ABSTRACT
Francis Berry's poetry is rooted in the darkest centres of the human psyche. It twines deep into physical promptings, deeper than Lawrence, to a level where of living writers John Cowper Powys alone provides an analogy; as in 'The Dark Inhabitant' and the title-poem 'Snake in the Moon' – the latter especially rich in hot sensuous magic. Berry writes primarily of the objective world, of things and of events; and he shows at every turn an extraordinary resource of verbal play and rhythmic modulation in the fitting of manner to matter. Francis Berry's The Iron Christ is the most deeply relevant war-poem of our time. Francis Berry has been deeply involved in the great events of our time. Berry is a narrative poet writing from strong Dionysian impulse. In 1957 Berry visited Jamaica and subsequently wrote the narrative Morant Bay on the negro rising of 1865.
