In Parenthesis

Description

'This writing has to do with some things I saw, felt, and was part of': With quiet modesty, David Jones introduces one of the grandest imaginative efforts to grapple with World War I. Fusing poetry and prose, gutter-speech and high music, Jones creates a panoramic picture of a hellish world of interminable waiting and unforeseen death, while remaining alert to the humanity that lights up even the wasteland of war. In Parenthesis, his Anathemata is considered one of the major works of twentieth-century poetry.

David Jones (1895-1974) was born in Kent. In 1915, then an art student, he went to war with the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, where he fought in the battles of the Somme and Ypres. In 1922 he began a long association with the artist Eric Gill. In Parenthesis, based on Jones's experiences in World War I, was published in 1937, followed in 1952 by The Anathemata. David Jones's works are exhibited at the Tate Museum and the National Museum of Wales.