First Nights

Poems

Niall Campbell

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9780691172958, 9780691172941
• eBook ISBN: 9781400883370
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: European Poetry
• Index: Literature

The North American debut of an exciting new voice in British poetry

The Scottish poet Niall Campbell's first book, Moontide, won the Edwin Morgan Poetry Prize, the largest such prize in the United Kingdom, was named the Saltire Scottish First Book of the Year, and was shortlisted for both the Fenton Aldeburgh and Forward prizes for best first collection. First Nights—which includes all the poems in Moontide and sixteen new ones—marks the North American debut of an exciting new voice in British poetry.

First Nights offers vivid descriptions of the natural world, and the joy found in moments of quiet, alongside intimate depictions of new parenthood. Campbell grew up on the remote, sparsely populated islands of South Uist and Eriskay in Scotland's Outer Hebrides, and First Nights is filled with images of the islands' seascapes, myths, wildlife, and long, dark winters. But the poems widen beyond their immediate locations to include thoughts on sculpture and mythology, Zola and Dostoevsky, and life in English cities and French villages. In the poems on early fatherhood, the geography shifts from coastal stretches to bare, dimly lit rooms. Stripped back, honest, and immediate, these poems capture moments of vulnerability, when the only answer is to love.

Combining skilled storytelling, precise language, an allegiance to meter and form, and a quiet musicality, these poems resonate with silence and song, mystery and wonder, exploring ideas of companionship and withdrawal, love, and the stillness of solitude. The result is a collection that promises to be a classic.

Contents

Acknowledgments xi

Song 1

The Work 2

On Eriskay 3

After the Creel Fleet 4

The Tear in the Sack 5

Rodin Sculpts The Kiss 6

Black Water 7

The Cut 8

The Winter Home 9

“The Letter Always Arrives at Its Destination” 10

Midnight 12

The Blackbird Singer 13

The Fraud 14

Harvest 15

Grez, Near Dusk 16

The Water Carrier 17

One Day, Too Hot, I Swam to the Middle of the Stream 18

Lyrebird 19

First Nights 20

Exchange Street 21

An Eel, A Singing Bird, A Silver Coin 22

A Little Night Music 23

The Well Found Dry 24

Return, Isle of Eriskay 25

When the Whales Beached 26

Later Tasting 27

Crossing 28

For the Cold 29

Fleece 30

Dream 31

Le Penseur 32

February Morning 33

Sea Coins, Scottish Beach 34

Advice on Love, Over Whisky 35

A Danse Macabre 36

Leave, Eriskay 38

Grez 39

A Porch-Step Glossary for Smokers 40

Foxes 41

Epitaph 42

Forge 43

And This Was How It Started 44

An Island Vigil 45

Walking Song 46

An Introduction to the Gods of Scotland 47

Window, Honley 48

I Started 49

Cyprus Avenue 50

The House by the Sea, Eriskay 51

The Songs of Kirilov 52

Horseshoe Crab 53

Reading Emile Zola, Grez 54

Carpenter’s Studio off Exchange Street 55

Concerning Song/Silence 56

Leave Poetry 57

Addendum 58

Island Cottage, November 59

Proof 60

Smultronstället, Glendale 61

A Sealskin Tale 62

Kid 63

Juggler 64

Winter with Soren 65

North Atlantic Drift 66

From a Letter to the Butter-Makers 67

Aesthetics, on a Side Street off Glasgow Green 68

Measuring Heat Loss in the Arctic 70

A Song fo...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication Page
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Song
• The Work
• On Eriskay
• After the Creel Fleet
• The Tear in the Sack
• Rodin Sculpts The Kiss
• Black Water
• The Cut
• The Winter Home
• “The Letter Always Arrives at Its Destination”
• Midnight
• The Blackbird Singer
• The Fraud
• Harvest
• Grez, Near Dusk
• The Water Carrier
• One Day, Too Hot, I Swam to the Middle of the Stream
• Lyrebird
• First Nights
• Exchange Street
• An Eel, A Singing Bird, A Silver Coin
• A Little Night Music
• The Well Found Dry
• Return, Isle of Eriskay
• When the Whales Beached
• Later Tasting
• Crossing
• For the Cold
• Fleece
• Dream
• Le Penseur
• February Morning
• Sea Coins, Scottish Beach
• Advice on Love, Over Whisky
• A Danse Macabre
• Leave, Eriskay
• Grez
• A Porch-Step Glossary for Smokers
• Foxes
• Epitaph
• Forge
• And This Was How It Started
• An Island Vigil
• Walking Song
• An Introduction to the Gods of Scotland
• Window, Honley
• I Started
• Cyprus Avenue
• The House by the Sea, Eriskay
• The Songs of Kirilov
• Horseshoe Crab
• Reading Emile Zola, Grez
• Carpenter’s Studio off Exchange Street
• Concerning Song/Silence
• Leave Poetry
• Addendum
• Island Cottage, November
• Proof
• Smultronstället, Glendale
• A Sealskin Tale
• Kid
• Juggler
• Winter with Soren
• North Atlantic Drift
• From a Letter to the Butter-Makers
• Aesthetics, on a Side Street off Glasgow Green
• Measuring Heat Loss in the Arctic
• A Song for Rarity