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All Shook Up: collected poems about Elvis
Edited by Will Clemens; photographs by Jon Hughes
Published in paperback by The University of Arkansas Press
ISBN 1-55728-704-X
Let's be quite honest about this, I have never really been fond of poetry. I don't know if this is because of very early exposure to the Victorian sentimentality of "Lucy Gray" or school- imposed analysis of "Dirty British Coasters" and Shakespeare's sonnets. In any case, the only poetry that has ever "moved" me has been Lear's nonsense rhymes and limericks, Carroll's "Jabberwocky" and "Hunting of the Snark" (which should be on everyone's required reading list) and Chuck Berry's lyrics, which must certainly be classed as poetry!
I have to admit, too, that Elvis poetry -- the rather squishy verses that occasionally appear in club newsletters and were a fairly regular feature of the now defunct annual Elvis Special -- has usually left me cold and feeling, well, let's just say "unwell."
So what to make of the recently published anthology of Elvis verse, "All Shook Up"?
Dylan, neither the original Welsh version, Thomas, nor his American counterpart, Bob, need be too worried about their position as modern-day bards if this collection is the best on offer. But then again, I'm just a pleb with little understanding of this particular literary form -- heck, I still believe that poems should have a distinct meter and at least a recognisable rhyme or two here and there. The pieces offered in "All Shook Up" largely fail both of these criteria -- they are free verse, modern efforts, often relying on the shock of profanity and vulgarity to make their point (assuming there is one).
Nevertheless, I am drawn to a few of the pieces. When I was at school in the early sixties, I actually copied a poem from a book in the school library. Almost 40 years later I still have the page torn from an exercise-book -- a capital offence -- with its now fading, young-David scrawl copy of Thom Gunn's 1957 poem, "Elvis." This is also the very first poem printed in "All Shook Up." One of the aspects of the book that I especially like is that the poets have a chance to say a few words about their own efforts: Thom Gunn seems to look down upon what he terms his "old, rather shabby poems," so perhaps my own appreciation was misplaced -- then again, perhaps Mr Gunn is rather sourer now than he was in 1957 when he recognised almost before anyone else, the influence that Elvis could exert. His other contribution to "All Shook Up," a poem from 1982 entitled "Painkillers," is a thought-provoking reflection on Elvis's latter days ("...The enthroned cannot revolt..."). I also enjoyed the several pieces by Fleda Brown Jackson, who says that she is writing her own book of Elvis poems -- a new trend, perhaps?
Twenty-seven American poets (Thom Gunn was born in the UK, but moved to the USA in the mid-fifties) provide the fifty poems of "All Shook Up." Only two of the poems were written during Elvis's lifetime and both of these date from the fifties; the vast majority of the others date from the nineties, indicating the significant position Elvis holds in the American conscience. The anthology is augmented by numerous black-and-white photos of more or less relevance by Jon Hughes.
But, as I indicated earlier, poetry is not my thing (unless you want to get back to "The Hunting of the Snark," of course...), so my judgement on "All Shook Up" is necessarily muted. Perhaps you like modern poetry, in which case you will undoubtedly enjoy this anthology -- in any case, "All Shook Up" is certainly yet another demonstration of Elvis's influence on American culture, so perhaps Thom Gun wasn't so wrong back in 1957, after all.
David Neale
copyright May 2001