''Revolutionary Sonnets and Other Poems'' is a posthumous collection of the short poetry written by

Anthony Burgess John Anthony Burgess Wilson, (; 25 February 1917 – 22 November 1993), who published under the name Anthony Burgess, was an English writer and composer. Although Burgess was primarily a comic writer, his dystopian satire ''A Clockwork ...

. Compiled and edited by

Kevin Jackson Kevin Andre Jackson (born November 25, 1964 in Highland Falls, New York) is an American retired freestyle and folkstyle wrestler, and mixed martial artist. Following his competitive career, Jackson would become a wrestling coach. During his i ...

, who also provided a short introduction to the text, the book purports to collect most if not all of the poems published under the names F. X. Enderby, John Burgess Wilson, or Anthony Burgess, as well as selections from longer verse works by Burgess. Occasional annotations by Jackson accompany the text; additionally, those poems in ''Revolutionary Sonnets and Other Poems'' which were first published elsewhere are appropriately labelled with this information.

The main body of the book is divided into four sections. The first section reproduces the full text of Burgess's shorter poetry, including the title "Five Revolutionary Sonnets" which were first published in '' The Transatlantic Review''. Many of these poems, including the sonnets, were later attributed to the fictional F. X. Enderby, the protagonist of several novels by Burgess including ''

Inside Mr. Enderby ''Inside Mr Enderby'' is the first volume of the Enderby series, a quartet of comic novels by the British author Anthony Burgess. The book was first published in 1963 in London by William Heinemann under the pseudonym Joseph Kell. The series beg ...

'' and its sequels. Additionally, some of the poems were previously printed in '' Little Wilson and Big God'', a mostly autobiographical work, or in other literary journals. The second section, labelled for longer poems, contains three relatively lengthy poems by Burgess: ''O Lord, O Ford, God Help Us, Also You''; ''Verses for the Seventieth Birthday of

Vladimir Nabokov Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (russian: link=no, Владимир Владимирович Набоков ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian-American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Bor ...

''; and ''Homage to

Ogden Nash Frederic Ogden Nash (August 19, 1902 – May 19, 1971) was an American poet well known for his light verse, of which he wrote over 500 pieces. With his unconventional rhyming schemes, he was declared by ''The New York Times'' the country's bes ...

''. Also included are "Five Excerpts from '' Moses''." In the third section, editor Kevin Jackson excerpts the notable verse translations of Burgess. Reproduced are a large fragment of Burgess's translation of ''

Pervigilium Veneris ''Pervigilium Veneris'' (or ''The Vigil of Venus'') is a Latin poem of uncertain date, variously assigned to the 2nd, 4th or 5th centuries. It is sometimes thought to have been by the poet Tiberianus, because of strong similarities with his po ...

'', which was incorporated into the novella '' The Eve of Saint Venus''. A selection of translated sonnets by

Giuseppe Gioachino Belli Giuseppe Francesco Antonio Maria Gioachino Raimondo Belli (7 September 1791 – 21 December 1863) was an Italian poet, famous for his sonnets in Romanesco, the dialect of Rome. Biography Giuseppe Francesco Antonio Maria Gioachino Raimondo Bell ...

, originally appearing in the novel '' Abba Abba'', also appears, although many of the sonnets are omitted. The reason given for this in the book's introduction is that ''Abba Abba'' remained in print at time of publication. For this reason, excerpts from '' Byrne: A Novel'' are missing from ''Revolutionary Sonnets and Other Poems'' as well. The final section samples Burgess's work in dramatic verse, opera libretti, and musical lyrics. Included are extracts from adaptations of '' Carmen'' by Georges Bizet, ''

Oberon Oberon () is a king of the fairies in medieval and Renaissance literature. He is best known as a character in William Shakespeare's play ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', in which he is King of the Fairies and spouse of Titania, Queen of the Fairi ...

'' by

Carl Maria von Weber Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (18 or 19 November 17865 June 1826) was a German composer, conductor, virtuoso pianist, guitarist, and critic who was one of the first significant composers of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas, ...

, ''

Oedipus the King ''Oedipus Rex'', also known by its Greek title, ''Oedipus Tyrannus'' ( grc, Οἰδίπους Τύραννος, ), or ''Oedipus the King'', is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles that was first performed around 429 BC. Originally, to the ancient Gr ...

'' by

Sophocles Sophocles (; grc, Σοφοκλῆς, , Sophoklễs; 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. is one of three ancient Greek tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or c ...

, '' Chatsky'' by

Alexander Griboyedov Alexander Sergeyevich Griboyedov (russian: Александр Сергеевич Грибоедов, ''Aleksandr Sergeevich Griboedov'' or ''Sergeevich Griboyedov''; 15 January 179511 February 1829), formerly romanized as Alexander Sergueevich Gr ...

, and ''

Cyrano de Bergerac Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac ( , ; 6 March 1619 – 28 July 1655) was a French novelist, playwright, epistolarian, and duelist. A bold and innovative author, his work was part of the libertine literature of the first half of the 17th cen ...

'' by Edmond Rostand, as well as original works '' Blooms of Dublin'', the unfinished

Shakespearean William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

musical ''Will!'', ''Trotsky's in New York!'', '' A Clockwork Orange: A Play with Music'', and '' Mozart and the Wolf Gang''.

Reception

Literary critics released generally positive reviews for ''Revolutionary Sonnets and Other Poems''. Andrew Biswell, writing for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', heaped high praise on both the editor's handling of footnotes and the author's choice subject matter, positively comparing the historical treatment of the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and ...

in the "Five Revolutionary Sonnets" to the verses written by

W. H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...

on the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

. However, Biswell noted with disappointment the absence of several verses from longer Burgess works, as well as the wholesale omission of " An Essay on Censorship." In '' Quadrant'' magazine, Olivier Burckhardt largely echoed these sentiments, particularly the disappointment that ''Byrne: A Novel'' was not included. He identified the Belli translations as "Burgess at his best" and labelled the character of Enderby as an "archtype" of poetry.

Dan Chiasson Dan Chiasson (; born May 9, 1971 in Burlington, Vermont) is an American poet, critic, and journalist. The ''Sewanee Review'' called Chiasson "the country’s most visible poet-critic." He is the Lorraine C. Wang Professor of English Literature a ...

's review in ''

Poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

'' was considerably more mixed, characterizing the collection as "bizarre." In particular, he asserted that Burgess's poetry was only a minor part of his contribution to literature, and frankly stated that "the badness of this is simply incomprehensible." However, he did approve of Burgess's incorporation of his original poetry in the comic novels of the ''Enderby'' series, and acknowledged that the poems themselves had an audience. "If you and your friends sit around coming up with silly ideas for opera titles ('Mozart and the Whole Wolf Gang' ic," Chiasson opined, "this book is for you."

Contents

Reception

References

Further reading