Thom Gunn’s Variants
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: The recent publication of the correspondence of the Anglo-American poet Thom Gunn revealed much about his particular curation of his work. This is a rich resource for consideration of the editing and publication of Gunn’s poetry from the 1950s to the new century. It encompasses everything from the nature of decisions made around inclusion and exclusion of poems in various collections and editions to the limits and judgements which he considered necessary to work within when revising his poetry towards publication. Gunn’s letters also record the variety of contexts in which he chose to publish his work, from the initial appearance of single poems in journals and magazines, through to individual collections, a Selected Poems 1950–1975, and then, late in his career, the decisions towards the Collected Poems issued by Faber in the UK in 1993. The Collected Poems was followed by only one further collection from Gunn, Boss Cupid of 2000. This article will focus upon the insights to be gained when reading Gunn through the isolation of one phase or moment of judgement in this revision process. He adopted a pattern of publication whereby the full poetry collections were often interspersed with interim pamphlets from small presses. These were pamphlets published in both the UK and America. The poems in the pamphlets were often grouped differently to the order subsequently adopted in the full collections, or were grouped alongside other poems which Gunn decided to exclude from his Faber and Farrar, Straus and Giroux editions. Under Gunn’s complex way of considering his work across time, those excluded poems might, however, be resurrected under the ‘Poems from…’ banners of the Collected Poems. In all, there are twenty-six of these interim pamphlets, showing that Gunn across his writing career demonstrated a considered and patient approach when moving his poetry towards its final form, but that he also was interested in seeing the poems in various arrangements along the way.1 By reviewing a broad selection of these pamphlets, this article will see Gunn taking editorial decisions from the level of word choice through to excision of lines and whole stanzas. We will also see something of the original contexts in which the now much-admired poems of Gunn’s mid- to late career appeared – contexts which, through his excision of poems from his full collections, largely disappeared. The published correspondence reflects the care with which Gunn approached each aspect of publication, and the time he was prepared to allow to pass between collections, time in which to reflect upon the form and nature of each new book. This sense of necessary hiatus seems especially to have been pressing towards the latter part of Gunn’s career. In a June 1987 letter to Douglas Chambers, for instance, Gunn announced his intention to complete the manuscript of The Man With Night Sweats by the end of that year; a subsequent letter to Chambers of September 1988 suggests that he must more or less have met his target.2 But it was four years before Gunn released the full collection in 1992 – ten years after the previous full book, The Passages of Joy. Gunn, in other words, was intensely aware of the pacing and crafting of his publications, and of the need to let them settle into their final form, even when he had completed, as it were, the poems which were to constitute a book. For reasons of space, I will focus here on the rich range of ur-texts behind two notable collections, primarily on Jack Straw’s Castle (1976) and, as a way of comparing Gunn’s practice in this area through time, more briefly on The Man With Night Sweats. Jack Straw’s Castle is pivotal in Gunn’s career, since it marks the moment when he first gave full scope to a more open formal style, breaking decisively with the tight stanza shapes and rhyme-schemes which had characterised his poetry to this point. In The Man With Night Sweats, we can see that the slow incubation of the final version allowed for a particularly telling set of editorial choices in terms of the nature of the collection and the grouping of the poems, choices which emerge from what initially seemed to be a book of a very different style and tenor. In this process towards the production of each new iteration of his work, whether it be a single collection or the Collected Poems, exclusion or suppression of various kinds play an important role with Gunn. This excision or suppression notably suggest that Gunn thought intently about the ordering and shape of his book collections, a feature that, as we shall see, is strongly evident in the way he reconsiders his pamphlets’ ordering of poems when gathering them into the books. One instance of this emphasis upon the order and shape of the full collections is illustrated by Gunn’s treatment of his 1967 collection Touch. In the Collected Poems, Touch does not appear as a sub-section as the other books do. Its extensive sequence Misanthropos is separated off and given a date of 1965 (the date of its appearance in Encounter magazine and first radio broadcast – not that of Touch). Five poems from the original collection do not appear in Collected Poems, and those that do are grouped under the heading ‘Poems from the 1960s’. Gunn’s decision, presumably governed by a mixture of quality-control around single poems, and a sense of growing distaste for the patterning of the original full collection, leads here to an active forgetting within his publication history, or a willed rewriting of his readers’ sense of that history. In fact, the Collected Poems only removes a small proportion of the original book through its practice of redistribution. It is as though for Gunn it is the ordering and context of the book, and perhaps the original lodging of Misanthropos in the middle of the book rather considering it a work for that – not the of the of the poems Gunn’s for the suppression and of Touch but be by his treatment of of these This process of the order and context for the poems in the full books by poems from the interim pamphlets be one of Gunn’s practice in this for instance, the there with poems in the The and Gunn not four of the poems which It is as in other words, the appearance of the work in of formal and – even as a – allowed Gunn to the poems when he to the It is now across the and Gunn’s published and to the limits and which he towards this often process of choice and the part of the career, when by the of his Gunn a of and in to in 1965 about the poems of for instance, Gunn their but thought that is a of and in his often a of his of Gunn a of a particular of is for in as but less for those is presumably the of those between and which into a the perhaps of by is not in and it is that of which Gunn in The approach of this seems to into Gunn’s work through to the late In a letter of June Gunn for the he had made about the ordering of the poems in what The Man With Night Sweats. Gunn had a in which the poems were grouped to their and formal have of one of that the poems to But Gunn’s of this is by a as by which does not even those to be made by within poems be in other words, of that in his poems in an by Gunn as he since the individual poems have necessary or order to is an of and within a and and an of into a form is to to that These and their for the of poems are by Gunn in a letter of which he to an poet he Gunn is in his but to the that had in a letter to Gunn to which this is a a rewriting of one of Gunn’s poems, in had something to a of The as in Jack Straw’s Castle is in and with version was an to the presumably the to of the with which Gunn the sense of the way the seems in to have to Gunn’s lines he that Gunn’s form to or and in order to his and for the of and of or for his of Gunn the new version as for I one can do a late a of – one can of one can as a stanza or the or one can the whole but I it is late to the which to be decided upon very we shall see, Gunn was more to a between its various to a But the and within the that he here are on the that is the of a to a different presumably different formal but it be a different with different and The is the first the lines are into that that be to or from – but their is It is as that the choice between and was for Gunn a sense that there be here for Gunn that need for within the which he Gunn is not in poems or to the and between or to between one and a subsequent one – in the letter he the of between I and and the way that and between and for the But this does not that the of each is the of the is with This is presumably to the of the as a which across The of between and a between and and which as a for The and the two of and and much the is and by the of the or its in the final when on The of for Gunn, and by Gunn in the of his correspondence with about as to and form, is of Gunn’s on are to sense of more often not in his work, as in the instance of through more formal shapes poetry as is with the or of to be however, and his in is the of not towards what Gunn considered a within the of the from in the to his selection from work, for instance, Gunn as of the and in style, and the choice of – but to the the of the a of the in Gunn’s the work for this aspect of of two that through constitute a Gunn was presumably aware of the revision and of much by which this and the between the of a and its a of the to its to as poems in this as with his on Gunn of the and of work, he also of the this into and of the of that often work in the area of the and of the poems around this as we shall see with Gunn’s practice of revision and editing between his various in and book form, and are often the He an of excision not to But Gunn’s also work to and aspect of a more – the which Gunn in to poetry as need to from into a about it as not to be by It is around this of patterning and formal choice that Gunn’s practice of excision as a to the of his poetry to a to and with a more ordering and approach to through poetry his judgement when editing his work. But it also of the and evident in the from publication to full collection of his in his career, Gunn to this through emphasis upon the and of the what he a in Gunn but poetry and and as and into the is that of between and the In this the as we shall see, towards the sequence of Jack Straw’s which more in the in the final collection, that from to the of the end of his career, and around the time he had The Man With Night Sweats, Gunn the of from as a of between and in his upon the work of his Gunn a and for what he was the nature of the the poet of his but under are part of a – the the and the each a within which from will for a within the is the This upon the and be into a way to about what Gunn to as he and his work. The more he and from that initially more version of a the more he that judgement and which a from its various of or in This a by which we Gunn in his correspondence his work. For instance, in a letter to Chambers of we see Gunn upon the from Jack Straw’s I have under the let for his he that the was about to this between version and collection we will he to Chambers that the with be that the is rather Gunn had met and as were of the in the The of the between the in the and the or between the and the or the of the for Gunn. various and editorial particularly to that Gunn Chambers in this letter that, he with that is a approach for a given the of But Gunn to a on these and to through revision of into a from the This is evident we the between the which towards the of the of Jack Straw’s with by and with by both appeared in from and The notably within individual poems, and in the nature of the poems that from the editorial and decisions in Gunn’s and In the version of in for we see that Gunn of the work before it a in its in the of Jack Straw’s The two in of that final which are into Collected Poems, had been by two in the form in the original In Jack Straw’s the two an of a through whereby the is within the which is is something here of the of the in through a the on with which is after Night in Jack Straw’s the of the is – the are as those in which are to through of in the of the final then, the seems to have as the that the through these the whole on a and the presumably in the of the By the end of the Jack Straw’s Castle version of Night the given to the to as a in the The two of the as it appeared in however, had given this towards a different on this version the of isolation in a much more and and in a of is also a to the an which a that only briefly in the full book. The in also in the Gunn had been for a and as the of the are by the – more – from the of this more and the of the in the stanza is made aware of a different to that in the Jack Straw’s Castle to the of which are from the in the final The seems by this new that the and the were he to in his or even to By the end of this original then, the is about the in which of in the This is in terms which around The final two that after Gunn’s from the version in the full collection, emerge as a of as The however, the final version to a more of the of which more and Gunn, for The of the of his first collection and for seeing poems as in a and as we shall see, the which have the more two of Night in final The between and final version that from to which Gunn had as the of his and for the in Gunn’s of this towards Jack Straw’s initial a which this in that will in the and of of Gunn’s work. The of in into and in that are as the which the of Jack Straw’s But had four other poems between into and – and The first is a about the of as a of in is more the of as a but that which is an aspect of Gunn’s of the as in in a to the of which does in Jack Straw’s Castle – that sense of the of (the in which was to in Gunn’s consideration of in The Man With Night Sweats. something of the of the into and are more this This is both for what suggest Gunn’s original intention towards a collection in the and for the of towards in his The perhaps two as a of in and as a in in the The an of the sense of moving from role to role which Gunn will perhaps in from The Passages of to a is by the and are in with in Gunn’s as on from or the in from But we also see Gunn’s in these two poems in that the in his work, as the in and from The Passages of and the from The Man With Night Sweats of the and These are poems of the often on in the of but more in Gunn’s the around The of the poems is the of these is also for the more open that Gunn was to in of the full collection, Jack Straw’s it a tight and the to allow to new only by the of the of of the This of full to the of the on the be adopted in the full collection, from through and the of the Straw’s and through to the final poems, and which In the original in other words, we can see Gunn to from the more and poetry which had characterised his career to with the from through to this is by the of a a sense of which Gunn but which emerge more in his collections from the The of in the original and will in of these for instance to from Boss The the towards a that is also and the kinds of formal in with the towards a more have across Gunn’s work, but are not to this point. In a letter to of in which he had of or to and Gunn what he was as and The excision of of from Gunn’s more is also the suppression of those of the new that his poetry work through from the whereby more formal shapes with what more illustrated by which in but from not poems in this does it in the poems from those much of of Jack Straw’s But the a full which was to be and which seems in the that Gunn’s poetry was to is the and the behind It seems an and for a poet Gunn, was as we have with of But it is a which he with across before an version in the sequence of Jack Straw’s Castle – in is about as as the version of it that as of Straw’s The in its phase on a sense of and – but through an is that of or here which Gunn had been as as from The of and which in the in the part of Jack Straw’s But these do not form a from the Gunn’s writing of of here as in the full sequence – I have the them – The that in a is also the in of Gunn’s the with but as though the of everything and it the as in it is what the are or rather moving towards or to in the of the to that process the behind the the more to the as to after a further we to something – which towards the end of as we shall see – the into the lines which, with only one appear as the complete of Straw’s is the final I see only this the version a further telling I see only a this This perhaps from a as we in both that he is in a in the version of the is much more also his The final version of the sequence in this as rather in in its to the initial and with The of the first of the by Gunn as he it into the Straw’s then, it and it of that original sense of and By as does with the it not be a the is of that sense of whereby had initially with in the Straw’s in other words, this extensive from its also something of that sense of as other which had This is the in a which will in the in that mixture of and the which the final of Jack Straw’s Castle the final in The poems, as a and of the middle of Jack Straw’s Poems in the and that as the and had the of the in The to with in and suggest that this of from into The original version of before it was largely of these in the but it is of the Gunn was around these both the time and across his career, one which on of Gunn, in fact, not even after Jack Straw’s Castle had been In he the sequence in a further as a of poems, each on a new But of that we are into in the final we in the Straw’s of of a which It is as though in this of Gunn is to from which the been with the poems in then, we can see Gunn’s editing of his poems, and particularly his from to full book, as a from an or that in order to the of the more It is this more and which to by as or by judgements within the It is then, to see Gunn, in moving between publication and full collections, a pattern whereby the final of poems are from context with his sense of of the poems be is This is a pattern in the final publication towards Jack Straw’s this pivotal collection in Gunn’s career. In the from much of what in the first of the full book however, as it in the not in the final in two rather the the a more sense of what this be to in the final version he is to be of of what is in the one he is The initial version to the as a but the final version is much more in this Gunn’s about the is perhaps late in from Boss the that the of are the a to as by what had The the version of is perhaps to for the what the the behind his and what it This to in the version also in the of the sense that the is to and his This first version also to he as the – the and his the in the to a This in the final The the from part of the to his and does not the of the in to the We can see Gunn as he between the of his to that he about to Chambers – the or of the into the he removes the the of the and also the sense that the must be as something he also as it were the sense of and from the of the The as of a by those of that had initially the Gunn’s revision here to an that or the need for between the of a can a for the to various of a and to to is a behind the other between the version of the poetry in the and that in Jack Straw’s The sequence a whole by the final original in the had appeared in the between the final and from the this was upon its of the and this from the is by a and as the to the from a into But this of the here is we that sequence is in about – this is a in other The is on the of or this and the and the final version of sequence suggests the of to and to the in other words, this version is much more a which other of the The of the with the the in the of and and – that word The a this time for and of – of this The of this from Jack Straw’s Castle in the final version the but also of the in its the sense of both and of the a as the sequence in the original this is on its an into full of the which when the the of the Gunn’s editorial to the final sequence from the and time of its the date of in the a perhaps the of a version of as But the excision of a whole here the sense of a poetry which from and to excision and of his work notable of Gunn’s practice These also with of patterning and formal alongside those around In the pamphlets towards Gunn’s collections, and The Man With Night Sweats in Gunn’s editorial decisions are those in and around Jack Straw’s The and towards the final book The only notable feature around these two pamphlets, was the to the first from his collection, and its from The of to see the of the This the poems of and in that with a sense of but also a late sense of after a of The in moving from these pamphlets to the collection in 1992 seems to have been about which poems to for inclusion – but those poems in the pamphlets which not as and from The or from are under the ‘Poems from the of Collected Poems. there is of a towards The Man With Night Sweats, it the initial moment of the of from which more of poems do not or the poems the and in their final form, about the of a in and to the to the through an of and which into the or of and about the poet as a to the nature of pattern and to be in the of is are the of a sequence which the of a in a by and the of Gunn a way towards full publication. The the sequence for broadcast on the it to as of and Chambers the of the in a Gunn had since The a the was Gunn also to the sequence in is in its of and for and the around is the of the he of as a as a a the of the through the and the into The as the that the he to and he of his The through his the sequence is to a then, Gunn’s with it for years is The are of the with and in poems for or or the sense of of from The Man With Night Sweats. the in of a and the and of with the of the In terms of of something of the book. the sequence seems in its the poems of it also as work those more and and of which were to emerge in the Thom Gunn’s was to of his poems in pamphlets as he towards the full This was a which from the late with and through to the end of his In the process he different of the work, considered and but also a practice of excision whereby lines or even whole of poems in the pamphlets were as with or the poems of we can see in poems that form of full collections often years after the in interim work. The published this consideration and editorial practice on of this is about that from the of Gunn to the from the to the which the of the which the of and in the part of the to Gunn in the of these in a from the sequence of the The process of of what his and of its to its is evident in Gunn’s from the and of his poems to their final The complex choices made between more and more open was part of this but Gunn’s to his poetry be and his care towards of and within and between poems which the of his work.
Source: The Cambridge Quarterly
Author: Steven Matthews
Language: English
Subfield: Literature and Literary Theory
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
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OpenAlex ID: W4408224534