''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 Utopian and dystopian fiction, dy ...

. Compiled and edited by

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

, 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 ''The Transatlantic Review'' (often styled ''the transatlantic review'') was an influential monthly literary magazine edited by Ford Madox Ford in 1924. The magazine was based in Paris but was published in London by Gerald Duckworth and Company. ...

''. 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'' and its sequels. Additionally, some of the poems were previously printed in ''

Little Wilson and Big God ''Little Wilson and Big God'', volume I of Anthony Burgess's autobiography, was first published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in 1986. It won the J. R. Ackerley Prize for Autobiography. The work describes a period of over 40 years from Burgess's b ...

'', 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 ( ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian and American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Born in Imperial Russia in 1899, Nabokov wrote his first nine novels in Rus ...

''; and ''Homage to

Ogden Nash Frederic Ogden Nash (August 19, 1902 – May 19, 1971) was an American poet well known for his Light poetry, light verse, of which he wrote more than 500 pieces. With his unconventional rhyme, rhyming schemes, he was declared by ''The New York T ...

''. Also included are "Five Excerpts from ''

Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...

''." 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 (poet), Tiberianus, because of strong simil ...

'', 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 ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...

'' by

Georges Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', w ...

, ''

Oberon Oberon () is a king of the fairy, fairies in Middle Ages, 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 ...

'' by

Carl Maria von Weber Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (5 June 1826) was a German composer, conductor, virtuoso pianist, guitarist, and Music criticism, critic in the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Best known for List of operas by Carl Maria von Weber, h ...

, ''

Oedipus the King ''Oedipus Rex'', also known by its Greek title, ''Oedipus Tyrannus'' (, ), or ''Oedipus the King'', is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles. While some scholars have argued that the play was first performed , this is highly uncertain. Originally, to ...

'' by

Sophocles Sophocles ( 497/496 – winter 406/405 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. was an ancient Greek tragedian known as one of three from whom at least two plays have survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or contemporary with, those ...

, '' Chatsky'' by

Alexander Griboyedov Alexander Sergeyevich Griboyedov (; 15 January 179511 February 1829) was a Russian diplomat, playwright, poet, and composer. His one notable work is the 1823 verse comedy '' Woe from Wit''. He was Russia's ambassador to Qajar Persia, where he and ...

, 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 ce ...

'' by

Edmond Rostand Edmond Eugène Alexis Rostand (, , ; 1 April 1868 – 2 December 1918) was a French poet and dramatist. He is associated with neo-romanticism and is known best for his 1897 play ''Cyrano de Bergerac''. Rostand's romantic plays contrasted with th ...

, as well as original works '' Blooms of Dublin'', the unfinished

Shakespearean William Shakespeare ( 23 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 Andrew Biswell is the biographer of Anthony Burgess. He was made Professor of Modern Literature in the Department of English at Manchester Metropolitan University in June 2013 having previously held the positions of Lecturer, then Principal Lectu ...

, writing for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 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, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy 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 is noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in tone, ...

on the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...

. 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 Quadrant may refer to: Companies * Quadrant Cycle Company, 1899 manufacturers in Britain of the Quadrant motorcar * Quadrant (motorcycles), one of the earliest British motorcycle manufacturers, established in Birmingham in 1901 * Quadrant Privat ...

'' 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 "archetype" of poetry.

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

's review in ''

Poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

'' 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