30, 2026

Uploaded by Rowan