First lines - Jon Stallworthy

An anthology of poems written in childhood and adolescence with contributions from 58 poets.;The collection, with notes on each poet, attempts to give an insight into the emergent creativity of some of the greatest English language poets. Although this selection contains few poems which are the first lines these poets ever wrote, viewed together, these works do reveal some interesting common characteristics.;Many show a knowledge of other poetry and the author sees influence as a vital stage in a poet's or artist's development. Pope at 12 takes his theme from Horace's "Epode II", Wordsworth at 16 borrows from Milton, Keats at 18 proclaims a debt to Spenser and Heaney at 19 is under the influence of Hopkins. At the age of 11, Dylan Thomas wrote accomplished comic verse and Christopher Smart was already rhyming at the age of 4.;Originally published by Carcanet Press Ltd., 1987. Jon Stallworthy is a poet and editor of "The Oxford book of war poetry" and written a biography of Wilfred Owen to be reissued in the "Oxford lives" series.