Ts Eliot Prize Winner
Fire Songs
by David Harsent
Summary
Elemental and unflinching, this collection uses fire in all its forms — from the hearthside to the apocalyptic — as a lens through which to examine violence, transformation, desire, and the darkest reaches of human experience. Harsent's poetry has the focused intensity of opera — he is a celebrated librettist — and these poems command the same compressed dramatic power as music theatre. The collection is among the most visceral and formally accomplished of recent years.
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Historical Context & Significance
Harsent is also a famous opera librettist; his poetry is noted for its theatrical intensity and focus on the darker corners of the psyche.