Wowsers

In Paul Groves’s fourth book, which consolidates his reputation as one of the most able and consistent poets of his generation, we encounter such unlikely stablemates as Rudolf Hess, Virginia Woolf, Dylan Thomas, and Otto von Bismarck. It ends with ‘The Orthodox Chapel of St. Dyfrig’, an anagrammatical tour de force. While his characteristic wit enlivens ‘So Now You Know’ and ‘In the Kabul McDonald’s’, elsewhere darker forces congregate. ‘Three Devils’, for example, conflates the ordinary and extraordinary with chilling brio. An unsettling perspicuity is apparent throughout these pages, as is an equal facility with vers libre and formal structures. Wowsers is a wonderfully accessible and entertaining collection.