Born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, and brought up in the Portsmouth area, Logue was the only child of middle-aged parents, John and Molly Logue, who married late. He attended Roman Catholic schools, including St John's College, Portsmouth, Prior Park College, before going to Portsmouth Grammar School. On call-up, he enlisted in the Black Watch, and was posted to Palestine. He was court-martialled in 1945 over a scheme to sell stolen pay books, and sentenced to 16 months' imprisonment, served partly in Acre Prison. He lived in Paris from 1951 to 1956, and was a friend of Alexander Trocchi.[1]
His early popularity was marked by the release of a loose adaptation of Pablo Neruda's Twenty Love Poems, later broadcast on BBC Radio's Third Programme on 8 March 1959 with the poems, read by Logue himself, set to jazz by pianist Bill Le Sage and drummer Tony Kinsey and a band featuring Kenny Napper on bass, Ken Wray on trombone and Les Condon on trumpet.[9] A version of the performance was later released as a 7-inch EP (extended play) record, "Red Bird: Jazz and Poetry".[10]
One of his poems, Be Not Too Hard, was set to music by Donovan and heard in the film Poor Cow (1967), and was made popular by Joan Baez on her eponymous 1967 album, Joan. Another completely different song titled "Be Not Too Hard" based on the poem was performed by Manfred Mann's Earth Band on their 1974 album The Good Earth. The arrangement was written by Mick Rogers, who had Logue credited as a co-writer on the record sleeve. Another well-known and well-quoted poem by Logue was Come to the Edge, which is often attributed to Guillaume Apollinaire, but is in fact only dedicated to him.[11] It was originally written for a poster advertising an Apollinaire exhibition at the ICA in 1961 or 1962, and was titled "Apollinaire Said", hence the misattribution.[12] His last major work was an long-term project to render Homer's Iliad into a modernist idiom. This work is published in a number of small books, usually equating to two or three books of the original text. (The volume, Homer: War Music, was shortlisted for the 2002 International Griffin Poetry Prize.)[13] He published an autobiography, Prince Charming (1999).
His lines tended to be short, pithy and frequently political, as in Song of Autobiography:
I, Christopher Logue, was baptised the year Many thousands of Englishmen, Fists clenched, their bellies empty, Walked day and night on the capital city.[nb 1]
He wrote the couplet that is sung at the beginning and end of the film A High Wind in Jamaica (1965), the screenplay for Savage Messiah (1972), a television version of Antigone (1962), and a short play for the TV series The Wednesday Play titled The End of Arthur's Marriage (1965), which was directed by Ken Loach. The latter film was generally light-hearted, but dealt with the pre-occupation in modern British society with ownership of property and with the treatment of animals by humans.
You ask me: What is the greatest happiness on earth? Two things: changing my mind as I change a penny for a shilling; and listening to the sound of a young girl singing down the road after she has asked me the way –
as one of the definitions of happiness from his extensive collection, and complains that "such things do not allow for algorithmisation".[16]
In the 1967 TV programme Donovan Meets Logue,[17] the following Logue poems were featured:[citation needed]
The Plane Crash
Be Not Too Hard
and
Last night in London Airport I saw a wooden bin labelled "Unwanted literature is to be placed herein" So I wrote a poem And put it in.
Griffin Poetry Prize biography, including audio clip
A blog page on the Red Bird recordings.
August 17, 2023
christopher, logue, november, 1926, december, 2011, english, poet, associated, with, british, poetry, revival, pacifist, bornjohn, 1926, november, 1926portsmouth, hampshire, england, united, kingdomdied2, december, 2011, 2011, aged, occupationauthor, playwrigh. Christopher Logue CBE 23 November 1926 2 December 2011 1 was an English poet associated with the British Poetry Revival and a pacifist 2 Christopher LogueBornJohn Christopher Logue 1926 11 23 23 November 1926Portsmouth Hampshire England United KingdomDied2 December 2011 2011 12 02 aged 85 OccupationAuthor Playwright Screenwriter ActorEducationSt John s College Portsmouth Prior Park College Portsmouth Grammar SchoolAlma materUniversity College London did not graduate Period20th CenturyGenrephilosophy literary criticism parapsychologyNotable awardsCBESpouseRosemary Hill Contents 1 Life 2 Career 3 Family 4 Works 5 In popular culture 6 Notes 7 References 8 External linksLife EditBorn in Portsmouth Hampshire and brought up in the Portsmouth area Logue was the only child of middle aged parents John and Molly Logue who married late He attended Roman Catholic schools including St John s College Portsmouth Prior Park College before going to Portsmouth Grammar School On call up he enlisted in the Black Watch and was posted to Palestine He was court martialled in 1945 over a scheme to sell stolen pay books and sentenced to 16 months imprisonment served partly in Acre Prison He lived in Paris from 1951 to 1956 and was a friend of Alexander Trocchi 1 In 1958 he joined the first of the Aldermaston Marches organised by the Direct Action Committee Against Nuclear War He was on the Committee of 100 He served a month in jail for refusing to be bound over not to continue with the 17 September 1961 Parliament Square sit down 3 He heard Bertrand Russell tell the Bow Street magistrate I came here to save your life But having heard what you have to say I don t think the end justifies the means 4 In Drake Hall open prison he and fellow protesters were set to work Some wit allocated it demolishing a munitions factory 5 He was friends for many years with author and translator Austryn Wainhouse with whom he carried on a lively correspondence for decades 6 Career EditLogue was a playwright and screenwriter as well as a film actor His screenplays were Savage Messiah and The End of Arthur s Marriage 7 He was a contributor to Private Eye magazine between 1962 and 1993 8 as well as writing for Alexander Trocchi s literary journal Merlin Logue won the 2005 Whitbread Poetry Award for Cold Calls 7 His early popularity was marked by the release of a loose adaptation of Pablo Neruda s Twenty Love Poems later broadcast on BBC Radio s Third Programme on 8 March 1959 with the poems read by Logue himself set to jazz by pianist Bill Le Sage and drummer Tony Kinsey and a band featuring Kenny Napper on bass Ken Wray on trombone and Les Condon on trumpet 9 A version of the performance was later released as a 7 inch EP extended play record Red Bird Jazz and Poetry 10 One of his poems Be Not Too Hard was set to music by Donovan and heard in the film Poor Cow 1967 and was made popular by Joan Baez on her eponymous 1967 album Joan Another completely different song titled Be Not Too Hard based on the poem was performed by Manfred Mann s Earth Band on their 1974 album The Good Earth The arrangement was written by Mick Rogers who had Logue credited as a co writer on the record sleeve Another well known and well quoted poem by Logue was Come to the Edge which is often attributed to Guillaume Apollinaire but is in fact only dedicated to him 11 It was originally written for a poster advertising an Apollinaire exhibition at the ICA in 1961 or 1962 and was titled Apollinaire Said hence the misattribution 12 His last major work was an long term project to render Homer s Iliad into a modernist idiom This work is published in a number of small books usually equating to two or three books of the original text The volume Homer War Music was shortlisted for the 2002 International Griffin Poetry Prize 13 He published an autobiography Prince Charming 1999 His lines tended to be short pithy and frequently political as in Song of Autobiography I Christopher Logue was baptised the year Many thousands of Englishmen Fists clenched their bellies empty Walked day and night on the capital city nb 1 He wrote the couplet that is sung at the beginning and end of the film A High Wind in Jamaica 1965 the screenplay for Savage Messiah 1972 a television version of Antigone 1962 and a short play for the TV series The Wednesday Play titled The End of Arthur s Marriage 1965 which was directed by Ken Loach The latter film was generally light hearted but dealt with the pre occupation in modern British society with ownership of property and with the treatment of animals by humans He appeared in a number of films as an actor most notably in the Ken Russell films The Devils 1971 as Cardinal Richelieu and Prisoner of Honor 1991 as Fernand Labori and as the spaghetti eating fanatic in Terry Gilliam s Jabberwocky 1977 14 Logue wrote for the Olympia Press under the pseudonym Count Palmiro Vicarion including a pornographic novel Lust 15 Family EditLogue married biographer Rosemary Hill in 1985 He died on 2 December 2011 aged 85 1 Works EditPoetryWand And Quadrant Collection Merlin Paris 1953 The Weekdream Sonnets Jack Straw Press Paris 1955 Devil Maggot and Son Peter Russell 1956 The Man Who Told His Love Scorpion Press 1958 A Song For Kathleen Villiers 1958 Songs Hutchinsin amp Co 1959 Songs from the Lily White Boys Scorpion Press 1960 7 Songs from the Establishment Sydney Bron Music Co Ltd London 1962 Count Palmiro Vicarion s Book of Limericks Olympia Press Paris 1962 Count Palmiro Vicarion s Book of Bawdy Ballads Olympia Press Paris 1962 The Arrival of the Poet in the City The Yellow Press Mandarin Books 1963 Patrocleia University of Michigan Press 1963 The Words of the Establishment Songs etcetera Poet amp Printer London 1966 Selections from a Correspondence Between an Irishman and a Rat Goliard Press London 1966 PAX Book XIX of The Iliad Rapp amp Carroll Ltd London 1967 Hermes Flew to Olympus self published 1968 The Girls Bernard Stone 1969 New Numbers Cape 1969 How to Find Poetry Everywhere self published 1970 For Talitha 1941 1971 Steam Press 1971 The Isles of Jessamy November Books 1971 Twelve Cards Lorrimer Publishing Ltd 1971 Duet for Mole and Worm Cafe Books 1972 What The Keepsake Press 1972 Singles John Roberts Press 1973 Mixed Rushes John Roberts Press 1974 Urbanal self published 1975 Red Bird Love Poems based on the Spanish of Pablo Neruda Circle Press 1979 Ode to the dodo poems from 1953 to 1978 Cape 1981 ISBN 978 0 224 01892 0 Fluff Bernard Stone 1984 Lucky Dust Anvil 1985 The Seven Deadly Sins Translations of Bertolt Brecht Ambit Books 1986 War Music J Cape 1981 ISBN 978 0 224 01534 9 University of Chicago Press 2003 ISBN 978 0 226 49190 5 Kings An Account of Books 1 and 2 of Homer s Iliad Farrar Straus Giroux 1991 ISBN 978 0 374 18151 2 The Husbands An Account of Books 3 and 4 of Homer s Iliad Farrar Straus and Giroux 1995 ISBN 978 0 374 17391 3 Selected poems Faber and Faber 1996 ISBN 978 0 571 17761 5 All Day Permanent Red Macmillan 2003 ISBN 978 0 374 52929 1 Cold calls war music continued Volume 1 Faber and Faber 2005 ISBN 978 0 571 20277 5ProsePrince Charming a memoir Faber and Faber 1999 ISBN 978 0 571 19768 2 Faber 2001 ISBN 978 0 571 20361 1 Lust Paris Ophelia Press 1959 ISBN 9781596542068 OCLC 38894237 under pseudonym of Count Palmiro Vicarion Olympia Press 2005 ISBN 978 1 59654 206 8In popular culture EditIn Monday Begins on Saturday a 1964 science fiction fantasy novel by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky Magnus Red kin a character in the novel quotes a fragment of a Logue poem You ask me What is the greatest happiness on earth Two things changing my mind as I change a penny for a shilling and listening to the sound of a young girl singing down the road after she has asked me the way as one of the definitions of happiness from his extensive collection and complains that such things do not allow for algorithmisation 16 In the 1967 TV programme Donovan Meets Logue 17 the following Logue poems were featured citation needed The Plane Crash Be Not Too Hardand Last night in London Airport I saw a wooden bin labelled Unwanted literature is to be placed herein So I wrote a poem And put it in Notes Edit The Jarrow March took place in October 1936References Edit a b c Mark Espiner Obituary Christopher Logue The Guardian 2 December 2011 Christopher Logue The Economist 17 December 2011 Retrieved 30 August 2012 Peace News 15 September 1961 Prince Charming A Memoir C Logue p 268 Daily Telegraph obituary 6 December 2011 Austryn Wainhouse Papers Syracuse University a b Christopher Logue poetryarchive org www poetryarchive org Archived from the original on 28 December 2011 Retrieved 6 December 2011 Macqueen Adam 2011 Private Eye The First 50 Years Private Eye Productions p 161 ISBN 978 1 901784 56 5 Search BBC Programme Index Christopher Logue amp Tony Kinsey Red Bird Jazz amp Poetry Discogs Free Posters page 2 inspirational quotes www businessballs com Quote Unquote Newsletter July 1995 p 2 Christopher Logue Poetry Foundation 28 January 2018 Lewis Jim 13 May 2003 24 Hour War via Slate Liz Hoggard 22 January 2006 Logue in Vogue The Guardian Borisov Vladimir Fantasty bratya Strugackie Oglavlenie www lib ru BBC Programme Index genome ch bbc co uk Retrieved 25 November 2021 External links Edit Wikiquote has quotations related to Christopher Logue Christopher Logue Papers at the Harry Ransom Center Christopher Logue Collection at Emory University Christopher Logue at IMDb Christopher Logue at the Academy of American Poets Shusha Guppy Summer 1993 Christopher Logue The Art of Poetry No 66 The Paris Review Summer 1993 127 Essay on Logue s Homer Bibliography from the USC College of Liberal Arts Profile in The Independent UK dead link Griffin Poetry Prize biography including audio clip A blog page on the Red Bird recordings Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Christopher Logue amp oldid 1148252932, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
