“To say what you are trying to say”: Douglas Livingstone’s personae in A rosary of bone (1975b & 1983)

Abstract

This article offers a critical overview of the personae Douglas Livingstone (1932-1996) adopts in two editions (1975b; 1983) of “A rosary of bone”. Following a tripartite structure, it deals with the love poems, the translations, and the Giovanni Jacopopoems respectively, arguing that the collection breaks new ground as Livingstone here begins to explore new voices and techniques with which to write about his thematic preoccupations.Such personae permit the poet more acerbic, satirical, or even angry stances, with voices not to be found in the earlier volumes of his work.