Ten Poems about Rivers Various Authors

Rivers carve a passage through our landscapes with elemental force. At the same time, they can be and signify so many different things. In Ian Duhig’s fascinating selection we encounter the scope and drama of rivers, from the complexity of Eavan Boland’s Liffe to Kayo Chingonyi’s turbid Tyne which prompts lovers to reflect on what brought them together.

This rich and varied mini-anthology captures rivers in all their beauty and grandeur, taking us on a compelling journey from source to sea and encapsulating the shape-shifting nature of water on the move. As Philip Gross says:

“The Severn was brown and the Severn was blue –

not this-then-that, not either-or,

no mixture. Two things can be true.”

from ‘Severn Song’ by Philip Gross