Poems

Select a format:

Pre-order:

Summary

The poems published in Joyce's own lifetime collected in a new edition, with an introduction and notes by scholar Clare Hutton

'His writing is not about something; it is that something itself' Samuel Beckett

James Joyce's towering genius as a novelist has often overshadowed his achievements as a poet, yet his verse occupies a pivotal position in his career. This new edition comprises all the poetry that was published in Joyce's lifetime, including his extraordinary 1907 debut 'Chamber Music', which fused exuberant lyricism with sharp irony, and the later collection 'Pomes Penyeach', which confronted adultery, jealousy and betrayal. Also included here is 'Ecce Puer', written for his new-born grandson, as well as juvenilia, satires, translations, limericks and a parody of Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

About the author

James Joyce

James Joyce was born in Dublin on 2 February 1882, the eldest of ten children in a family which, after brief prosperity, collapsed into poverty. He was none the less educated at the best Jesuit schools and then at University College, Dublin, and displayed considerable academic and literary ability. Although he spent most of his adult life outside Ireland, Joyce's psychological and fictional universe is firmly rooted in his native Dublin, the city which provides the settings and much of the subject matter for all his fiction. He is best known for his landmark novel Ulysses (1922) and its controversial successor Finnegans Wake (1939), as well as the short story collection Dubliners (1914) and the semi-autobiographical novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916). James Joyce died in Zürich, on 13 January 1941.

Learn More