Alstonefield

A Poem

Riley Peter

"Alstonefield: A Poem" is a long poem in ten-line stanzas which explores Riley's preoccupation with a limestone village in Dovedale. Like much of Riley's writing, it has close affinities with Prynne's, Nevertheless, there is more of Cowper in this very funny and accessible work. "Alstonefield: A Poem" might best be described as Riley's mordant remake of "Little Gidding", an Apocalyptic celebration of redemption from time.

About the Author

Peter Riley was born in 1940 near Manchester. He studied at Pembroke College, Cambridge, and the universities of Keele and Sussex. He has taught at the University of Odense (Denmark) and since 1975 has lived as a freelance writer and poetry bookseller, from which he retired in 2008. He lived in the Peak District for ten years and now lives in Cambridge, with regular excursions to Transylvania, in the music and society of which he has taken a special interest.

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