Selected Poems of James Henry

Born in Dublin in 1798 and educated at Trinity College, James Henry was a controversially humane doctor, a passionate scholar of Virgilian manuscripts, and a lifelong interrogator of Christianity. Born in Dublin in 1798 and educated at Trinity College, James Henry was a controversially humane doctor, a passionate scholar of Virgilian manuscripts, and a lifelong interrogator of Christianity. More than a century after James Henry’s death, Christopher Ricks came upon his poems – printed but unpublished – in the Cambridge University Library. Within these volumes Ricks discovered poetry ‘unaffectedly direct, sinewy, seriously comic. And brave.’ Henry’s convictions and his humour, his idiosyncrasies and his courage, come through in work that, Ricks writes, ‘has an integrity, a consistency, for all its engaging diversity of topic and tone’. With the publication of the Selected Poems of James Henry, the world at large can hear the voice of a remarkable poet.

More than a century after James Henry's death, Christopher Ricks came upon his poetry - printed but unpublished - in the Cambridge University Library. Within these volumes Ricks found poetry that he found unaffectedly direct, sinewy, seriously comic. And brave . The James Henry that Ricks discovers had integrity - moral, political and spiritual - so that his work has an integrity, a consistency, for all its engaging diversity of topic and tone . With the publication of the Selected Poems of James Henry , the world at large will have its first opportunity to encounter the work of a singular poet.