Your Attention Please (fragment)

The Polar DEW has just warned that
A nuclear rocket strike of
At least one thousand megatons
Has been launched by the enemy
Directly at our major cities.
This announcement will take
Two and a quarter minutes to make,
You therefore have a further
Eight and a quarter minutes
To comply with the shelter
Requirements published in the Civil
Defence Code – section Atomic Attack.
A specially shortened Mass
Will be broadcast at the end
Of this announcement –
Protestant and Jewish services
Will begin simultaneously –
Select your wavelength immediately
According to instructions
In the Defence Code. Do not
Take well-loved pets (including birds)
Into your shelter – they will consume
Fresh air. Leave the old and bed-
ridden, you can do nothing for them.

© Oxford University Press, 1983/1988.

De dichtbundel bevat de onderstaande gedichten:
• ‘About on the Serchio’; ‘About the New’; ‘Addio Senza Rancor’; ‘Affair of the Heart’; ‘After the Temptation’; ‘Alcestis and the Poet’; ‘All Other Time Is Peace’; ‘All the Difference in the World’; ‘All, All of a Piece Throughout’; ‘American Articulate, The’; ‘American Military Cemetery in Tuscany, An’; ‘Angel in Blythburgh Church, An’; ‘Anger’; ‘Annotations of Auschwitz’; ‘Anthropologist’s Confession, An’; ‘Apophthegms Come to the Party’; ‘Applause for Death’; ‘Approaches to a Line of Auden & Kallman’; ‘At Lake Massaciuccoli’; ‘At Ramsholt’; ‘At Scavanger House’; ‘At the Castle Hotel, Taunton’; ‘At the Theatre on St Valentine’s Eve’; ‘At Whitechurch Canonicorum’; ‘Australian Garden, An’; ‘Away, Musgrave, Away’;
• ‘Baroque Quatrains Dedicated to James Fenton’; ‘Battle of Cannae, The’; ‘Beast and the Beauty’; ‘Bei Einer Trauung’; ‘Between Two Texts’; ‘Brahms Intermezzo, A’;
• ‘Can You Call It a Vocation?’; ‘Cat’s Fugue’; ‘Changes Wrung’; ‘Charnel House, St Leonard’s Hythe, The’; ‘Chorus at the End of the First Act’; ‘Christenings’; ‘Christmas Recalled, A’; ‘Civil War’; ‘Competition Is Healthy’; ‘Conservation of Energy, The’; ‘Consumer’s Report, A’; ‘Conventions of Death’; ‘Cost of Seriousness, The’;
• ‘Death in the Pergola Tea-Rooms’; ‘Death’s Morning Shadows’; ‘Delegate, The’; ‘Delphi’; ‘Déploration sur la Mort d’Igor Strawinsky, La’; ‘Diana and Actaeon’; ‘Dorothy Osborne in the Country’; ‘Down Cemetery Road’; ‘Dream Restaurant’; ‘Dreamtime’; ‘Dust, The’;
• ‘Easiest Room in Hell’; ‘Eat Early Earthapples’; ‘Eclipse of Lady Silvertail, The’; ‘Elegy’; ‘Encounter in Antioch’; ‘English Subtitles’; ‘Euphoria Dies’; ‘Europe’; ‘Evensong’; ‘Evolution’; ‘Execquy, An’; ‘Exit, Pursued by a Bear’;
• ‘Fair Go for Anglo-Saxons’; ‘Family Album’; ‘Fantasia on a Line of Stephan George’; ‘Farewell to Theophrastus’; ‘First Scene from Dostoyevsky’; ‘For John Clare from London’; ‘For Sophonisba Anguisciola’; ‘Forefathers’ View of Failure’; ‘Fossil Gathering’; ‘Frankenstein Report, The’; ‘Frogs at Lago di Bolsena’; ‘Future, The’; ‘Futurity’;
• ‘Garden of Eartly Delights’; ‘Ghosts’; ‘Giant Refreshed, A’; ‘Good Ghost Gaunt Ghost’; ‘Good Vibes’; ‘Great Cow Journeys on, The’; ‘Great Poet Comes Here in Winter, The’;
• ‘Happening at Sordid Creek’; ‘Hint from Ariosto, A’; ‘His and Hers’; ‘Historians Call up Pain, The’; ‘Homage to Gaetano Donizetti’; ‘Homily in the English Reading Rooms’; ‘Hoplite’s Helmet, A’; ‘How Important Is Sex?’; ‘How to Get a Girl Friend’; ‘Huddle of IQ’s, A’;
• ‘Imperfection of the World, The’; ‘In the Giving Vein’; ‘In the New World Happiness Is Allowed’; ‘Incoronazione di Poppea, L’; ‘Inspector Christopher Smart Calls’; ‘Isle of Ink, The’;
• ‘Jack and Jill’; ‘James Joyce Sings ‘Il Mio Tesoro’; ‘Japanese Jokes’; ‘John Marston Advises Anger’;
• ‘Killing Ground, The’; ‘King of Limerick’s Army, The’; ‘King of the Cats Is Dead, The’;
• ‘Lament for a Proprietor’; ‘Landscape with Orpheus’; ‘Last of England, The’; ‘Last of the Dinosaurs, The’; ‘Lecture by My Books, A’; ‘Legend’; ‘Let Me Bore You with My Slides’; ‘Lip Service’; ‘Living in a Calm Country’; ‘Looking at a Melozzo da Forli’; ‘Lying Art, The’;
• ‘Madame de Merteuil on ‘The Loss of an Eye’; ‘Made in Heaven’; ‘May, 1945’; ‘Meanwhile’; ‘Meredithian Treatment, A’; ‘Metamorphosis’; ‘Minor Lear, A’; ‘Moaning in Midstream’; ‘Moral Tale Has a Moral End, A’; ‘Mr Roberts’; ‘My Late T’ang Phase’; ‘My Old Cat Dances’; ‘Myopia’;
• ‘Nature Comes to Stay’; ‘Need for Foreplay. The’; ‘Next Hundred Years Will Be Religious, The’; ‘Night Crossing’; ‘Nights at the Opera’; ‘Nine o’Clock Thoughts on the 73 Bus’; ‘Nine Points of the Law’; ‘Non Piangere, Liù’; ‘Notes to a Biographer’;
• ‘Occam’s Razor’; ‘Ode to Afternoon’; ‘Old Enemy, The’; ‘Old-fashioned Wedding’; ‘On First Looking into Chapman’s Hesiod’; ‘On Stonebarrow Hill’; ‘On the Train between Wellington and Shrewsbury’; ‘On This Day I Complete My Fortieth Year’; ‘Once Bitten, Twice Bitten; Once Shy, Twice Shy’; ‘One Died in Metaphor and One in Song’; ‘Open and Shut Case, An’; ‘Orchid on the Rock, The’;
• ‘Painter’s Banquet, The’; ‘Party Line’; ‘Phar Lap in the Melbourne Museum’; ‘Philosopher of Captions, The’; ‘Picture of Nobody, The’; ‘Pienza Seen by Prudes’; ‘Pig in the Middle’; ‘Poem Waiting to Be Translated’; ‘Pope’s Carnations Knew Him’; ‘Porter Song Book, The’; ‘Portrait by Giulio Romano, A’; ‘Postcard Poems’; ‘Preaching to the Converted’; ‘Print out: Apocalypse’;
• ‘Reading MND in Form 4B’; ‘Real People’; ‘Recipe, The’; ‘Reflections on My Own Name’; ‘Requiem for Mrs Hammelswang’; ‘Return of Inspector Christopher Smart, The’; ‘Returning’; ‘Roman Incident’;
• ‘Sadness of the Creatures, The’; ‘Sanitized Sonnets, The’; ‘Scarlatti Sonata, A’; ‘Schumann Sings Schubert’; ‘Scream and Variations’; ‘Seahorses’; ‘Seaside Picnic’; ‘Seaside Resort’; ‘Second Scene from Dostoyevsky’; ‘Septimus Severus at the Vienna Gate’; ‘Settembrini Waltz, The’; ‘Sex and the Over Forties’; ‘Shining God and the God of Correction, The’; ‘Shopping Scenes’; ‘Short Story’; ‘Sick Man’s Jewel’; ‘Sick-room at Home’; ‘Sins of the Fathers, The’; ‘Smell on the Landing, The’; ‘Soliloquy at Potsdam’; ‘Somme and Flanders’; ‘Sonata Form: The Australian Magpie’; ‘South of the Duodenum’; ‘St Cecilia’s Day Epigrams’; ‘St Cecilia’s Day, 1710’; ‘St John on Patmos’; ‘Stepping from a Flat-bottomed Boat’; ‘Steps on the Way’; ‘Storm, The’; ‘Story from a Time of Disturbance’; ‘Story of Jason, The’; ‘Story of My Conversion, The’; ‘Story Which Should Have Happened’; ‘Stroking the Chin’; ‘Studies from Lemprière’; ‘Study of a Bird, A’; ‘Suicide Unmasked’; ‘Sunday’; ‘Sydney Cove, 1788’; ‘Syrup of Figs Will Case out Fear’;
• ‘Table of Coincidences, A’; ‘Talking Shop’ Tanka’; ‘Talking to You Afterwards’; ‘Tending towards the Condition’; ‘That Depression Is an Abstract’; ‘There Are Too Many of Us’; ‘Thirteen Couplets, The’; ‘Thomas Hardy at Westbourne Park Villas’; ‘Three Bagatelles’; ‘Three Dreams, The’; ‘Three Poems for Music’; ‘Three Transportations’; ‘Timor Mortis’; ‘To Make It Real’; ‘To Start a Controversy’; ‘To Venetia’s Shores Have Come’; ‘Tobias and the Angel’; ‘Toccata of Muffat’s, A’; ‘Tomb of Scarlatti, The’; ‘Too Worn to Wear’; ‘Tunes for the Fortunate’; ‘Two for the Price of One’; ‘Two Merits of Sunshine’; ‘Two Poems with French Titles’;
• ‘Under New Management’; ‘Unfortunate Isles, The’; ‘Unicorn’s Horn, The’; ‘Unlucky Christ, The’;
• ‘Vicious Vignette, A’; ‘Vienna’; ‘View from Misfortune’s Back, The’; ‘Visiting Cornish Churches’;
• ‘Waiting for Rain in Devon’; ‘Walking Home on Cecilia’s Day’; ‘Werther Level, The’; ‘What a Lying Lot the Writers Are’; ‘What I Have Written I Have Written’; ‘What the Guide Book Said’; ‘Who Gets the Pope’s Nose?’; ‘Why We Get Drunk’; ‘Widow’s Story, The’; ‘Winter Capital, The’; ‘Workers, The’; ‘World of Simon Raven, The’;
• ‘Your Attention, Please’.

ERK Niveau:

B2

Schrijver:

Peter Porter

Jaar van uitgave:

1983

Aantal pagina's:

335

Tijd waarin het verhaal zich afspeelt:

1960-1980

Plaats van handeling:

Meerdere plaatsen.

Bijzonderheden:

Een bundel met daarin de verzamelde gedichten van Peter Porter.

IS HET BOEK VOOR JOU INTERESSANT?

‘Collected Poems’ heeft alle gedichten van Peter Porter verzameld, een Engelse dichter die met name bekend was in de jaren 1960-1980. Veel gedichten vallen op door hun ‘gewone’ taal: het lijkt soms proza in plaats van poëzie, het lijkt soms spreektaal in plaats van geschreven taal. Niks verhevens dus, maar zeer toegankelijke gedichten.

WAT MOET JE WETEN?

De bundel ‘Collected Poems’ bevat alle gedichten die Mr Porter belangrijk genoeg vond om tijdens zijn leven te publiceren: een aantal in zijn ogen mindere gedichten zijn weggelaten.

DE TAAL

De taal van ‘Collected Poems’ is vaak spreektaal, heel toegankelijke taal. Mr Porter gebruikt in de meeste van zijn gedichten een eenvoudig vocabulaire waardoor de gedichten heel goed leesbaar zijn.
Rijm zul je meestal tevergeefs zoeken: de gedichten werden in een in die tijd populaire taal – zonder poëtische conventies – geschreven.

DE TAAL EN HET VERHAAL

Qua taal is de bundel niet moeilijk.
Dat geldt zeker ook voor de gedichten zelf. De thema’s zijn vaak goed te begrijpen: liefde, de aarde, de natuur, het milieu, familie en gezondheid, vriendschappen en relaties.
Op basis van deze eigenschappen is ‘Collected Poems’ een boek met een literair niveau C 4c en een taal-(ERK-)niveau B2.

Schrijfstijl:

De gedichten vallen op door hun simpele (spreek)taal: nooit vulgair, maar vrijwel altijd goed te begrijpen.

Actie:

‘Collected Poems’ bevat verhalen met weinig veel actie.

Tijd:

De gebeurtenissen in de gedichten spelen zich af in de jaren 1960-1980.

Plaats:

De setting van ‘Collected Poems’ is meerdere plaatsen, niet alleen in Groot-Brittannië, maar ook in andere landen in Europa (Italië) of op andere continenten (Australië).

Verhaallijn:

Er zijn veel verschillende verhaallijnen in ‘Collected Poems’.

Verteller:

De bundel heeft ik-vertellers en auctoriale vertellers.

Hoofdkarakters:

Het hoofdkarakter in ‘Collected Poems’ is:
• De ik-verteller, de dichter.

Bijfiguren:

De belangrijkste bijfiguren in ‘Collected Poems’ zijn:
• Familieleden, vrienden en geliefden van de dichter;
• Gewone burgers – vaak bedreigd door onbekende machten (militair, politiek, misdadig);
• Willekeurige karakters die de dichter beschrijft.

Website:

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/peter-porter

Film:

De gedichten in ‘Collected Poems’ zijn niet verfilmd.

Overig:

‘Collected Poems’ is een verzameling gedichten die in meerdere bundels afzonderlijke werden gepubliceerd (ongeveer twintig bundels).

Link naar pagina over auteur

-->Informatie over Peter Porter.

Leessuggesties:

Als je dit een mooi boek vond, zou je ook kunnen lezen:
• The Less Deceived van Philip Larkin
• Come on Everybody Poems 1953-2008 van Adrian Mitchell
• The Anzac Sonata van Jon Stallworthy

Citaat:

Seahorses (fragment)

When we were children
We would cheer to find a seahorse
Among the wrack the breakers lifted
On to the beach. Sometimes two or three were together,
A team to pull a chariot of cuttle,
Or like a suicide wreathed in fine
Sea ivy and bleached sea roses
One stiff but apologetic in its trance.
Seahorses were Vikings;
Somewhere they impassively
Launched on garrulous currents
Seeking a far grave: wherever
That was, they set their stallion
Noses to it, ready to be garnered
In the sea’s time at the sea’s pleasure. (p.89)

Vragen over het boek:

Analyseer de onderstaande gedichten:
1. ‘Your Attention Please’
2. ‘A Consumer’s Report’
3. ‘English Subtitles’
4. ‘Seahorses’