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Collected Poems, [55] 19

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The Capon Tree

Angela Lemaire

We’re feeling fully immersed in autumn now, thanks to the grey skies, the slight chill in the air, and the arrival of the new season’s issue of Slightly Foxed, no. 55. In it, Adam Foulds describes his lasting love for Geoffrey Hill’s poetry and his evocation of the English landscape, illustrated with this wood engraving of The Capon Tree by Angela Lemaire.

Seeing Differently

Adam Foulds on the Collected Poems of Geoffrey Hill

On the cover was Gauguin’s rendition of Jacob wrestling with the angel from his Vision after the Sermon. On the back, Hill himself scowled out from under a supremely confident comb-over in an author photograph with no hint of warmth or welcome. Licence was granted for this attitude by the words of praise around it, the first of which, from Michael Longley, declared, ‘He is a profound genius, the best poet writing in English.’ Other encomia came from the likes of George Steiner and Christopher Ricks. This was ideal.

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