Ronald Bottrall: Poems 1955-1973
by: Ronald Bottrall

Hardcover. London, Anvil Press, 1st, 1974, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardcover in a dust jacket with faded spine. Errata slip tipped in. 158 pages clean and tight. Ronald Bottrall, born in 1906, emerged as a notable poet in the thirties when F. R. Leavis singled out his early work for attention. His Collected Poems (1961) was warmly received. The major part of his new book was written during 1972, and in these recent poems the mature talents of a very distinctive and distinguished writer are at their best. The book is in five parts; the first is a single long narrative poem, rich in humour, about the poet's Cornish childhood. There follow groups of shorter poems about people, events and places-lyrical, meditative, or satirical; and always superbly skilful.