The Fruitful Discontent of the Word

Lawrence Durrell (1912-1990), although best known for his novel sequences (such as The Alexandria Quartet and The Avignon Quintet) and his "travel" writing (such as Prospero's Cell, Reflections on a Marine Venus and Bitter Lemons), thought of himself first and foremost as a poet. The comprehensive Collected Poems 1931-1974, published in 1980 by Faber and Faber, was compiled before some of his most distinctive later poetry became generally available. This collection seeks to supplement the Collected Poems with poems selected from Durrell's later works, Sicilian Carousel and Caesar's Vast Ghost. This edition also makes available poems from the 1969 prose and poetry collection Spirit of Place and the series of novels known as The Avignon Quartet (1974-1985). The poems from these four works have never been available separately before and this whole collection reflects not only the breadth of Durrell's poetry but also many of the ideas which most engaged his creative life. - Back cover.