Deirdre of the Sorrows E-Book

Kenneth Steven

• Herausgeber: Polygon
• Kategorie: Poesie und Drama
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 26

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Beschreibung

The story of Deirdre of the Sorrows is widely known in Ireland, yet all but forgotten across the water in Scotland. This great tragic love story, which has its roots in the ninth or tenth century, is very much shared by both countries. For Deirdre, according to the legend, fled with her lover Naoise to Argyll. The oldest song in Scotland is believed to be Deirdre's haunting farewell to her adopted land as she returns once more to Ireland. In this new sequence, Deirdre of the Sorrows, Kenneth Steven beautifully reimagines the legend of this love story; he brings back to life Deirdre's journey and attempts to capture its timeless power.

Leseprobe

DEIRDRE OF THE SORROWS

PRAISE FOR KENNETH STEVEN

Glen Lyon (2013)

‘Robustly and sensitively explores the debilitating consequences of abuse, violence and the lack of love. It promises even greater things to follow’

SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY

‘This is no ordinary love story but a complex tale of two people feeling their way towards each other […] wonderful descriptions of a landscape and weather unique to Scotland’

SCOTTISH HOME AND COUNTRY

Evensong (2011)

‘This collection of poems by Kenneth Steven is stunning. There is a grave beauty in these lines, revealing a poetic voice of great sensitivity. These poems are, quite simply, wonderful’

ALEXANDER McCALL SMITH

‘For those of us who know Scotland, though not as natives, and for those of us who are forever attempting to know ourselves, Kenneth Steven is another inner voice, and never more so than in this collection of his work. Evensong is intimate and beautiful’

RONALD BLYTHE

The Ice and Other Stories (2010)‘Beautiful, enchanting, heartbreaking’

CHRIS DOLAN

‘The Ice is an atmospheric, wintry tale of fragile human relationships set in a beautiful but unforgiving landscape’

JAMES ROBERTSON

‘The Ice comes straight out of a tradition running through Neil Gunn and Robin Jenkins – precise, sweetly written, slow moving and with a melancholy air in an uncontrived style’

DES DILLON

‘A wonderful short-story writer – a very beautiful, enjoyable collection from a multi-talented writer’

OSPREY JOURNAL

This edition first published in paperback in Great Britain in 2017by Polygon, an imprint of Birlinn LtdWest Newington House10 Newington RoadEdinburgh EH9 1QS

www.polygonbooks.co.uk

ISBN: 978 1 84967 388 8eBook ISBN: 978 0 85790 948 0

Copyright © Kenneth Steven, 2017

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form, or by any means electronic, mechanical or photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the express written permission of the publisher.

The moral right of Kenneth Steven to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication DataA catalogue record for this book is available on request from the British Library.

Designed and typeset in Dante by Polygon, EdinburghPrinted and bound by TJ International, Padstow, Cornwall

For Kristina,with all my love

CONTENTS

Preface

Deirdre of the Sorrows

About the Author

A Note on the Type

PREFACE

When I first came to the idea of creating a sequence of poems telling the story behind A Song among the Stones (also published by Polygon), it felt something of a breakthrough. For years I had composed the kind of short lyric bursts that make up the vast majority of contemporary poetry collections. It felt exciting to tell a longer story in this new way, offering a miscellany of tiny windows of light into what might have been.

And so it felt right to use this form again when I began to think of a re-telling of the legend of Deirdre and Naoise (the Irish Gaelic pronounced Ny-sha