Chronology: Composition (1981-1998)

J. C. Hoyte: Ohinemutu Village (1873)

Poetry Chronology
(1981-1998)

Statistics:

1980-81 - 239
1982 - 38[276]
1983 - 54[330]
1984 - 75[405]
1985 - 55[459]
1986 - 18[516]
1987 - 15[531]
1988 - 14[545]
1989 - 12[557]
1990 - 10[567]
1991 - 16[583]
1992 - 3[586]
1993 - 3[589]
1994 - 2[591]
1995 - 3[594]
1996 - 31[625]
1997 - 58[683]
1998 - 90[773]

Appendix (18/5/84)

•

[Dates of Composition:]


1980-81


1. June: Gaudeamus (1980) (6/1980)

Sundry Poems Addressed to the Moon (1981)

(Auckland):
2. March: The Ascetic and the Visionary
3. March: Conversation between Two Customers before a Theatre
4. March: La Mancha Stems
5. March: On Two Modern Greek Poets
6. March: Poems in Both My Methods
7. March: The Body Imprecise
8. March: Reminiscence
9. March: “Lashes an Abandoned”
10. March: A Further Patterning
11. March: Still No Crow

(Auckland to Los Angeles):
12. Saturday, 28th March: TE 006 (Y): Dragon’s Seed

(London):
13. Sunday, 5th April: South Kensington to Richmond Green
14. Sunday, 5th April: The Queen’s Beasts
15. Sunday, 5th April: Time and the Hour Runs through the Roughest Day
16. Sunday, 5th April: Letter to K. M. Ross
17. Wednesday, 8th April: The Watchman’s Drum
18. Friday, 10th April: The Ruling House of Portugal
19. Friday, 10th April: Too Early in the Season

(France):
20. Sunday, 12th April: Pro Patria – Confusion
21. Thursday, 16th April: Tassin la demi-lune
22. Thursday, 16th April: Théâtre antique d’Orange (16/4/81)
23. Thursday, 16th April: A Link
24. Friday, 17th April: Van Gogh’s Provence
25. Saturday, 18th April: Sea Warfare 1805
26. Saturday, 18th April: Full Circle

(Italy):
27. Sunday, 19th April: Penthouses dell’Italia
28. Sunday, 19th April: Landscape Notes
29. Sunday, 19th April: Border Precedence
30. Monday, 20th April: Firenze alla Toscana
31. Wednesday, 22nd April: Dogboys of Calabria
32. Wednesday, 22nd April: Monte Cassino
33. Wednesday, 22nd April: Naples
34. Thursday, 23rd April: Replete
35. Thursday, 23rd April: Le isole di Elba
36. Friday, 24th April: Night Fishermen upon the Adriatic
37. Friday, 24th April: Ravenna and the North
38. Friday, 24th April: Autostrada

(Austria):
39. Monday, 25th April: The Alps
40. Monday, 25th April: Apology I
41. Monday, 25th April: Our Travellers were soon
42. Monday, 25th April: Ötztaler Spring

(Switzerland):
43. Sunday, 26th April: La Suisse
44. Sunday, 26th April: Apology II
45. Monday, 27th April: Apology III
46. Monday, 27th April: Barbarossa
47. Tuesday, 28th April: The Colony
48. Tuesday, 28th April: Switzerland

(France):
49. Friday, 1st May: L’Envoi
50. Saturday, 2nd May: Ballad of Charleville

(Belgium):
51. Saturday, 2nd May: The Sky of Belgium
52. Saturday, 2nd May: [Jack's Metamorphoses:] Bruxelles
53. Saturday, 2nd May: An Aviator Shooting
54. Saturday, 2nd May: The Heart that Beats
55. Sunday, 3rd May: The Thick Brown Earth of Flanders
56. Sunday, 3rd May: Hooge Crater Cemetery

(France):
57. Sunday, 3rd May: Dunkirk

(Calais to Dover):
58. Sunday, 3rd May: Channel Crossing
59. Sunday, 3rd May: As Endlessly Propelled

(England):
60. Monday, 4th May: A Loss
61. Monday, 4th May: Ode on a Distant Prospect of Portchester Castle
62. Thursday, 7th May: New Forest Rhyme
63. Friday, 8th May: The Rufus Stone
64. Friday, 8th May: Swanage Beach in Dorset
65. Friday, 8th May: A Death and Landscape Poet
66. Friday, 8th May: A Female Grave at Maiden Castle
67. Friday, 8th May: The Dance of Death at Evening
68. Friday, 8th May: For Centuries the Gallows
69. Friday, 8th May: The Ghost
70. Friday, 8th May: John Cowper Powys
71. Friday, 8th May: Portland Bill
72. Friday, 8th May: In Lieu of Polished Stones
73. Saturday, 9th May: Dartmoor and Environs
74. Saturday, 9th May: The Grass has Overgrown
75. Saturday, 9th May: Plymouth
76. Saturday, 9th May: Cornwall
77. Saturday, 9th May: Dubiously So
78. Saturday, 9th May: Penzance
79. Sunday, 10th May: St Ives
80. Sunday, 10th May: A Tract of Woods Resembling
81. Sunday, 10th May: River Camel
82. Sunday, 10th May: Tintagel: The Approaches
83. Sunday, 10th May: Boscastle Port
84. Sunday, 10th May: War Memorial, Kilkhampton, Cornwall
85. Sunday, 10th May: Devon Road
86. Sunday, 10th May: Devon Wood
87. Sunday, 10th May: Westward Ho!
88. Sunday, 10th May: John Ridd
89. Sunday, 10th May: Kentisbury Ford
90. Sunday, 10th May: [Jack's Metamorphoses:] Exmoor and Lorna Doone (10/5/81)
91. Monday, 11th May: Glastonbury Tor and Abbey
92. Monday, 11th May: Monday in Glastonbury
93. Monday, 11th May: Wells Cathedral
94. Monday, 11th May: Devizes
95. Monday, 11th May: The Wansdyke
96. Monday, 11th May: The Plain
97. Monday, 11th May: University City
98. Monday, 11th May: Logs of Wenceslas
99. Monday, 11th May: Two Birds Flashed by
100. Monday, 11th May: Avebury Ring
101. Tuesday, 12th May: Outside Cambridge (12/5/81)
102. Wednesday, 13th May: The Sun Sinks in the Sky
103. Wednesday, 13th May: They Shoulder
104. Thursday, 14th May: City of York
105. Thursday, 14th May: Spender
106. Thursday, 14th May: The Rolling Country
107. Friday, 15th May: Corbridge: Corstopitum
108. Friday, 15th May: Brunton Turret
109. Friday, 15th May: Hadrian’s Wall
110. Friday, 15th May: The Wall
111. Friday, 15th May: The Dictate of a Fool

(Scotland):
112. Friday, 15th May: The Borders
113. Friday, 15th May: Forth Bridge
114. Friday, 15th May: The Face of the Hill
115. Saturday, 16th May: The Valves
116. Sunday, 17th May: Poem to Will Maclean
117. Sunday, 17th May: The Child with His Dead Porter ...
118. Sunday, 17th May: Edinburgh
119. Sunday, 17th May: The Night is a Country
120. Sunday, 17th May: Dim Apparitions (I Have Never Seen
121. Monday, 18th May: Consider Applegate
122. Tuesday, 19th May: A Flag Upon
123. Tuesday, 19th May: Crossgates
124. Tuesday, 19th May: The Immense
125. Tuesday, 19th May: Edinburgh
126. Tuesday, 19th May: The Trains Produced
127. Tuesday, 19th May: The Face behind the Camera
128. Tuesday, 19th May: The Sanctity of Nightmare
129. Wednesday, 20th May: Seven Grim
130. Wednesday, 20th May: Edinburgh by Train
131. Thursday, 21st May: An Interesting Speculation
132. Thursday, 21st May: Castle Campbell
133. Saturday, 23rd May: When Senile, Eberhart
134. Saturday, 23rd May: Anon.
135. Saturday, 23rd May: The Mines (Obscurity’s Defence)
136. Sunday, 24th May: And If Ye Gae
137. Sunday, 24th May: The Flock of Crows
138. Sunday, 24th May: A Once Delivered Tale
139. Sunday, 24th May: “But Chiefly I Remember ...”
140. Monday, 25th May: Pitmedden
141. Monday, 25th May: An Earlier Defence
142. Tuesday, 26th May: The Clod
143. Tuesday, 26th May: Fort George
144. Tuesday, 26th May: Culloden Moor
145. Tuesday, 26th May: Everything Resolves Itself
146. Friday, 29th May: The Black Isle
147. Friday, 29th May: We Construct
148. Friday, 29th May: To Whom the Sight
149. Saturday, 30th May: Diaspora
150. Saturday, 30th May: Road-signs
151. Saturday, 30th May: Loch Ness – Reflections
152. Saturday, 30th May: Urquhart Castle: Phallic Imagery / Evidence of Ache
153. Saturday, 30th May: Offertory
154. Sunday, 31st May: Just in Time
155. Sunday, 31st May: Kiltearn
156. Monday, 1st June: Coigach
157. Monday, 1st June: Corrieshalloch
158. Monday, 1st June: Ullapool
159. Monday, 1st June: Dialogue
160. Monday, 1st June: Polbain
161. Tuesday, 2nd June: Polbain
162. Tuesday, 2nd June: The Clachan
163. Tuesday, 2nd June: I Tramped down through
164. Tuesday, 2nd June: Defeat – The Wind Might Seize
165. Tuesday, 2nd June: L’Inferno
166. Wednesday, 3rd June: But Anyway [One Version of Pastoral] (3/6/81–15/8/96)
167. Wednesday, 3rd June: Tanera Beag (3/6/81)
168. Wednesday, 3rd June: Tanera Mor
169. Wednesday, 3rd June: I Can Vouch for
170. Thursday, 4th June: Unilever
171. Thursday, 4th June: Words
172. Friday, 5th June: Old Dornie
173. Friday, 5th June: Altandhu
174. Friday, 5th June: Culnacraig
175. Friday, 5th June: Admission to
176. Friday, 5th June: The First and the Second-to-Last
177. Saturday, 6th June: Æschylus
178. Sunday, 7th June: “And Pompous in the Grave”
179. Sunday, 7th June: The Sacrifice
180. Monday, 8th June: Achiltibuie
181. Monday, 8th June: The Pipe Line
182. Wednesday, 10th June: Loch Duich and Five Sisters
183. Wednesday, 10th June: The Great Glen
184. Wednesday, 10th June: Interesting Spinal
185. Wednesday, 10th June: Inland Promise
186. Wednesday, 10th June: A Pretty Compliment
187. Wednesday, 10th June: The Speech
188. Thursday, 11th June: Living is Inseparable
189. Thursday, 11th June: That Side of It

(England):
190. Friday, 12th June: Ullswater [First Love] (12/6/81-18/9/97)
191. Friday, 12th June: Derwentwater
192. Friday, 12th June: A Lava Flow
193. Friday, 12th June: Bernadotte
194. Monday, 15th June: Where are the Lines
195. Monday, 15th June: Personally I Choose
196. Tuesday, 16th June: The Heir
197. Tuesday, 16th June: Alkaline
198. Tuesday, 16th June: Factory Chimneys

(Wales):
199. Tuesday, 16th June: Menai Bridge
200. Wednesday, 17th June: Beside Snowdon
201. Wednesday, 17th June: 1912

(England):
202. Wednesday, 17th June: Snowdon to Shrewsbury
203. Wednesday, 17th June: Cerulean Adversity
204. Thursday, 18th June: No Fire Can Deceive
205. Saturday, 20th June: Focus
206. Tuesday, 23rd June: “And the Sea Shall Give up Her Dead”
207. Wednesday, 24th June: The Sons of Man

(Auckland):
208. Wednesday, 1st July: But Not for the Moment
209. Saturday, 4th July: Compassion Liberate
210. Sunday, 5th July: In Immense Preparation
211. Sunday, 5th July: The Bailiff
212. Monday, 6th July: Tenuous Displacement
213. Wednesday, 8th July: I Don’t Know Why
214. Wednesday, 8th July: Adversity Solidifies
215. Wednesday, 8th July: The Inconceivable Wastes
216. Wednesday, 8th July: The Animated Dead
217. Thursday, 9th July: Okay to Run
218. Sunday, 12th July: Inconsequential
219. Sunday, 13th July: Immense
220. Sunday, 26th July: Three Centuries of Dust
221. Tuesday, 28th July: Columbus Dead
222. Thursday, 30th July: Analogy of Spades
223. Thursday, 30th July: Interview

Colloquial Incantations (August to December, 1981)


224. As He is
225. Entry
226. Hans in Italy
227. I Shall Survive
228. Lash Her
229. Baked Here
230. Reprise
231. Genuflections
232. Advertisement
233. I See
234. Regrettable
235. In Egypt
236. Obsolete (December 1981)
237. Decisions
238. The Fierce Sun
239. No Wine


1982

The Visions of the Shaman (January to June, 1982)

(Auckland):
240. Pope Joan
241. Charlemagne
242. The Shaman (January 1982)
243. Anactæon
244. The Rabbit-Headed God
245. Ballad: The Watchman and the Thief
246. Love of Woman
247. From Bosky Auckland
248. An Image
249. Amun-Re
250. Chelsea
251. Entities
252. The Famine
253. For 750 Years
254. P.E.P. 1981

Burning a Play (June to August, 1982)


255. The Third Circle
256. Harbour-Light
257. In the Desert
258. Habitats
259. All
260. The Day
261. Pauvre Jacques
262. Afterwards
263. In the Park
264. The Danes
265. Punch and Judy
266. Apollinaire
267. Impossible to Be Free
268. Predictions
269. Where Are We Going?
270. Nothing

5 Poems (1982)


271. Lunchtime
272. Booby-prize
273. Espionage
274. Primitive
275. The Charterhouse
276. Likewise
277. Cheap Perfume


1983


Poems in Traditional Metres (1983)

(Auckland):
278. Sunday, 20th March: This Wednesday Afternoon
279. Sunday, 27th March: Canzone
280. Sunday, 3rd April: Adventure in the Colonies I & II
281. Sunday, 10th April: Pindaric Ode
282. Sunday, 17th April: Quatrains
283. Sunday, 17th April: Ottava Rima
284. Sunday, 24th April: Song
285. Sunday, 1st May: My Love Enchained
286. Sunday, 8th May: Ballad or Drinking Song
287. Sunday, 8th May: In Brazil
288. Sunday, 15th May: Cultivation
289. Sunday, 15th May: Not Here
290. Sunday, 22nd May: Topical Satire
291. Sunday, 29th May: Auckland by Night
292. Sunday, 29th May: Cormorants: Another of the Same
293. Sunday, 5th June: On the Occasion of Wet Snow (5/6/83-7/9/96)
294. Sunday, 12th June: Narrative Poem
295. Sunday, 19th June: Dramatic Poem
296. Sunday, 26th June: Apostrophe
297. Sunday, 26th June: All My Sense
298. Sunday, 26th June: My Ankle
299. Sunday, 3rd July: Reconstituted Fragments
300. Sunday, 10th July: Personages I-IV
301. Sunday, 17th July: The Present Tense (17/7/83-18/4/97)
302. Sunday, 24th July: The Statement
303. Sunday, 24th July: Sea Shanty
304. Sunday, 31st July: Imprisoned as the Titans
305. Sunday, 7th August: The Ghost of a House
306. Sunday, 14th August: Poem for Midsummer
307. Sunday, 21st August: Doggerel
308. Sunday, 21st August: Why
309. Sunday, 21st August: He Turns on Lights
310. Sunday, 28th August: Moonlight
311. Sunday, 28th August: Winter in New Zealand
312. Sunday, 4th September: Malory
313. Sunday, 11th September: The History of a Lightbulb
314. Sunday, 18th September: Some Sort of Trumpet-Call
315. Sunday, 18th September: Dante
316. Sunday, 25th September: Three a Night
317. Sunday, 2nd October: Because
318. Sunday, 9th October: Dialogue
319. Wednesday, 12th October: Flyting
320. Sunday, 16th October: Another Sort of Gull
321. Sunday, 23rd October: Fable (with Moral Attached)
322. Sunday, 23rd October: Dichtung und Wahrheit

Regeneration and Other Poems (1983-84)


323. Sunday, 30th October: Regeneration
324. Sunday, 6th November: Credo (Epilogue)
325. Sunday, 13th November: A Roman Thought
326. Sunday, 20th November: As a Salvage-Worker
327. Sunday, 27th November: What Use?
328. Sunday, 4th December: The Level
329. Sunday, 11th December: White and Straight
330. Sunday, 18th December: Sympathetic Magic
331. Sunday, 25th December: I’m Bleeding from the Back


1984

(Auckland):
332. Sunday, 1st January: A Sexual Wound
333. Sunday, 8th January: Hommage à W. B. Yeats
334. Sunday, 15th January: Mounting
335. Sunday, 22nd January: The Pain
336. Sunday, 22nd January: Instructions to a Cat
337. Sunday, 29th January: Office Space
338. Sunday, 5th February: Yawn
339. Sunday, 12th February: Mechanism
340. Sunday, 19th February: Ringing Off
341. Sunday, 19th February: A. E. H.
342. Sunday, 26th February: One Man’s Flowers
343. Sunday, 4th March: A Life beyond the Grave
344. Sunday, 11th March: A Whiff of Foul Air
345. Sunday, 18th March: A Song of Overcoming
346. Sunday, 25th March: Horses
347. Sunday, 25th March: There is a Serpent
348. Sunday, 1st April: Beyond a Doubt
349. Sunday, 1st April: Love Song
350. Sunday, 8th April: À l’Ombre
351. Sunday, 15th April: Euripides
352. Sunday, 22nd April: Good Friday Poem
353. Sunday, 29th April: Myza
354. Sunday, 29th April: What Have I Done Wrong
355. Sunday, 6th May: No Alternatives
356. Sunday, 13th May: Calligrammes
357. Sunday, 13th May: Very Poor
358. Sunday, 13th May: Variations on an Already Propounded Theme

Miscellaneous Poems (1984)


359. Sunday, 20th May: Bayswater Cemetery – 13/5/84
360. Sunday, 27th May: Who Knows
361. Sunday, 27th May: And ...
362. Sunday, 3rd June: A Starlight Night
363. Sunday, 10th June: Mortality, or, The Bells of Elfland
364. Sunday, 17th June: Afterthoughts (A Pertinent Suggestion)
365. Sunday, 24th June: Ouvriers – Imagine My Surprise!

La Vita Anziana (1984)


366. Sunday, 30th June: Saturday Night (prose)
367. Sunday, 1st July: The Less I Know ...
368. Wednesday, 4th July: Wednesday Evening (prose)
369. Wednesday, 4th July: The Same (prose)
370. Sunday, 8th July: If There’s Any Reluctance ...
371. Tuesday, 10th July: Tuesday Night (prose)
372. Wednesday, 11th July: Wednesday Morning (prose)
373. Wednesday, 11th July: The Same (prose)
374. Sunday, 15th July: ‘Rapunzel, Rapunzel ...’
375. Sunday, 15th July: In Pride of Eye ...
376. Sunday, 22nd July: What Did You Say ...
377. Sunday, 22nd July: Sunday Morning (prose)
378. Sunday, 22nd July: The Same (prose)
379. Sunday, 22nd July: Sunday Night (prose)
380. Friday, 27th July: Friday Morning (prose)
381. Sunday, 29th July: A Special Scrawl ...
382. Sunday, 29th July: Be-ography ...
383. Sunday, 5th August: To Date We’ve Spent ...
384. Sunday, 12th August: Hey Man ...
385. Sunday, 12th August: Sunday Night (prose)
386. Sunday, 19th August: Oh God I Can’t Escape ...
387. Sunday, 26th August: Some Gibbering Mouthing Moron ...
388. Sunday, 2nd September: It Looks Pretty Good ...
389. Sunday, 9th September: The Wrath of God ...
390. Sunday, 16th September: A Bird Can Take a Bath ...
391. Sunday, 23rd September: “Non, Je ne regrette rien!” ...
392. Sunday, 23rd September: “900 Heroic Days”
393. Sunday, 30th September: I’m Surprised You Dared ...
394. Sunday, 7th October: Newdigate Prize Poem ...
395. Sunday, 14th October: It’s Impossible to Tell ...
396. Sunday, 21st October: Sight is Less Insidious ...
397. Sunday, 28th October: On a Set Topic ...

Car Broken Down (1984-85)


398. Sunday, 4th November: Deluged
399. Sunday, 11th November: What It All Means
400. Sunday, 18th November: The New “Michael Fowler” Centre
401. Sunday, 25th November: A Connoisseur
402. Sunday, 2nd December: Smokey
403. Sunday, 9th December: Eye-Splitting
404. Sunday, 16th December: Naive Acumen
405. Sunday, 23rd December: He’s Full of It
406. Sunday, 30th December: Who Will?


1985

(Auckland):
407. Sunday, 6th January: My Dick out
408. Sunday, 13th January: Complex
409. Sunday, 20th January: Veracity
410. Sunday, 27th January: In the Valley of the Fat
411. Sunday, 3rd February: That Cadaver
412. Sunday, 10th February: The Fall of Troy
413. Sunday, 17th February: Vignette (d’aprés Marin Marais)
414. Sunday, 17th February: Misha the Cat
415. Sunday, 24th February: Process of Fate

Poems Without Titles (1985)


416. Sunday, 3rd March: ‘Just by the perilous alchemy of style
417. Sunday, 10th March: In subterranean grottoes of the sea
418. Sunday, 17th March: Car Broken Down
419. Sunday, 24th March: Is God watching me – as I pick my nose?
420. Sunday, 31st March: Right order ... trampled in the dust
421. Sunday, 7th April: The drought is broken, blessed be the rain ...
422. Sunday, 14th April: Warring impulses

Defender of the Green (1985)


423. Sunday, 21st April: Defender of the Green
424. Sunday, 28th April: I’m too obsessed with this, I fear –
425. Sunday, 5th May: Shoelaces
426. Sunday, 12th May: I don’t want to search for fear
427. Saturday, 18th May: ‘Come on in, the water’s fine!’
428. Sunday, 26th May: To Lewis in China
429. Sunday, 2nd June: It’s become a reflex
430. Sunday, 9th June: Bus timetables must be metaphors for something
431. Sunday, 16th June: Asphalt courts are glistening with rain
432. Sunday, 23rd June: One has to steal up on them
433. Sunday, 30th June: Motorhead. – Big guns. – My typewriter
434. Sunday, 7th July: Your comment’s noted, but
435. Sunday, 14th July: Rainer Maria Rilke prepared himself for years
436. Sunday, 21st July: It is quite useful, that box – not
437. Sunday, 28th July: Raindrops crossing swords
438. Sunday, 4th August: Notes on nothing in particular.
439. Sunday, 11th August: O promises – designed to reassure ...
440. Sunday, 18th August: I’ve been building it up for quite a while,
441. Sunday, 25th August: That’s tons of them for this week
442. Sunday, 1st September: ‘Hey hey hey! – Look who’s here!’
443. Sunday, 8th September: Entire lives go on by
444. Sunday, 15th September: Flight is a powerful image, so
445. Sunday, 22nd September: Everyone likes:
446. Sunday, 29th September: Mistletoe ... I’ve never seen it
447. Sunday, 6th October: The Space Race
448. Sunday, 13th October: I’m feeling good,
449. Sunday, 20th October: She gives a little hop & skip & jump
450. Sunday, 27th October: Its triviality makes it worthy of record
451. Sunday, 3rd November: There are parts of my nature
452. Sunday, 10th November: Red men – Indians – on far-off prairies
453. Sunday, 17th November: Red shirts are all the rage, I
454. Sunday, 24th November: Middle English Alliterative Poetry
455. Sunday, 1st December: The dead are so unreasonable
456. Sunday, 8th December: Fancy that – I would’ve thought there’d be more.
457. Sunday, 17th December: In the Dream-time, men were undecided
458. Sunday, 22nd December: A Eulogy on the Glory of His Sex
459. Thursday, 26th December: Baudelaire: Voyage to Cythera (26/12/85)
460. Sunday, 29th December: Books


1986

(Auckland):
461. Friday, 3rd January: Villon: Quatrain (3/1/86)
462. Sunday, 5th January: It’s awfully hot these summer nights,
463. Sunday, 12th January: Smoking
464. Sunday, 19th January: What does one generally have to eat
465. Sunday, 26th January: Mokau Landscape
466. Sunday, 2nd February: I feel a bit like a pharaoh

Khruschev Forgets (1986)


467. Sunday, 9th February: To Any Hero after a Thousand Years
468. Sunday, 16th February: Abominable Lust
469. Saturday, 22nd February: Beowulf, ll.1-11 (22/2/86)
470. Sunday, 23rd February: Song
471. Sunday, 2nd March: Khrushchev Forgets
472. Sunday, 9th March: Deception
473. Sunday, 16th March: "The University is a Paradise ..."
474. Thursday, 20th March: Villon: Ballade (20/3/86)
475. Sunday, 23rd March: Doctors
476. Sunday, 30th March: Overheard
477. Sunday, 6th April: Arabian Night
478. Sunday, 13th April: Winthrop's
479. Sunday, 20th April: Fleas and Gibbets
480. Sunday, 27th April: Heat
481. Sunday, 4th May: Super ... Super
482. Sunday, 11th May: Innocence
483. Sunday, 18th May: Journey by Bus to a Vivaldi Concert
484. Sunday, 25th May: Plateau Poems I
485. Sunday, 1st June: Handel
486. Sunday, 8th June: The Late Romances: Pericles [I] (8/6/86-7/1/2025)
487. Sunday, 15th June: To Be in Someone Else's Poem
488. Sunday, 22nd June: To Claudia Marquis
489. Sunday, 29th June: The Late Romances – Pericles, IV
490. Sunday, 6th July: The Late Romances – Pericles, V
491. Sunday, 13th July: The Late Romances – Pericles, VI
492. Sunday, 20th July: The Late Romances – Pericles, II
493. Sunday, 27th July: The Late Romances – Pericles, III
494. Sunday, 3rd August: U-Can c.
495. Sunday, 10th August: Giant Forms
496. Sunday, 17th August: Marina
497. Sunday, 24th August: The North Ship

Women (1986-87)


498. Sunday, 31st August: Dido and Aeneas
499. Sunday, 7th September: A Secular Oratorio

(Edinburgh):
500. Sunday, 14th September: Freud
501. Sunday, 21st September: Sonnet (with 14 lines)
502. Sunday, 28th September: Freshers' Week, Edinburgh 1986
503. Sunday, 5th October: To Alison Fox
504. Sunday, 12th October: The Crystal Age
505. Sunday, 19th October: The Lift
506. Saturday, 25th October: Failure to Write a Rebuttal to Norman MacCaig
507. Sunday, 2nd November: Cultural Insensitivity (My Own)
508. Saturday, 8th November: Adjunct
509. Saturday, 8th November: Memorial to a Friendship, I
510. Thursday, 13th November: Memorial to a Friendship, II-V
511. Sunday, 16th November: Cheryl
512. Monday, 17th November: In Love at Last, I-V
513. Saturday, 22nd November: Train Poems, I
514. Sunday, 30th November: Kneel Down, Stand Up
515. Monday, 8th December: Winter Thoughts in Edinburgh, I
516. Sunday, 14th December: Winter Thoughts in Edinburgh, II
517. December: Apollinaire: Aubade (12/86)


1987

(Edinburgh):
518. Sunday, 11th January: Winter Thoughts in Edinburgh, III
519. Monday,19th January: Winter Thoughts in Edinburgh, IV
520. Sunday, 25th January: Conversation with Alison, I
521. Sunday, 15th February: Edinburgh in the Posthumous Works of Elizabeth Bishop, I
522. Sunday, 22nd February: Edinburgh in the Posthumous Works of Elizabeth Bishop, II
523. Sunday, 1st March: Conversation with Alison, II
524. Sunday, 8th March: Conversation with Alison, III
525. Sunday, 15th March: Conversation with Alison, IV

Edinburgh Poems (1987)


526. Sunday, 22nd March: Scatological
527. Sunday, 29th March: Home Thoughts from Abroad
528. Wednesday, 29th July: Stanzas of Consolation in Despair (29/7/87)
529. Sunday, 6th September: Apologies Presented to Debbie Gallagher, I
530. Sunday, 15th November: Incest
531. Sunday, 22nd November: The Mirror, II
532. Sunday, 29th November: The Mirror, I


1988

Journal Poems (1988)

(Edinburgh):
533. Thursday, 4th February: The Encyclopædists: Last Sonnet from China
534. Wednesday, 24th February: Graffito I
535. Sunday, 26th June: Failing, again, to ...
536. Sunday, 10th July: On Failing to Meet the Zen Master (10/7/88)
537. Sunday, 17th July: On Failing to Meet the Zen Master, II
538. Sunday, 24th July: On Failing to Meet the Zen Master, III
539. Sunday, 7th August: Dieting while Reading Conrad, I
540. Sunday, 14th August: On Failing to Meet the Zen Master, IV
541. Thursday, 18th August: Graffito II
542. Sunday, 21st August: Dieting while Reading Conrad, II
543. September: [Ancestral Voices:] You are walking … (9/88-12/9/90)
544. Sunday, 11th September: Dieting while Reading Conrad, III
545. Sunday, 2nd October: Dieting while Reading Conrad, IV
546. Sunday, 2nd October: Coda
547. Friday, 25th November: To Suzanne Gruber


1989

(Edinburgh):
548. Wednesday, 12th July: Ronsard: Cassandre I (12/7/89)
549. Thursday, 13th July: Ronsard: Cassandre II (13/7/89)
550. Friday, 14th July: Ronsard: Cassandre III (14/7/89)
551. Tuesday, 18th July: [Ancestral Voices:] First Day of Spring (18/7/89-14/3/01)
552. Saturday, 29th July: The Psychopathology of Everyday Life, I (29/7-4/8/89)
553. Friday, 4th August: The Psychopathology of Everyday Life, II (29/7-4/8/89)
554. Thursday, 10th August: Inscription in a Copy of The Tale of Genji (10/8/89)
555. Wednesday, 4th October: The Psychopathology of Everyday Life, III

Dream Poems (1989)


556. Wednesday, 4th October: Stalin’s Raven (4/10/89-18/12/06)
557. Friday, 20th October: Party in the SCR (20/10/89-5/2/09)
558. Tuesday, 24th October: Book-Sale (24/10/89-5/2/09)
559. Wednesday, 25th October: A Glastonbury Romance (25/10/89-5/2/09)


1990

(Edinburgh):
560. Saturday, 27th January: Dame Edna [Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?] (27/1/90-5/2/09)
561. Friday, 9th February: Concrete Poem
562. Monday, 12th February: Early Valentine's Poem (12/2/90)
563. Sunday, 15th April: A Reaction to the Line: '"We've come too far" ...'
564. Saturday, 28th April: Epithalamion (28/4/90)
565. Sunday, 6th May: After Reading Berryman’s Sonnets (6/5/90)
566. Monday, 21st May: Jackie-Anne's Dream [Claire's Dream] (21/5/90-5/2/09)
567. Tuesday, 22nd May: Malcolm O (22/5/90-5/2/09)
568. Monday, 30th July: Verse

Auckland to Palmerston & Back (1990-91)

(Auckland):
569. Saturday, 3rd November: Farewell to Edinburgh, I


1991

(Palmerston North):
570. Saturday, 23rd March: Farewell to Edinburgh, II
571. Saturday, 23rd March: Auckland Again, I
572. Friday, 29th March: A Few Precepts for English Metre
573. Saturday, 30th March: Auckland Again, II-III
574. Sunday, 31st March: Quick with New Growth, Fecund
575. Saturday, 6th April: English Lit I
576. Thursday, 18th April: Elegy for Ames (18/4/91)
577. Wednesday, 19th June: The Massey English Department: A Rogues' Gallery
578. Thursday, 27th June: Jingle Bells
579. Wednesday, 24th July: Ugolino (24/7/91-5/2/09)
580. Thursday, 25th July: [Ezra Pound]: Canto 72 (25/7/91-5/97)
581. Thursday, 25th July: [Ezra Pound]: Canto 73 (25/7/91-5/97)
582. Saturday, 27th July: Big Game
583. Saturday, 27th July: The Ice Dildo
584. Sunday, 28th July: Poem for Cheryl, I-II
585. July: [Rimbaud]: Poets at Seven Years Old (7/91-18/5/97)
586. Monday, 5th August: Tod und Verklärung, I (5/8/91)
587. Friday, 9th August: Tod und Verklärung, II, III & IV (9/8/91)


1992

(Auckland):
588. Thursday, 19th March: The Common Room, English Dept, Arts I
589. Saturday, 25th July: Life on Ætna
590. Thursday, 8th October: To Alan Loney, On the Occasion of His Staff Seminar


1993

(Auckland):
591. Wednesday, 24th February: Prothalamion (24/2/93)
592. Saturday, 24th April: Life in a Chinese Novel (24/4/93-17/4/97)
593. Friday, 5th November: Lines on an Unfortunate Incident ...


1994

(Auckland):
594. Tuesday, 18th January: Dream [The War] (18/1/94-18/12/06)
595. Tuesday, 31st May: Jack's Dream [Finland] (31/5/94-5/2/09)


1995

(Auckland):
596. Monday, 19th June: Lion’s Head (19/6/95-18/12/06)
597. Friday, 30th June: Borges: Metaphors of The 1001 Nights (30/6/95-2/8/03)
598. Wednesday, 1st November: On Composing Another C.V.


1996

Killing Time (1996)

(Auckland):
599. Sunday, 28th January: Aretino: Sexual Positions III (28/1/96)
600. Sunday, 4th February: Aretino: Sexual Positions I (4/2/96)
601. Thursday, 8th February: Baudelaire: Spleen (8/2/96)
602. Monday, 8th April: Aretino: Sexual Positions II (8/4/96)
603. Thursday, 18th April: Auckland by Night (18/4–29/6/96) /
604. Saturday, 8th June: Brussels by Day

(Edinburgh):
605. Saturday, 6th July: At Linlithgow Palace
606. Saturday, 6th July: For Walter Jensen (6/7/96)
607. Sunday, 7th July: C. P. Cavafy: The God Abandons Antony (1/96-7/7/96)
608. Monday, 8th July: [Ancestral Voices:] We’re only tenants here (8/7/96-14/3/01)
609. Tuesday, 9th July: Troilism on Lothian Rd
610. Friday, 12th July: Anger, Sadness, Hope

(Auckland):
611. Wednesday, 7th August: The Dream (7/8-8/10/96)
612. Thursday, 15th August: One Version of Pastoral (3/6/81–15/8/96)
613. Tuesday, 20th August: The Paper-Nickers
614. Sunday, 25th August: The Prospect of the Bungy-Jump (25/8/96-2/1/97)
615. Monday, 2nd September: Morning at a Language School (2/9-5/9/96)
616. Saturday, 7th September: On the Occasion of Wet Snow (5/6/83-7/9/96)
617. Sunday, 8th September: A Road through Pylons (8/9-18/10/96)
618. Tuesday, 10th September: Killing Time (10/9-18/11/96)
619. Tuesday, 22nd October: Recovery, I & II (22/10/96-15/1/97)
620. Tuesday, 22nd October: [Nightingale Fever:] Fever, nagging pain … (22/10/96-26/7/2000)
621. Friday, 25th October: [Servants of the Wankh:] Dogs and Flies (25/10/96-24/1/03)
622. Tuesday, 29th October: [Servants of the Wankh:] Punch and Judy (29/10/96-24/1/03)
623. Tuesday, 12th November: Modem not Responding (12/11/96)
624. Wednesday, 13th November: Letter to Jackie-Anne (13/11/96-24/1/97)
625. Saturday, 30th November: Burn Old Diaries (30/11/96-27/6/2000)

Caliban Ogles the Girls (1996-97)


626. Wednesday, 4th December: Petrarch: Laura I (4/12/96-1/1/97)
627. Mid-December: Dressing Down (12/96)
628. Sunday, 15th December: Coda (15/12/96)
629. Monday, 23rd December: God’s Spy IV - Safe House (23/12/96)


1997

(Auckland):
630. Wednesday, 1st January: Petrarch: Laura III (1/1/97)
631. Wednesday, 1st January: Petrarch: Laura III (1/1/97)
632. Thursday, 9th January: Angel (9/1/97)
633. Friday, 17th January: Margarita’s (17/1/97)
634. Friday, 17th January: Desperation
635. Friday, 24th January: End of the Year at the End of the World (24/1/97)
636. Wednesday, 26th February: Anna Akhmatova: I came to visit the poet (26/2-10/5/97)
637. Thursday, 27th February: Sex-Talk (27/2/97)
638. Early March: Depression
639. Sunday, 9th March: Water-slides (9/3-2/4/97)
640. Friday, 14th March: Reading the Entrails (14/3/97)
641. Friday, 11th April: [Two Kaipara Poems:] Baylys Beach Revisited (11/4/97)
642. Friday, 18th April: Spirit of ’87 [The Present Tense] (17/7/83-18/4/97)
643. Monday, 21st April: Distraction
644. Monday, 21st April: [The Perfect Storm:] Grating your hand … (21/4/97)
645. Tuesday, 29th April: The Rooftop Cavalier (29/4/97)
646. Saturday, 10th May: Poem for My Nephew (10/5/97)
647. Sunday, 18th May: Poets at Seven Years Old (after Rimbaud) (7/91-18/5/97)
648. Tuesday, 20th May: City of Strange Brunettes, I (20/5-6/6/97)
649. Monday, 26th May: Insomnia – 3 a.m. (26/5/97)
650. Friday, 30th May: City of Strange Brunettes, II (20/5-6/6/97)
651. Friday, 6th June: City of Strange Brunettes, III & IV (20/5-6/6/97)
652. Saturday, 14th June: [Two Kaipara Poems:] Muriwai 1997 (14/6/97)

Jack's Metamorphoses (1997)


653. Sunday, 15th June: Jack's Metamorphoses, III – Orpheus in the Bays (15/6/97)
654. Sunday, 15th June: On the Edge (15/6/97)
655. Monday, 16th June: East Coast Bays, Winter (16/6/97)
656. Saturday, 28th June: Waitakeres (28/6-9/11/97)
657. Monday, 7th July: Bilingual Recipe for Big Macs (7/7/97)
658. Tuesday, 15th July: Dumb (15/7/97-22/11/98-29/10/01)
659. Thursday, 24th July: Albany, Quad Block 8 (24/7/97)
660. Friday, 25th July: Bayswater, Night (25/7/97)
661. Tuesday, 29th July: Fashion ‘97 (29/7/97)
662. Friday, 1st August: Before the Rain (1/8/97)
663. Tuesday, 5th August: Jack’s Metamorphoses, III – Orpheus in the Bays (5/8/97-27/2/98)
664. Sunday, 17th August: Rilke: Orpheus. Eurydike. Hermes (17/8-15/10/97)
665. Thursday, 19th August: Jack's Metamorphoses, II – A dark place (19/8/97)
666. Friday, 20th August: Unpardonable Sins (20/8-4/11/97)
667. Monday, 1st September: Elegy to the Memory of an Unfortunate Lady (1/9/97)
668. Sunday, 14th September: Conversation Pieces, III – Waiwera (14/9/97)
669. Thursday, 18th September: First Love (12/6/81-18/9/97)
670. Friday, 19th September: Jack's Metamorphoses, I – Prologue (19/9/97)
671. Friday, 19th September: Ovid: Metamorphoses I: Chaos (19/9/97)
672. Sunday, 28th September: Jack's Metamorphoses, I – True Thomas (28/9/97)
673. Monday, 29th September: Unsent Letter to a Celeb (29/9/97)
674. Monday, 3rd October: The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction (3/10-8/11/97)
675. Wednesday, 5th October: Sig.na Greta Eta Meets Sigmund Freud (5/10/97)
676. Wednesday, 15th October: After Rilke (15/10/97)
677. Wednesday, 15th October: Jack's Metamorphoses, III – Orpheus. Eurydike. Hermes (17/8-15/10/97)
678. Tuesday, 28th October: Jack's Metamorphoses, III – Ritual dance (28/10/97)
679. Thursday, 30th October: Jack's Metamorphoses, III – Pronunciation (30/10/97)
680. Thursday, 30th October: [Servants of the Wankh:] Klaus Kinski / Krazy Kat (30/10/97-24/1/03)
681. Monday, 10th November: Rough Day on the Gulf (10-19/11/97)
682. Monday, 10th November: A Dash of Bitters (10-19/11/97)
683. Monday, 10th November: Windy Day (10/11/97)

Evenings in the Blackout (1997-98)


684. Wednesday, 19th November: Influenza (19/11/97)
685. Thursday, 27th November: The Mooring of Starting Out (27/11-6/12/97)
686. Thursday, 27th November: Conversation Pieces, II – Erosion
687. Saturday, 6th December: Apollinaire: One night of spindrift fog ... (6/12/97-2/9/98)
688. Friday, 12th December: Borges: Labyrinths I – Theseus (12-15/12/97)
689. Friday, 12th December: Labyrinths II – Minotaur (12-18/12/97)
690. Friday, 12th December: Labyrinths III – Ariadne (12/12/97-19/2/98)
691. Monday, 22nd December: Antipodes I – Midsummer Xmas (22/12/97)
692. Friday, 26th December: Midnight Mass (26/12/97)
693. Tuesday, 30th December: Life Support (30/12/97-14/1/99)


1998

(Auckland):
694. Sunday, 3rd January: Antipodes II – Strange Meeting (3/1/98)
695. Tuesday, 5th January: Antipodes IV – Commuter (5/1/98)
696. Sunday, 10th January: Late-Nite Movie at Wairau Park (10/1-19/9/98)
697. Monday, 11th January: Antipodes III – Morning Swim (11/1/98)
698. Saturday, 16th January: The Romantic Poet’s Credo

(Christchurch):
699. Monday, 18th January: Akaroa
700. Tuesday, 19th January: Ashley Gorge (18-19/1/98)
701. Tuesday, 26th January: Travel Sonnets I – On the Road (26/1/98)
702. Wednesday, 27th January: Travel Sonnets II – Reading U. K. Le Guin (27/1/98)
703. Saturday, 30th January: Travel Sonnets III – In the Takaka Valley (30/1/98)
704. Tuesday, 2nd February: Travel Sonnets IV – Sumner (2/2/98)
705. Wednesday, 3rd February: Travel Sonnets V – Simple (3/2/98)
706. Friday, 5th February: Travel Sonnets VI – Bus [37.2% le matin] (5/2/98)
707. Monday, 8th February: Travel Sonnets VII – Rental (8/2/98)
708. Thursday, 11th February: Travel Sonnets VIII – Ghost (11/2/98)

Courting Chantal (1998)

(Auckland):
709. Saturday, 20th February: Bronze (20/2-2/12/98)
710. Saturday, 20th February: God’s Spy I – Cover (20/2/98)
711. Friday, 5th March: God’s Spy III – Stories (5/3/98)
712. Saturday, 6th March: God’s Spy II – Code (6/3/98)
713. Wednesday, 17th March: Except Once (17/3/98)
714. Sunday, 22nd March: Apollinaire & Supervielle: Sonnet (22/3/98)
715. Saturday, 28th March: Some More of Your Friends from Nevada (28/3/98)
716. Saturday, 28th March: Poetry Weekend I-III (28/3/98)
717. Saturday, 28th March: Language School Picnic (28/3/98)
718. Saturday, 28th March: Renga: Out of the Light
719. Sunday, 29th March: Situations iii: Poetry Festival (29/3/98)
720. March: Montale: Sunflowers (3/98-7/7/01)
721. Thursday, 1st April: Elegy: Miriel Kyle (1/4/98)
722. Tuesday, 21st April: Wharfbury Dogs (21/4/98)
723. Monday, 27th April: God’s Spy V – Signs (27/4/98)
724. Friday, 31st April: God’s Spy VI – The Opposition (31/4/98)
725. Friday, 1st May: God’s Spy VII – Inside (31/4/98)
726. Tuesday, 5th May: Meditation Exercise (5/5/98)
727. Wednesday, 6th May: La Fille que j’ai abandonnée (6/5-9/7/98)
728. Wednesday, 20th May: God’s Spy VIII – Blown (20/5/98)

(Millerton):
729. Friday, 3rd July: Aeroplane Poems I & II (3/7/98)
730. Saturday, 4th July: Body Fictions [iii]: The music of the rain (4/7-14/10/98)
731. Thursday, 9th July: Tips on Stress from Seddonville (9/7/98)
732. Thursday, 9th July: Kylesque [City Face] (9/7/98)
733. Thursday, 9th July: In the Ngakawau Gorge (9/7/98)
734. Tuesday, 7th July: A Clearer View of the Hinterland: (7-10/7/98)
735. Friday, 10th July: Leicester at Millerton (7-10/7/98)
736. Friday, 10th July: Aeroplane Poems III (10/7/98)
     (Auckland):
737. Saturday, 11th July: Conversation Pieces, I – A One-Way Trip to Palookaville
738. Monday, 13th July: The Consolations of Shonagh, 1 – Mute (13/7/98)
739. Monday, 13th July: Situations ii: Auckland nach dem Regen (13/7/98)
740. Friday, 17th July: Henry Fool (17/7-13/10/98)
741. Tuesday, 21st July: Situations i: Edge City (21/7/98)
742. Friday, 24th July: A Previously Uncollected Posthumous Work of Bukowski (24/7/98)
743. Friday, 31st July: Situations ii: Between “The Newton Boys” and “The Big Hit” (31/7/98)
744. Saturday, 22nd August: M.C. (22/8/98)
745. Saturday, 22nd August: NZ Writing: the NeXt Wave (22/8/98)
746. Tuesday, 1st September: Conversation Pieces, IV – Whitianga
747. Wednesday, 2nd September: Situations iv: Coromandel (2/9/98)
748. Wednesday, 9th September: Journey to the West, II & III (18/6-9/9/98)
749. Thursday, 10th September: Situations i: Between OR and Main Campus (10/9/98)
750. Friday, 11th September: Situations iii: Girls on Film (11/9/98)
751. Thursday, 17th September: The Consolations of Shonagh, 3 – The Mask of Zorro (17/9/98)
752. Sunday, 20th September: Journey to the West, I (18/6-20/9/98)
753. Monday, 28th September: Giordano Bruno: Phoenix, 2 (28/9/98-29/4/99)
754. Thursday, 31st December: [Nightingale Fever:] A million ways … (31/12/98)
755. Monday, 12th October: Body Fictions ii: Insight in ... (12/10/98-16/1/99)
756. Monday, 12th October: The Old School after Twenty Years (12/10/98)
757. Thursday, 15th October: The Consolations of Shonagh, 4 – Bound (15/10/98)
758. Thursday, 15th October: The Consolations of Shonagh, 5 – Aztec (15/10/98)
759. Friday, 16th October: The Consolations of Shonagh, 2 – Walk Back (16/10/98)
760. Friday, 23rd October: Necrophiliac Variations
761. Tuesday, 27th October: Evenings in the Blackout, 1 – Documentary (27/10-18/11/98)
762. Tuesday, 27th October: Evenings in the Blackout, 2 – Triptych (27/10-18/11/98)
763. Saturday, 7th November: The Road to Oratia (7/11/98-26/2/2000)
764. Tuesday, 10th November: Bookmarks (10-24/11/98)
765. Friday, 13th November: A Town Like Parataxis, 2 – Walking Home on a Clear Evening (13/11/98-1/4/2000)
766. Tuesday, 19th November: Evenings in the Blackout, 3 – Home Beach (17-19/11/98)
767. Friday, 4th December: E-Mailing Venus (4/12/98)
768. Friday, 4th December: [A Patina of the Antique:] Car Broken Down (4/12/98)
769. Friday, 4th December: [A Patina of the Antique:] The Information (30/4/99)
770. Sunday, 6th December: A Woman Named Intrepid (6/12/98)
771. Sunday, 6th December: On this day I complete my 36th year (6/11/98-21/3/2000)
772. Friday, 11th December: Shonagh at an Opening (11/12/98)
773. Friday, 11th December: Shonagh’s Housewarming (11/12/98)
774. Friday, 11th December: Christmas Cards – Tension Headache – The Madwoman in the Bus – Her Plastic Shopping Bags – Thoughts of Jackie-Anne (11/12/98)
775. Sunday, 20th December:There’s Something about Shonagh … (20/12/98)
776. Tuesday, 22nd December: The Longest Day (22/12/98)
777. Tuesday, 22nd December: Lock, Stock , and … (22/12/98)
778. Wednesday, 23rd December: All at Sea (23/12/98)
779. Monday, 28th December: Proverbial Philosophy (28/12/98)
780. Tuesday, 29th December: Boi-Boi on Karaoke (29/12/98)
781. Wednesday, 30th December: Like a Japanese Christmas Card (30/12/98)
782. Wednesday, 30th December: [Ancestral Voices:] the tarseal isn’t beautiful (30/12/98-14/3/01)
783. Thursday, 31st December: [Nightingale Fever:] A million ways … (31/12/98)
784. Thursday, 31st December: NZ Golf (and English) Academy (31/12/98)
785. Wednesday, 30th December: [Ancestral Voices:] Celebrating Fresh Ideas (30/12/98-14/3/01)

•

Appendix

Facts & Chronology (1984):

I began writing poetry seriously in 1978, in the 6th form, – my early efforts are contained in the small white book entitled ‘The Works of Jack Ross 1977-79’, vol. II (vol. I covers 1975-1978 & is of no interest, vol. III contains miscellaneous lyrics up to beginning the play in 1980).

‘The Wolves’ was begun at the end of 1978, & followed by ‘The Crusader’ & ‘The Philosopher’s Stone’, although it was not finally revised and completed until after ‘Seven songs of Death’, in 1979. At the end of that year I wrote ‘Son of the Morning’, and, in 1980, “Chüeh-Chü”. I then began on the play, (some of the lyrics for which had already been composed in the Christmas Holidays). This occupied me till 1981 – though, during its composition, I wrote ‘Antichrist’ & ‘Socrates, Johann Kepler & George Orwell’ – at the end of 1980.

The completion of the play in February 1981 was immediately followed by ‘Sundry Poems’ – which includes all of my poems until July 1981. Then came ‘Colloquial Incantations’, followed by ‘The Visions of the Shaman’, completed (& mainly written) the next year, 1982.

Chronology:

• mid-1978:– ‘Wolves’ begun.
• – ‘The Crusader’ (some time that year)
• early 1979:– ‘The Philosopher’s Stone’
• mid-1979:– ‘7 Songs of Death’
• late 1979 (?):– ‘Wolves’ completed (or abandoned).
• 1979-1980:– ‘Son of the Morning’
• early 1980:– ‘Chüeh-Chü’
• c.March 1980:– ‘Ashford’ begun
• late 1980:– ‘Antichrist’
• early 1981:– ‘Socrates, Johann Kepler & George Orwell’
• – ‘Epistle’
• end of Feb 1981:– ‘Ashford’ completed.
• March-July 1981:– ‘Sundry Poems’ (not fully rewritten
  till Christmas 1983)
• late 1981:– ‘Colloquial Incantations’
• early 1982:– ‘The Visions of the Shaman’
• late 1982:– ‘Burning a Play’ – poems written
  up to about August.

All was abandoned until March 1983, when I rewrote my remaining poems from 1982 (The ‘Jack Pepper Poems’ are still remaining , in 1984) for:

• – ‘Poems in traditional Metres’ – still ongoing.
• – ‘Regeneration & other poems’ – begun 30/10/83, finished 13/5/84.

Which is the situation, now, on 18/5/84.

•