Book Review: "The Picador Book of Funeral Poems" ed. by Don Paterson

Do you remember when I read the ‘Penguin Book of Elegy’ and made myself really upset because of all the sad poetry? Well, I’ve done it again. I’m really sad because I have read yet another book of funeral poems. ‘The Picador Book of Funeral Poems’ is a collection of some of the more famous verses dedicated to the dead and grieved whilst the ‘Penguin Book of Elegy’ might be a little bit more meatier for those of you who don’t want the feeling of depression and sadness to end. ‘The Picador Book of Funeral Poems’ is, like our earlier book, split into various sections that deal with different emotions and ideas. Some of these poems are really long and others are very short. The shortest I saw in the book was by Sappho who simply wrote ‘my darling…’ So, let’s take a look at the strengths of this book and why exactly I sat and read the entire thing in about an hour and a half.

One of the best poems in the anthology is entitled ‘Infancy is what is eternal’ by Antonio Porchia. It covers how everything past infancy is brevity and the wording kind of fascinates me. It proves to the reader that you do not necessarily require lots of convoluted phrases and similes to be able to tell us a story or send us a message. The poem is only three lines and yet, it touches the soul with its idea that after being an infant, life is nothing but concise and exact. Only infancy is whimsical and free enough to not be tied down by ideas or words. The other way to look at it is that after infancy dies there can only be strict rules to life that, if not followed, will lead to sadness, depression and death. Infancy, therefore, is the only eternal ideal.

Another poem I enjoyed was called ‘(from) Long Distance’ by Tony Harrison. This is a narrative poem which begins with the narrator’s father still heating up his dead wife’s water bottle and waiting for her to walk in through the door after getting the tea. But alas, she never does because she has been long dead. The father still performs tasks though - as if she is still there. This is a beautiful sentiment and very sad. Yet, the narrator thinks this is a bit silly. As the poem goes on, it is clear that in the present day, the father is dead as well. The poem ends with the narrator admitting he still calls his parents’ disconnected phone number. A poem about how a narrator comes to realise that emotions of grieving cannot be explained, articulated or defined - sometimes actions just happen - it proves to us that not every story has to have a beginning, a middle and an end. Instead, we can go right back to the beginning in a different way as a mode of realisation. I also loved this poem for its ability to remain simple in its language. It definitely sounds as though it is recent and through this, the poet conveys some extremely complex emotions.

Many of the poems deal with grief on a large and extremely emotional scale. One of the most famous poems contained within is the classic “Funeral Blues” by WH Auden - a writing read at many funerals today. I was quite surprised at the sheer amount of poems I had already heard or and read within. Poets such as Emily Dickinson, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, A.E Housman and Percy Bysshe Shelley are some of the examples that I can think of from the top of my head. It was fantastic to see writers like Wordsworth still being included in an anthology of poetry on a very particular topic. It shows the editor’s proficiency for both older and newer poems.

All in all, I would definitely recommend this anthology, especially if you’ve read the previous ‘Penguin Book of Elegy’. Or, in fact, I’d recommend it if you don’t want to read the earlier anthology because it seems a bit too heavy about death. Even though it is compact, there is nothing stopping this book becoming a staple in your reading of funeral poetry.