Collected Poems

Peter Porter published his first book of poems, Once Bitten, Twice Bitten, in 1961. Since then, his first collection has been joined by fourteen others, all of which are gathered into this two-volume Collected Poems, timed to coincide with the poet's seventieth birthday. In addition to Once Bitten, Twice Bitten, Volume I includes Poems Ancient and Modern (1964), A Porter Portfolio (1969), The Last of England (1970), Preaching to the Converted (1972), After Martial (1972), Living in a Calm Country (1975), The Cost of Seriousness (1978), and English Subtitles (1981). The second volume covers the period 1984-1998 and includes an entirely new collection, Both Ends Against the Middle, published here for the first time, as well as Fast Forward (1984), The Automatic Oracle (1987), Possible Worlds (1989), The Chair of Babel (1992), and Dragons in Their Pleasant Places (1997).