Poems (Agatha Christie)
Encyclopedia
Poems is the second of two collections of poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...

 by crime writer Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...

, the first being The Road of Dreams
The Road of Dreams
The Road of Dreams is a book of poetry by crime writer Agatha Christie. It was published at her own expense by Geoffrey Bles in January 1925 priced at five shillings...

in January 1925. It was published in October 1973
1973 in literature
The year 1973 in literature involved several significant events and the writing of many notable books.-Events:*September 25 - The funeral of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda becomes a focus for protests against the new government of Augusto Pinochet...

 at the same time as the novel Postern of Fate
Postern of Fate
Postern of Fate is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie that was first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in October 1973 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year. The UK edition retailed at £2.00 and the US edition at $6.95.The book features her...

, the final work she ever wrote.

The book is divided into two volumes with the first part, which occupies over half of the book, being titled Volume I and is stated on the copyright page to be a reprint of the contents of The Road of Dreams (incorrectly dated to 1924) however there are several differences between the two publications. They are:
  • Pierrot Grown Old, which in 1925 appears as the very last poem in the overall book, appears in 1973 between the verses The Last Song of Columbine and Epilogue: Spoken by Punchinello within the overall sequence titled A Masque from Italy.
  • Islot of Brittany, which appears between the verses The Bells of Brittany and Dark Sheila in the sequence titled Ballads in 1973 does not appear in the 1925 volume.
  • Beatrice Passes, which in 1925 appears between the verses The Road of Dreams and Heritage in the Dreams and Fantasies sequence appears in the 1973 version in Volume II.
  • A Palm Tree in Egypt in the sequence Other Poems in 1925 is retitled A Palm Tree in the Desert in 1973.
  • In a Dispensary, one of the most quoted poems Christie wrote, which in 1925 appears between the verses Easter, 1918 and To a Beautiful Old Lady in the sequence Other Poems does not appear in the 1973 volume.


The remainder of the 1973 publication, titled Volume II was, like its predecessor, divided into four sections:
  • Things
  • Places
  • Love Poems and Others
  • Verses of Nowadays


One of the poems in the sequence Love Poems and Others is entitled To M.E.L.M. in Absence. The dedicatee of this poem is Christie's second husband Max Mallowan
Max Mallowan
Sir Max Edgar Lucien Mallowan, CBE was a prominent British archaeologist, specialising in ancient Middle Eastern history, and the second husband of Dame Agatha Christie.-Life and work:...

 or Max Edgar Lucien Mallowan to give him his full name. It is not known when the poem was written however the only prolonged absence the married coupled ever suffered was in the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 when Max was sent to Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

 with the British Council
British Council
The British Council is a United Kingdom-based organisation specialising in international educational and cultural opportunities. It is registered as a charity both in England and Wales, and in Scotland...

 in February 1942 and after several years and different postings in North Africa, did not return home until May 1945. Both Christie's autobiography and her official biography are silent on the subject of whether or not this poem dates from this period.

Remembrance, another poem in the same sequence, is a poem about the loss of a loved one and was reprinted in a small sixteen-page volume of the same name in 1988 by the Souvenir Press with illustrations by Richard Allen (ISBN 0-285-62876-3)
The following year, the Souvenir Press published another of the poems from the collection, My Flower Garden, again in a small sixteen-page volume with illustrations by Richard Allen (ISBN 0-285-62888-7)

Publication history

  • 1973, William Collins and Sons (London), October 1973, Hardcover, 124 pp ISBN 0-00-211681-2
  • 1973, Dodd, Mead and Company
    Dodd, Mead and Company
    Dodd, Mead and Company was one of the pioneer publishing houses of the United States, based in New York City. Under several names, the firm operated from 1839 until 1990. Its history properly began in 1870, with the retirement of its founder, Moses Woodruff Dodd. Control passed to his son Frank...

     (New York), Hardcover, 124 pp ISBN 0-39-606859-6
  • 1996, Bantam Books
    Bantam Books
    Bantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by Random House, the German media corporation subsidiary of Bertelsmann; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin, Jr., Sidney B. Kramer, and Ian and Betty Ballantine...

    , Hardcover, 182 pp, ISBN 0-55-335103-6
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK