Into a Room presents an edited selection of William Soutar's poems for a wider readership. Each Scots poem is annotated and the editors, Carl MacDougall and Douglas Gifford have written a full introduction. They argue that Soutar's work is truly eclectic and traditionally inspired from Dunbar, Henryson, the Makars and the Ballads.
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The introduction is rich in biographical material. -- Scots Magainze, April 2001
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William Soutar (1898-1943) is one of Scotland's greatest poets.
During his short life, the last fourteen of which he spent bedridden in a room of his parents' house in Perth, he produced Bairnsangs, Whigmaleeries, Epigrams and Riddles and a variety of philosophical poetry in English. His lyrics in Scots rival MacDiarmid's and his work is widely considered to be the product of a mind operating at the level of genius.
Yet his work has been inadequately presented or unavailable and the range and scope of Soutar's work has been virtually unrecognised.
At the same time, he occupies a surprisingly affectionate place with contemporary Scots poets, and few writers have had so many lyrics converted into song.
During his short life, the last fourteen of which he spent bedridden in a room of his parents' house in Perth, he produced Bairnsangs, Whigmaleeries, Epigrams and Riddles and a variety of philosophical poetry in English. His lyrics in Scots rival MacDiarmid's and his work is widely considered to be the product of a mind operating at the level of genius.
Yet his work has been inadequately presented or unavailable and the range and scope of Soutar's work has been virtually unrecognised.
At the same time, he occupies a surprisingly affectionate place with contemporary Scots poets, and few writers have had so many lyrics converted into song.
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2 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By ARD13
Format:Paperback
William Soutar is one of the most unjustly neglected poets of the twentieth century. I may be biased, coming from just along the road from the house where he was born and died, but I consider him one of Scotland's greatest lyric poets.
The best thing about this collection is that it brings a range of Soutar's writing back into print. There are a few contendors for the worst thing about it. One is the arrangement; there is no indication of how the poems interrelate, by style, period or anything else. Another is the introduction, which is clearly addressed to those who are already familiar not only with Soutar's work but with the scholarship around it; it is clearly intended as a corrective to Hugh McDiarmid's introduction to the Collected Poems. Also there are numerous incomprehensible omissions.
But to the poems. Soutar was a master of his Lowland Scots dialect, brilliantly evoking love, sorrow, natural beauty - the usual - and, less predictably, comedy. His verse in standard English is not on the same level. Some of his songs have been set to music and others are crying out to be. Try his children's pieces (bairnsangs and whigmaleeries) as well.
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