William Golding's early book of poems in 1934 when he was 23 years old

Evan Leach at Goodreads

            on William Golding's early book of poems in 1934 and when he was 23 years old

         

This short book of poems is the earliest published work of William Golding (of Lord of the Flies fame). Published when the author was just 23 years old, Golding later apparently expressed some embarrassment over this collection. While some of these poems can come across as juvenilia, overall I enjoyed them. Perhaps my favorite of the bunch:

Non-Philosopher’s Song
“Lean, Logical and Rule of Thumb,
As parable to all that come,
Say Love and Reason live apart
In separate cells of head and heart.
But oh! m ''This short book of poems is the earliest published work of William Golding (of Lord of the Flies and Pincher Martin fame). Published when the author was 23 years old. While some of these poems can come across as juvenilia, overall I enjoyed them. Perhaps my favorite of the bunch:

Non-Philosopher’s Song

“Lean, Logical and Rule of Thumb,
As parable to all that come,
Say Love and Reason live apart
In separate cells of head and heart.

But oh! my lady, she and I
We give philosophy the lie,
For when I tread with careful thought
The tunnels that my brain has wrought

Her sweet resemblance I do find
In the dim cavern of my mind;
And Reason has not named the power
That did constrain that lovely face
So like a wan exotic flower
To flower in such a sunless place.”

''These poems can be a bit oversentimental at times, and Golding’s best work in later years after the war was definitely yet to come. But this is a quick, pleasant read, and I would recommend this book of poems to fans of Golding’s more famous work, although be warned that this may be a hard collection to track down.''