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BLIZZARDS OF THE INNER EYE
Poems by Ian Crockatt
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Ian Crockatt lives in North Aberdeenshire. He has published 3 collections of poetry to date - Flood Alert from Chapman in 1996, Original Myths from Cruachan Publications in 2000 and The Crucifixion Bird from Northwords Folios in 2002. Original Myths was nominated for the Saltire Society's Scottish Book of the Year Award in 2000.
He was a prize winner in the 1999 Peterloo Poets Open Poetry Competition, and in Pagan-Osborne's Poem for Scotland Competition in the same year.
‘His powers of transformation are such that some poems, notably his sonnets, begin and end in different orders of reality ... every poem in Flood Alert shows Ian Crockatt's delight in the craft of poetry.’ Lines Review
‘Crockatt has a dramatic instinct capable of compressing a 3 act play into just a few lines. Some of these poems are very special . . .’ Nothwords
‘I've read nothing like this [Original Myths] in Scottish poetry. Imagine Ted Hughes's Crow as Edwin Morgan might have written it.’ Fife Lines
‘When Crockatt's sharp eye stops to describe natural scenes and details, the poems turn into beautiful still life and impressionistic pictures . . . the spiritual testament of an author whose vision can encompass opposites and contradictions and remain consistent throughout.’ Scottish Literary Journal
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The Commission
“Shape me a suite of voluptuous chairs
framed with Beech and Walnut exceedingly
Richly Carved in the Antich manner and Gilt
in oiled Gold, the whole stuff'd and cover'd
with glibbest Crimson Damask. Let the Castors
on their gold-shagged feet be strong, fit
to carry a Tassled and Ermine-cloaked King
and sundry stiff-wigged Lordships should He
and They so deign. Be sure to make each
wide as the Royal Buttocks, and to spare, all
amply squabb'd and curlicu'd with Gesso and Gold-
leaf patterns - incorporating Pegasae with young
girls' curl-hung-heads - so Artfully and Costlily
arranged as to assure Ten Generations there are
none Lovelier or more Rare -”
And still we could not match, despite his Lavished
Millions, the living pinks and goldens
of his chambermaid's cheeks and hair.
NOTE: The original commission of 1794, and invoice dated 7th July 1765, of Lord Dundas’ order for 8 large Armchairs and 4 large Sophas designed by Robert Adam and made by Chippendale – total £510.4.0 – are still extant. Some of the Chairs and Sopha can be seen at Duff House, Banff. Others were recently sold, each of the chairs making in excess of 1 million pounds.
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BLIZZARDS OF THE INNER EYE
Price £7.95 per copy post free (£5.30 post free to Associate Members)
Cover illustration: Schmidt-Rottluff, Karl Way to Emmaus, woodcut (1918) Philadelphia Museum of Art: Gift of Dr. George J. Roth.
Publication: SPRING 2003 (79 pages laminated paperback)
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