Who Is Ozymandias? ― And Other Puzzles in Poetry

Part of the pleasure of poetry is unraveling the mysteries and difficulties it contains and solving the puzzles that lie within. Who, for instance, is Ozymandias? What is the Snark? Who is the Emperor of Ice-Cream? Or indeed, who is 'you' in a poem? In this perceptive and playful new book, acclaimed poet John Fuller looks at some of our greatest poems and considers the number of individual puzzles at their heart, casting light on how we should approach these conundrums as readers. From riddling to double entendres, mysterious titles to red herrings, Fuller unpicks the puzzles in works that range from Browning to Bishop, Empson to Eliot, Shelley to Stevens, to help us reach the rewards and revelations that lie at the center of some of our best-loved poems.

John Fuller is an acclaimed poet and novelist. He has written eighteen collections of poetry, most recently Pebble & I and Song & Dance, both chosen as Poetry Book Society Recommendations. His 2004 collection, Ghosts, was shortlisted for the Whitbread Award for Poetry; The Space of Joy, published in 2006, was shortlisted for the Costa Poetry Award. He is an Emeritus Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford.