Selected Poems of Derek Walcott

This is a nice volume that, as you'd expect, covers a wide range of Walcott's work, right up to the most modern stuff.Not sure about some of the selections sometimes. The balance, to me, seems a little skewed toward the more modern, and the editor sometimes seems to prefer the longer works, the more self-consciously "intellectual". But maybe that's just because I like the earlier stuff more. No place here for "Dark August" or "Sabbaths - WI", a couple of my favourite earlier pieces.Still, a good collection and you can't really go wrong. He's a wonderful poet. Clearly always in love with the simple beauty of the language.

As mentioned above the selection leans towards to the longer works which are not always as accessible as the reader might like. Not I hasten to add because the work itself is overtly difficult more because we are not given the 'whole' story in an excerpt.I am very much enjoying the read. Particularly Tiepolo's Hound which is both intricate, deep and fairly easyily grasped all at once. I enjoy the way the poet battles with his own sense of place and identity as a boat battles with the currents between islands.I have started at the back of the book and am moving, wandering, towards the front, back through time as it were. An enjoyable way to discover the work of Walcott.