Geoffrey Hill and the Ends of Poetry

The idea of the end is an essential motivic force in the poetry of Geoffrey Hill (1932-2016). This book shows that Hill's poems are characteristically 'end-directed'. They tend towards consummations of all kinds: from the marriages of meanings in puns, or of words in repeating figures and rhymes, to syntactical and formal finalities. The recognition of failure to reach such ends provides its own impetus to Hill's poetry.
This is the first book on Hill to take account of his last works. It is a significant contribution to the study of Hill's poems, offering a new thematic reading of his entire body of work. By using Hill's work as an example, the book also touches on questions of poetry's ultimate value: what are its ends and where does it wish to end up?

About the author

Tom Docherty is an independent researcher who received his PhD from Pembroke College, Cambridge in 2018

Product details

• Authors: Tom Docherty, Docherty Tom
• Publisher: Manchester University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 05.11.2024
• EAN: 9781526181893
• ISBN: 978-1-5261-8189-3
• No. of pages: 296
• Subjects: Fiction > Poetry, drama; Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative literary studies; LITERARY CRITICISM / Poetry, LITERARY CRITICISM / Modern / 20th Century, Literary studies: poetry & poets, Poetry by individual poets, Literature: history & criticism, Modern and contemporary poetry (c 1900 onwards), Literature: history and criticism, Literary studies: poetry and poets