These poems serve as an introduction to Nicholas Hagger's poetic works,
which include nearly 1,500 poems, more than 300 classical odes, two
poetic epics and five verse plays. They are grouped in two parts which
reflect the two aspects of the fundamental theme of world literature
outlined in his A New Philosophy of Literature: 'Quest for the One' and
'Follies and Vices'. They present a quest for Reality along with moments
of heightened consciousness in which the universe is seen as a unity,
and condemn social follies and over 220 vices in terms of an implied
virtue. This selection of poems combines image and statement in the
reconciling Universalist manner, and in different poems blends Romantic
search and organic form with classical social attitudes, verbal
precision and architectural structure. The poems cover five decades and
include extracts from 'The Silence', which describes Freeman's quest for
Reality in Modernist style, 'Archangel' (a reflection on Communism
following visits to China and the Soviet Union), poems written during a
Dark Night of the Soul, glimpses of illumination and poems of social
satire. There are also extracts from Hagger's verse plays. As can be
seen from his 'A Metaphysical in Marvell's Garden' Hagger derives his
inspiration from the 17th-century Metaphysical poets and seeks to unite
the later Augustan and Romantic traditions. This selection offers a
chance to reappraise a poet whose material, accomplished technique and
reconciling sensibility places him in the forefront of poets writing
today.
