Mary Wilson: Selected Poems

This book is, as it says on the tin, a collection of poems by one Mary Wilson, best known for being the spouse of one of my great country's past prime ministers. They aren't very good poems, I hate to say, in my opinion. They come across as heartfelt but immature; with an attempted grasp at profundity but almost completely lacking the linguistic toolkit to craft anything of much artistic worth.

   Certain poems, like her closer The Lunarnaut and the penultimate When in the night remorse returns did though strike a chord with my reading; and while her leftist-leaning views are far too politely and patronizingly masked in my opinion (as per The Durham Miners' Gala and its contrast to the little-Englandness of Oxford and Cambridgeshire, both of which are given a far more in-depth poetic scouring examination than the celebrancy of working class norms), there's a strong Christian ethic and metaphysical undercurrent to several which meant the pair If I could end my life on such a day and You have turned your back on Eden both hit home hard; but it feels she is emulating Dickinson or Whitman (see also The Lifeboat and St Mary's Church) too hard rather than striking out at any means of finding her own voice. I guess it's hard to do that too individualistically when you're married to someone who gets elected to lead the United Kingdom twice. After the Bomb makes some interesting thought-trains about nuclear warfare and its ongoing standoff - while the poem about a smelly homeless person I probably enjoyed the most for its authenticity. While not wanting to end on a scathing note for a post that's maybe been more critical than I usually am with poetry - I reiterate I don't think this is a fantastic volume, but it has some nice, decent poems in it, and the best one is its opener which I will transcribe here verbatim:

If I can write, before I die

One line of purest poetry;

Or crystallize, for all to share

A thought unique, a moment rare

Within one sentence, clear and plain

Then I shall not have lived in vain.

   Beautiful, no?

   Worthy of other current poetic leaders. And a full vindication of Mrs Wilson as poet, in my eyes - see the post on Rupi Kaur's milk and honey for more in-depth considerations regarding what makes poets good or poets at all. If you're a poetry fan with centrist sort of political leanings, and are interested in what makes for being a good power couple; this is the sort of collection I'd recommend you pick up if you run across it in a charity shop.