Witch author Damian Walford Davies By Damian Walford Davies

Witch book covers

To the witch hunter Francis Hurst and the witch herself authentically conjure a war torn society in which religious paranoia amplifies local grievances to fever pitch Witch author Damian Walford DaviesThis made me remember how much I enjoy reading poetry English I m not yet sure what I think of this book It s a set of 7 poems of 7 sections or 7 couplets each It explores a village as it going through the process of hanging a woman for being a witch The blurb claims that the poem addresses our world as much as 1640s England except that I know history doesn t back up the furor described although of the witches killed in the UK were hung not burnt which was authentic However.

Witchness bases

Damian Walford Davies is a poet writer and librettist He is the author of three Seren collections Suit of Lights 2009 Witch 2012 and Judas 2015 together with the pamphlet Alabaster Girls Rack Press 2015 and the co written volume Whiteout Parthian 2006 He is Head of the School of English Communication Philosophy at Cardiff University where he specialises in Romanticism the two literatures of Wales and Creative Writing. Whitchurch bowls league With the narrative pull of a novel and the vibrancy of a play this collection offers a thrilling portrait of a Suffolk village in the throes of the witchcraft hunts of the mid 17th century The poems in this collection are dark spells compact and moving delivered by those most closely involved in the making of a witch The speakers from priest Thomas Love and the villagers who slowly succumb to suspicion and counter accusation taking it as a fictional acount of a mythisised era it is compelling It s short sections a definitely capture the different characters in the village and their different roles One friend who read it before me noted it was very male centric I agree with her on that very few female voices are felt and none not even the witch get a whole section of poems to themselves Yet I kept being jarred by the economic expressions of power The men with the money were the ones given the most room to speak When the lower class villagers did speak their expressions felt dumbed down and some even idiotic I think these were an expression of the supposed frenzy but it came across as the rich manipulating the poor for their own benefit I know I need to do a lot thinking and analysis of this story I didn t intend to get wrapped up in wanting to analyse it I also apologise for the ramble It is late and I have just poured out my thoughts without much structure However I do think this is a story poem worth reading It does capture the imagination its structure is striking and the enjambment is powerful English .