Penguin Modern Poets 1 - Lawrence Durrell - Elizabeth Jennings - RS Thomas

Penguin Modern Poets 1 – Lawrence Durrell • Elizabeth Jennings • R. S. Thomas
Penguin Modern Poets (1969) • ISBN: none (because numbers are bourgeois)
Condition: Good – as defined by Crappy Old Books, where “Good” means “has definitely lived a little.”

This is Penguin Modern Poets 1, back when “modern” meant 1969, paperbacks were cheap, and poets still smoked metaphorically on the page even if they’d given up in real life. Three poets, one slim volume, and enough existential weather to last you the month.

Inside, you get:

• Lawrence Durrell, who refuses to use two words where twelve will do, and is constitutionally unable to describe anything without adding at least one extra layer of sensual atmosphere.

• Elizabeth Jennings, who quietly turns your emotional furniture around while you’re not looking, then lets you realise two pages later that something has shifted and you’re not sure why.

• R. S. Thomas, who specialises in bleakly luminous lines that make you suddenly aware you haven’t moved in ten minutes and are now thinking about God, farms, and the wind in a way you definitely hadn’t planned.

It’s basically a three-way poetry sampler: one intense, one precise, one flinty. Like a tasting menu for your feelings.

About this particular copy

This 1969 Penguin paperback comes to you in Good condition – not “mint, kept in a climate-controlled vault,” but “carried in bags, opened on buses, and left face-down during tea breaks” good.

In classic Crappy Old Books fashion, that means:

• The cover is intact, slightly softened at the edges, and still unmistakably Penguin.

• The spine may show light creasing – a sort of topographical record of every time someone thought, “Just one more poem before bed.”

• The pages are gently tanned to that nostalgic shade best described as “vintage seminar photocopy.”

• No ISBN is printed anywhere, because this book is clearly above such modern tracking devices and prefers to live off the grid like a poetic hermit.

No alarming stains, no missing pages, no creative “customisations” with highlighter. Just honest, well-aged paperback charm.

Why this book is accidentally perfect

This little anthology is ideal if:

• You want to look extremely clever on public transport without committing to a 600-page novel.

• You enjoy poetry that feels like it should be read either under a tree, in a cold kitchen, or in a rented room with dubious wallpaper.

• You like the idea of three poets politely taking turns in your head, each bringing their own weather front.

• You secretly prefer your cultural artefacts slightly scuffed, so you don’t feel unworthy of them.

It’s also perfect for the kind of person who reads one poem, stares into the middle distance for five minutes, then flips back and rereads the same poem “just to check”.

What you’re really getting

With this Good condition copy of Penguin Modern Poets 1, you’re not just buying:

• A 1969 paperback

• A curated trio of voices

• A small brick of portable seriousness

You’re also getting:

• The lingering aura of at least one earnest student who almost certainly used this for an essay on “modernity and spiritual disquiet.”

• A book light enough to carry but heavy enough, emotionally, to justify a sit-down.

• A time capsule from when “modern poets” wore tweed, contemplated eternity, and got paid in small cheques and mild recognition.

In summary

This copy of Penguin Modern Poets 1 – Durrell, Jennings, R. S. Thomas is:

• Old enough to have dignity

• Worn enough to be approachable

• And just mysterious enough (no ISBN, of course) to feel like you’ve discovered something the algorithm forgot.

Adopt it from Crappy Old Books and place it somewhere visible, so visitors can clock it and think:
“Ah. Someone here broods, but in a literate way.”

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