Over the Brazier

Robert Graves's early poems move with startling range from nursery whimsy to battlefield dread, tracing the emergence of a voice at once lyrical, mischievous, and deeply alert to suffering. A playful, self-aware foreword frames poems such as "The Poet in the Nursery," "Star-Talk," and "Willaree," where childhood wonder, classical echo, and musical invention mingle freely. As the sequence unfolds, Graves turns to nature, weather, religion, and youthful rebellion in pieces like "The Face of the Heavens," "Jolly Yellow Moon," and "Free Verse," balancing comic irreverence with spiritual longing. "In the Wilderness" offers a tender, reverent vision of Christ among outcasts and wild creatures, while later poems confront war's brutal disruptions in "The Shadow of Death," "The Morning Before the Battle," and "Limbo." Darkly comic "Nursery Memories" pieces sharpen the contrast between innocence and trauma, revealing a poet who fuses beauty, satire, faith, and loss into a singularly vivid early style. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.