All of It: New and Collected Poems 1967-2010

Drawing on eight previous collections, "All of It" is the work of a major contemporary English poet. Dick Davis' poetry is accessible, enjoyable, graceful and above all intelligent, while completely lacking in obscurity. He addresses themes such as travel, the experience of being a stranger, the clash of cultures, the vagaries of love, the pleasures and epiphanies of meaning that art allows us. Much of his more recent work revolves around the idea of happiness - is it possible, must it be illusory, is its fleetingness an essential part of its nature, so that disillusion is inevitable? His poetry has been applauded by Thom Gunn, Richard Wilbur and Anthony Hecht among others. Its wit, intelligence and grace often (and startlingly) achieves an immediacy and rawness of vision.