Rhyming Adultery
January 3, 2012 No Comments
Poet and crime writer Sophie Hannah’s 2006 collection, Selected Poems, is a compilation of new work and poetry from four previous volumes.
Hannah gets to the guts of a wide range of subjects with skill. Her delivery is unsentimental and unpretty, and each poem’s shape and formula is complete, and unquestionably correct.
There’s a downside to this. The work occasionally comes across as too polished and formulaic. Rhyme often stands out from Hannah’s poetry. It’s a technique I find both bold and irritating. It often works, particularly to jarring effect when the poet covers dark subject matter, but is overused at times and verges on twee.
On some subjects, Hannah’s talent of describing and humourously subverting the human experience rings clear. Adultery and arrogance are her specialities. I loved and laughed aloud at Rubbish at Adultery and was enchanted by the quick imagery in The Affair.
The subject matter of the whole body of work, though broad, comes across as a bit bland when viewed as a whole. I find words and ideas I can relate to, often uncannily, but I don’t feel rattled or touched by the collection.
Contact the author here: miriam@morningquickie.com
