A
Literary Saloon
&
Site of Review.

Trying to meet all your book preview and review needs.

Contents:

Main

the Best

the Rest

Review Index

Links

to e-mail us:

the complete review - poetry

Mercian Hymns

by
Geoffrey Hill

general information | review summaries | our review | links | about the author

- Return to top of the page -

Our Assessment:

B : an interesting and revealing series of poems

See our review for fuller assessment.

Please refer to reviews for New and Collected Poems.

- Return to top of the page -

The complete review's Review:

       A cycle of thirty poems, all part of one grand one that recounts the story of King Offa -- while also being a revealing autobiographical account. Mercia was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom in central England, most influential under the rule of King Offa (757-796). It is this area that Hill comes from, and so he uses the counterpoint of Offa's rule and modern times to pay homage to the land and to his childhood. More playful than usual ("overlord of the M5" is one of the titles he give Offa), Hill expertly interweaves history and the contemporary world.
       Personal, some of the poem loses itself in its self-referential obscurity. Nevertheless, it is a quite entertaining read (though, as always with Hill: some effort required) and Hill's less strict style here makes it a different experience from most of his other work. It is naturally also of interest for its autobiographical detail. Recommended, as an unusual but worthwhile attempt.

       N O T E : this collection is included in Hill's New and Collected Poems, 1952-1992 and we recommend that you get this more comprehensive collection.

- Return to top of the page -

Links:

• See general reviews regarding New and Collected Poems

• The complete review's Geoffrey Hill page.
• Geoffrey Hill at the Poetry Foundation
• Profile in The Guardian

• The Book of Baruch by the Gnostic Justin
• Canaan
• For the Unfallen
• King Log
• The Mystery of the Charity of Charles Péguy
• New and Collected Poems
• The Orchards of Syon
• Speech ! Speech !
• Style and Faith
• Tenebrae
• A Treatise of Civil Power
• The Triumph of Love
• Without Title

• See also the index of Poetry under review

- Return to top of the page -

About the Author:

       English poet Geoffrey Hill was born in 1932. A graduate of Keble College, Oxford, he has taught at the University of Leeds, at Cambridge, and at Boston University.

- Return to top of the page -

© 1999-2019 the complete review

Main | the New | the Best | the Rest | Review Index | Links