Summer Requiem

'I have so carefully mapped the corners of my mind

That I am forever waking in a lost country...'

SUMMER REQUIEM traces the immutable shifting of the seasons, the relentless rhythms of a great world that both 'gifts and harms'. Luminous, resonant and profound, these poems trace the dying days of summer, 'the hour of rust', when memory is haunted by loss and decay. But in the silence that follows, as the soul is cast adrift, there is also reconciliation with the transience of all things; the knowledge that there is a place, 'changeable, that will not betray'.

“Impressive . . . quietly affecting”

- TELEGRAPH

The language has a remarkably direct, almost naive fullness of rhythm and rhyme ... extraordinary - GUARDIAN on The Rivered Earth

A rich poetic experience - INDEPENDENT on The Rivered Earth

A phenomenon, a prodigy, a marvel ... It is hard to believe that Seth is only one man - EVENING STANDARD

Such writing reminds us that there are secrets beyond technique, beyond style, which have to do with a quality of soul on the part of the writer, a giving of oneself - GUARDIAN on A Suitable Boy

Vikram Seth has written five books of poetry, an opera libretto, and a book of other libretti. He is perhaps best known for his acclaimed novel, A SUITABLE BOY, one of the most beloved and widely read books of recent times, as well as his novels THE GOLDEN GATE and AN EQUAL MUSIC. He is the author of two highly regarded works of non-fiction, FROM HEAVEN LAKE and TWO LIVES.

'I have so carefully mapped the corners of my mind That I am forever waking in a lost country...' SUMMER REQUIEM traces the immutable shifting of the seasons, the relentless rhythms of a great world that both 'gifts and harms'. Luminous, resonant and profound, these poems trace the dying days of summer, 'the hour of rust', when memory is haunted by loss and decay. But in the silence that follows, as the soul is cast adrift, there is also reconciliation with the transience of all things; the knowledge that there is a place, 'changeable, that will not betray'.

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