The Vigil of Venus and Other Poems by "Q
1912
Arthur Quiller-Couch, writing under his famous pseudonym 'Q,' opens this 1912 collection with a glorious act of translation and reimagining: his version of the ancient 'Pervigilium Veneris,' the Latin hymn to Venus and the awakening of spring. This is not mere pastiche but a poet claiming kinship with classical tradition, breathing new English rhythms into centuries-old verses about love's eternal return. The collection then ventures into Quiller-Couch's native Cornwall through the evocative 'Exmoor Verses,' where misty moors and wild coastlines become landscapes of the soul. Between these poles of classical celebration and regional rootedness, the book offers folk songs that feel handed down through generations and 'The Regent,' a drama of duty and betrayal that proves Quiller-Couch could wield narrative tension as skillfully as lyric beauty. This is poetry for readers who trust that the sensuous world still has secrets to reveal, that a poem about spring can matter nearly a century later.
