Biography

R. F. Langley (1938-2011), was not a prolific poet, but his work was noticed as long ago as 1979 by Jeff Nuttall, in his column in the Guardian, for its “sense of rhythm, sound and …a concentrated spirit of immense impact”. His Collected Poems was shortlisted for the 2000 Whitbread Prize for Poetry, and, since then, there have been some pamphlets from small presses, and quite frequent poems in periodicals, particularly in P.N. Review, where extracts from his journals also appear regularly. He kept a journal for more than forty years, and there is often interaction between this and the poetry.

The poems focus on particulars of places and creatures. If they are mysterious they are also as true to immediate fact as the poet can make them, and if they are odd it is often because particular experiences are so. They are occupied with sound, including internal rhyme, and would be disappointed with themselves if they did not tackle complex ideas, philosophical, psychological and aesthetic. They are always driven by etymological investigation, and often directly interested in why, on each occasion, this is necessary. It is poetry about observation, about how the detail of the world is being registered. The poems themselves are part of the data, and reward analysis. It has been said that they are informed by late modernist experimentation but have also a particularly English nostalgia and sense of loss. Charles Olson, Objectivism, Pound, Stevens, Hopkins, Wordsworth and much Shakespeare. He writes: “A Midsummer Night’s Dream might still be the answer to everything.”

Langley reads in a soft, welcoming voice, and prefers not to introduce the poems. We are invited to think of the role of the spectator, who sits down opposite Louise and whose “tongue / proves chocolate dust on cappuccino / froth”. What constitutes “incredible November”? The beetle in ‘Blues for Titania’ is a green tiger beetle and the wasp a sand wasp. These things matter. So does the way Brancusi tried to eliminate all imperfections until his sculpture reached the original growing point, a core, the pure idea. If the specific references are not acknowledged, the implications are still active.

His recording was made on 9 March 2005 at the Audio Workshop, London and was produced by Richard Carrington.

Poems by RF Langley

RF Langley in the Poetry Store

The free tracks you can enjoy in the Poetry Archive are a selection of a poet’s work. Our catalogue store includes many more recordings which you can download to your device.

Books by RF Langley

Awards

2000

shortlisted for the 2000 Whitbread Prize for Poetry for 'Selected Poems'

Prize website
2011

2011 Forward Prize for Best Single Poem, for "To a Nightingale"

Prize website

Featured in the Archive

Close