''Demons and Dinosaurs'' is a 1970 collection of poetry by American writer
L. Sprague de Camp
Lyon Sprague de Camp (; November 27, 1907 – November 6, 2000) was an American writer of science fiction, fantasy and non-fiction. In a career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, including novels and works of non-fiction, including biog ...
, published by
Arkham House
Arkham House is an American publishing house specializing in weird fiction. It was founded in Sauk City, Wisconsin, in 1939 by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei to publish hardcover collections of H. P. Lovecraft's best works, which had pr ...
in an edition of 500 copies.
It was de Camp's first book published by Arkham House.
In addition to de Camp's poems, the book contains an introductory piece about the author by fellow writer
Lin Carter
Linwood Vrooman Carter (June 9, 1930 – February 7, 1988) was an American author of science fiction and fantasy, as well as an editor, poet and critic. He usually wrote as Lin Carter; known pseudonyms include H. P. Lowcraft (for an H. P. L ...
.
Most of the poems in the collection were incorporated into de Camp's later poetry collections, ''
Phantoms and Fancies'' and ''
Heroes and Hobgoblins'', though the arrangement was different in each instance.
The poems "Avebury," "Daydreams," "First Lake at Midnight," "Kaziranga, Assam," "Myself," and "The End of the Lost Race Story" are unique to this collection.
"Acrophobia," "Heroes," "Night," "Time," and "To R.E.H." are shared with ''Phantoms and Fancies'' only.
"The Ogre" is shared with ''Heroes and Hobgoblins'' only.
The remaining poems appear in all three collections.
The "Bessas the Bactrian" to whom the last seven poems are attributed is a character and occasional poet in de Camp's 1961 historical novel ''
The Dragon of the Ishtar Gate'', in which most of them were originally published. The attribution was subsequently dropped from those carried over into de Camp's later poetry collections.
Contents
''Demons and Dinosaurs'' contains the following:
*"About L. Sprague de Camp" by Lin Carter
*The Powers
**"Creation"
**"Ziggurat"
**"Reward of Virtue"
**"Transposition"
**"The Gods"
*Crumbling Ruins
**"Ruins"
**"Avebury"
**"The Great Pyramid of Giza"
**"Nabonidus"
**"Meroê"
**"Tintagel"
**"Tikal"
*Far Places
**"The Little Lion of Font-de-Gaume"
**"New Year's Eve in Baghdad"
**"The Jungle Vine"
**"Patnâ"
**"Kaziranga, Assam"
**"A Tale of Two John Carters"
*Other Times
**"A Brook in Vermont"
**"The Dragon-Kings"
**"The Tusk"
**"The Ogre"
**"Sirush"
**"Progress in Baghdad"
**"Heldendämmerung"
**"Nahr al-Kalb"
**"The Sorcerers"
**"Ghosts"
*The Storyteller's Trade
**"A Skald's Lament"
**"Old Heroes"
**"To R.E.H."
**"Où Sont les Planètes d'Antan?"
**"Heroes"
**"The End of the Lost-Race Story"
**"Envy"
**"Daydreams"
*Quatrains of Bessas the Bactrian"
**"Myself"
**"Faunas"
**"First Lake at Midnight"
**"Warriors"
**"Acrophobia"
**"Night"
**"Time"
Notes
References
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1970 poetry books
Poetry by L. Sprague de Camp
American poetry collections
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