{"product_id":"lovely-disciplines-the-9781781723890","title":"Lovely Disciplines, The","description":"\u003csection\u003e\u003ch3\u003eDisgrifiad Cymraeg \/ Welsh Description\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCasgliad newydd o gerddi gan Martyn Crucefix, yn cynnwys darnau coeth, crefftus a chyfareddol am gariad dynol yn ei holl ddatguddiadau: yn gariad at blentyn, at gymar, at rieni oedrannus ac at y byd.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/section\u003e\u003csection\u003e\u003ch3\u003eDisgrifiad Saesneg \/ English Description\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSeren is thrilled to be publishing the new collection by Martyn Crucefix, widely acknowledged as one of the UK's finest poets. The Lovely Disciplines is full of elegantly-crafted, intriguing poems. The 'disciplines' of the title turn out to encompass many of the manifestations of human love: of a child, a partner, of aging parents and of the world.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/section\u003e\u003ch3\u003eManylion y cynnyrch \/ Product details\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cdl\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eISBN 13\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003e9781781723890\u003c\/dd\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGwales Code\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003egwales.com.9781781723890\u003c\/dd\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGwerthwr \/ Vendor\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003eCyngor Llyfrau Cymru\u003c\/dd\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLong Title\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003eLovely Disciplines, The\u003c\/dd\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAwdur \/ Author\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003eCrucefix, Martyn\u003c\/dd\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCurrent Price ex VAT\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003e£9.99\u003c\/dd\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCurrent Price inc VAT\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003e£9.99\u003c\/dd\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAvailability Status (EN)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003eNon-Stock Item - Ordered on request\u003c\/dd\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAvailability Status (CY)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003eArchebir yn ôl y galw\u003c\/dd\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDyddiad cyhoeddi \/ Publication Date\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003e2017-08-08\u003c\/dd\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCyhoeddwr \/ Publisher\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003eSeren\u003c\/dd\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMedia Type (EN)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003ePaperback \/ softback\u003c\/dd\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMedia Type (CY)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003eClawr meddal\u003c\/dd\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePages\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003e72 pages\u003c\/dd\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSize\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003e138 × 216 mm\u003c\/dd\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLanguage Code\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003eEnglish\u003c\/dd\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCategori \/ Category\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003eCY: Barddoniaeth (yn Saesneg) | EN: Poetry (in English)\u003c\/dd\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIs-gategori \/ Subcategory\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003eCY: Beirdd Unigol (yn Saesneg) | EN: Individual Poets (in English)\u003c\/dd\u003e\n\u003c\/dl\u003e\u003csection\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAdolygiad y Cyhoeddwr \/ Publisher Review\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Lovely Disciplines , published by Seren, is award-winning poet Martyn Crucefix’s ninth collection of poetry. It features a characteristic style, with close observations narrated in an understated tone. The plain language is used to express deeper insights into the nature of human existence and the relationship between man, culture and nature. The back cover of the book notes that acuteness of observation is one of the lovely disciplines, and we see this throughout the book. The words tumble out in cumulative sentences that build up momentum line after line, from one stanza to the next, all the way to the end of each poem. For example, ‘Script’ begins like this: ‘Cars at the roadside \/ covering their heads \/ with snow as with ash \/ and who dares move \/ must slither on the hills \/ must stand in the road’. It carries through to the end in one continuous sentence, using images to bring out a sense of personal loss. There are three sections in the book. Each tells a story or links poems together through overlapping themes. Each poem tells part of the story, serving as a single tile in a mosaic. Much of the story is implicit; we don’t get everything but must fill in the gaps ourselves. Grief and loss run like warp threads forming a background and structure for the whole fabric of the book. In the first section, ‘Scree We Ride’, Crucefix presents us with a first-person narrator who is close to someone who has suffered a loss. The exact relationships among the bereaved, the one who has passed away, and the narrator are implicit. There is the hint of other narratives of loss, as well, as sad love echoes throughout these pieces. ‘Nocturne’ starts with these lines: ‘With this your coming to me in the dark \/ we are the dimming fragments’. Across these quietly spoken words is another thread, the weft, which is comprised of cultural artefacts – books, music, and the digital world we have constructed around ourselves. As the speaker is dealing with grief, he reflects on what he is reading. In the first section of poems, he shows us traces of Hopkins, Hass, Milosz, Oliver, Bonnefoy and more. The second section of the volume is called ‘The lovely disciplines’ and features a poem of the same name as its centrepiece. It is constructed of non-rhyming couplets, a favourite form of this author. The poem shows relatives visiting patients in hospital or possibly in a hospice. Details of the scene are described with precision – one patient is sitting ‘neat as a serviette’. The poem then moves into a statement of what underlies our human lives, as the woman is described as preferring ‘distance and darkness and being dumb’, leaving behind ‘those lovely disciplines \/ we reassure ourselves it’s human to pursue’. This lyric approach of starting on solid ground with physical description of the surroundings, and then slipping sideways to reveal something more, perhaps spiritual, runs throughout the book. The spiritual elements here may not be surprising, as Crucefix published a new translation of the Chinese classic, Daodejing (Tao Te Ching) in 2016. The third group of poems is called ‘Boy-racer’ and lifts the reader above the melancholy tone that suffuses other poems in the book. The title poem of this section describes a young motorcyclist in love with his machine, as ‘speed and dust please \/ his bald black bride’. Running counterpoint to the deeply personal here is the social, with evidence of our contemporary lives. Poems make reference to such electronic interventions as Skype and Google Street View. Films, historical events and the arts make regular appearances, suggesting that we are all connected. In ‘Street View’, Crucefix describes how ordinary people seek to be recorded by the Google Street View camera, noting that ‘it seems civilisation advances \/ at a slant until we think \/ our status raised with every outed image \/ till it feels important \/\/ not to have missed the breakfast news’. Readers will find comfort in the sadness of this book, and insight in its observations of contemporary life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/section\u003e","brand":"Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58819470852470,"sku":"9781781723890","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0041\/5340\/9585\/files\/9781781723890.jpg?v=1790350305","url":"https:\/\/www.siopypentan.co.uk\/products\/lovely-disciplines-the-9781781723890","provider":"Siop Y Pentan","version":"1.0","type":"link"}