HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''A Last Sheaf'' is the title given to the second posthumous publication of works by the writer and painter
Denton Welch Maurice Denton Welch (29 March 1915 – 30 December 1948) was a British writer and painter, admired for his vivid prose and precise descriptions. Life Welch was born in Shanghai, China, to Arthur Joseph Welch, a wealthy British rubber merchant, ...
. Published in 1951 by
John Lehmann Rudolf John Frederick Lehmann (2 June 1907 – 7 April 1987) was an English poet and man of letters. He founded the periodicals ''New Writing'' and ''The London Magazine'', and the publishing house of John Lehmann Limited. Biography Born in ...
, it followed ''
A Voice Through a Cloud ''A Voice Through a Cloud'' is an autobiographical novel by Denton Welch, who became a writer after a serious accident which had long-term effects on his health. The book describes his bicycle accident when he was an art student, and subsequent ...
'', issued by Lehmann the previous year. The collection was assembled by Welch's partner, Eric Oliver, with assistance from Lehmann and Welch's friend, Francis Streeten. It consists of five stories appearing for the first time, four previously-published stories and two stories published in full for the first time. Also included are sixty-seven short poems and nine monochrome reproductions of Welch's paintings, at least one of which ("The Coffin House") had previously accompanied the publication of a short story. Contained in the text are a number of Welch's "decorations", as he called them. The dustjacket states that it is "adapted" from a drawing by Welch, but the overall design is not his; nor are the endpaper illustrations.


Contents

Part One *Sickert at St. Peter's (first published in ''
Horizon The horizon is the apparent line that separates the surface of a celestial body from its sky when viewed from the perspective of an observer on or near the surface of the relevant body. This line divides all viewing directions based on whether i ...
'' magazine, Vol. VI, No. 32, 1942) *The Earth's Crust (first published in ''Contact'' magazine, Sept-Oct 1950, along with a reproduction of "The Coffin House") *Memories of a Vanished Period *A Fragment of a Life Story (first published in ''Horizon'' magazine, No. 117, 1949) *A Party *Evergreen Seaton-Leverett (first published in ''Orpheus II'', John Lehmann 1949) *A Picture in the Snow *Ghosts *The Hateful Word *The Diamond Badge (first published in part as "The Visit" in ''Penguin New Writing 38'', 1949) Part Two *A Novel Fragment (Chapter I first published alone in ''
Life and Letters ''Life and Letters'' was an English literary journal first published between June 1928 and April 1935. The magazine was edited from first publication by Desmond MacCarthy after he lost interest in the ''New Statesman''. It had financial backin ...
'', Vol. 65, June 1950) Part Three *Poems (67 poems, of which 15 had previously been published in magazines and journals including ''Abinger Chronicle'', ''Penguin New Writing'', '' The Adelphi'' and '' The Spectator'') Part Four *Nine Paintings by Denton Welch


Critical response

Response to the collection was mainly positive, focusing heavily on the Sickert piece and considering the book to be a memorial to its author. Robert Phillips, writing over 20 years later, characterised the collection as "a mixed bag", although this seems to describe the mix of genres in the book rather than a qualitative assessment. Overall, however, Phillips reflects that ''A Last Sheaf'' did not enhance Welch's critical reputation in the way that the preceding publications did, and publication of the journals would subsequently do. The only detailed analysis of the poems in ''A Last Sheaf'' also comes from Phillips. This also remains the ''only'' substantial analysis of Welch's poetry, and even here it is restricted to those in this selection. Phillips finds Welch's poems to be generally quite poor, ranking with his art (which he does not rate very highly either). He finds in some of them sub-
Housman Alfred Edward Housman (; 26 March 1859 – 30 April 1936) was an English classical scholar and poet. After an initially poor performance while at university, he took employment as a clerk in London and established his academic reputation by pub ...
allusion, an excess of adverbs and adjectives, and sometimes ill-judged use of rhyme. Ironically, for Phillips, Welch's most "poetic" language is in fact to be found in his prose. Nonetheless, despite their inferior status, Phillips does find in them redeeming features: vivid gothick imagery, often shocking juxtapositions (as in "Jane Allen", Welch's most-reprinted poem) and a keener awareness of the war raging around him than in his prose.Phillips (1974), p. 145 Phillips' views on Welch's poems in the book have not been universally shared, however. Not long after they were published, the English composer Howard Ferguson set five of Welch's poems from ''A Last Sheaf'' for voice and piano. The work, entitled ''Discovery'', was a favourite concert piece of Kathleen Ferrier, who went on to record it. Thirteen of Welch's poems were included in the text of his ''Journals'', published the year after ''A Last Sheaf''. It would be almost twenty-five years before any more of his poetry appeared in print again, in the 1976 anthology, ''
Dumb Instrument ''Dumb Instrument'' is the title given to the posthumous 1976 anthology of poetry by the English writer and artist Denton Welch. It derives from the fifth line of a sestet which appears on the title page of the anthology only. Compiled by Jean-Lo ...
''.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Last Sheaf 1951 short story collections British short story collections Books published posthumously English poetry collections