Turnbull, Gael

Bjarni: Spike-Helgi's Son and Other Poems

Ashland, MA: Origin Press, 1956. First Edition. Softcover. “Listen carefully. Do as I tell you. It is / very simple. They will be glad to believe / slander. They will do it for you. They / will kill each other. And Njal. / That beardless ninny. He helps others in the / court. His sons boast. My name is slighted. / Our family is trodden under. Let him take / council now. Let him help himself, if he can. / I honour the old gods. You wear a cross and / honour nothing. But you fear me. You will / do as I tell you. You are not good for / much. But every man has some talent. You / can tell lies and sound plausible. / I am sick. I will soon be gone. I will not / see it with these eyes. But I have breathed / the smoke. I have heard the crackle of dry / timbers. I have dreamed of charcoal mixed / with bone. I have known vengeance. / I will rest in my cairn, satisfied. You will / live to be old. You will see Njal burned / in his house. You will walk about proudly. / You will have fame, of a sort. / It will have been your talk. It will have / been their deeds. I will have been / my will. / You will wonder what went wrong. You will / grind your teeth. You will chew your finger- / nails. You will envy me. You will envy Njal.”--Gael Turnbull, “Valgard, Called the Guileful, to His Son Mord.” Gael Turnbull (1928-2004) was a Scottish poet who is best known as being one of the foremost figures of the British Poetry Revival in the 1960s & 70s. Turnbull’s work could be described as eclectic: he translated French poetry and Norse sagas and wrote prose poems, love poems, collage and pattern poems, found and list poems, and, later in his life, three-dimensional kinetic poems. His early collections of poetry include The Knot in the Wood and Fifteen Other Poems (1955), To You, I Write (1963), Twenty Words, Twenty Days: A Sketchbook and a Morula (1966), A Trampoline: Poems 1952–1964 (1968), Scantlings: Poems 1964–69 (1970), and Residues (1976), among many others. In addition to running a small press, Turnbull favored pamphlets for his own work. Offered today is the 1956 collection of poetry, Bjarni. A collection of poems inspired by Norse myth and the Sagas of the Icelanders, Bjarni is mired in a sort of classically Shakespeare-&-Sagas lyricism, while also being deeply experimental and richly emotional. Turnbull’s work often feels as grand and impressive as it does grounded and quaint. Overall, Bjarni is a great collection for fans of British/UK poetry from the 50s and 60s! From the collection of scholar, poet and our dear friend Robin Eichele (b. 1941), noted Mimeograph Revolutionary & co-founder (with the late, great John Sinclair [1941-2024]) of the Detroit Artists’ Workshop. Trade-Format Softcover Original. A rare, early production of Cid Corman's legendary Origin Press, printed in Italy. First edition, though not explicated at copyright page, presumed first printing though similarly not specified as such. In very fine condition with only minor wear to fine edges, slight discoloration due to age-toning to front and back covers, and very slight smudging/staining to same. Very Fine. [Item #8804]

Price: $75.00