W.D. Jackson: Boccaccio in Florence and Other Poems
Published October 2009
Paperback, 140pp, 8.5x5.5ins, £9.95 / $17
ISBN 9781848610682
In 2002 and 2005, Menard Press published Then and Now — Words in the Dark and From Now to Then as the first two books of a three-part work-in-progress. As a selection from the on-going third book—Opus 3—Boccaccio in Florence and Other Poems offers the reader what amounts to a historical preview of the three fundamental concerns of human life on which Opus 3 as a whole will be based—the emotional/physical, the ethical, and the spiritual—by means of a more or less chronological rather than thematic arrangement, from Boccaccio and the Dance of Death to the present day. To this extent, Boccaccio in Florence is a variation on the themes of Opus 3 and a work in its own right.
Download a sampler PDF of work from this book, and click here for a PDF copy of Lawrence Sail's appreciation of this book in The Warwick Review.
Comments on the first two books of Then and Now:
Then and Now — Words in the Dark (2002)
"...a lovely book, endlessly surprising in its variety and range, and in the resourcefulness of its rhyming—learned, tough and humane." —John Wakeman, The Shop
"Every page of Then and Now bears witness to the sheer quality of its author’s writing... This is a major work: full of ideas and not afraid to make judgments, often moving, and impressively well-made." —Glyn Pursglove, Poetry Nottingham
"In these days, when so much poetry is solipsism, it is refeshing to read a poem that attempts something larger, to examine cultural history and the individual’s place within the system...and forces one to consider whether one agrees with it. Add to that, it is exciting and entertaining..." —Roland John, Acumen
From Now to Then (2005)
"...absolutely splendid, full of all sorts of styles and wit and devilishly fine writing." —Christopher Pilling
"...a stunning work of astonishing versatility. Jackson is at ease with a whole gamut of verse-forms, styles and techniques." —Matt Simpson, Stride
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