Henri - The Mersey Sound

ADRIAN HENRI, 19322000, trained as a painter, taught at Liverpool Art College in the 1960s and exhibited widely throughout his career. His early paintings and poems drew on popular icons, consumer products and cityscapes, often with a Surrealistic twist. His live readings, and an ability to juxtapose everyday images with highbrow cultural references, shaped several generations perception of what poetry could be. He also fronted the poetry and rock band Liverpool Scene, and went on to collaborate with pop and classical musicians. His Selected and Unpublished Poems 19652000 were published in 2007. Born in Liverpool, ROGER MCGOUGH had a number one hit, Lily the Pink, with The Scaffold in 1968, and helped to write the script for the animated film Yellow Submarine.

He has published more than a hundred books for both adults and children and won many awards. In 2001 he was honoured with the Freedom of the City of Liverpool and received a CBE from the Queen for services to Literature in 2004. His trio of Molire translations Tartuffe, The Hypochondriac and The Misanthrope have recently been notable successes in the theatre. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, Roger is President of the Poetry Society and a familiar voice on Radio 4, where he presents Poetry Please. BRIAN PATTEN was born in Liverpool in 1946. When he was fifteen he began publishing underdog, a little magazine which featured the early work of both Adrian Henri and Roger McGough, along with other local and later international poets.

The majority of his poems included in The Mersey Sound were written when he was still a teenager. His collections of poetry for adults include Little Johnnys Confession, Notes to the Hurrying Man, The Irrelevant Song, Armada and The Collected Love Poems, while his collections of verse for children include the bestselling Gargling With Jelly and Juggling With Gerbils. His novel for children, Mr Moons Last Case, won a special award from The Mystery Writers of America Guild, and his interweaving of international folk and fairy tales, The Story Giant, has been hailed as a modern classic. He is the editor of The Puffin Book of Modern Childrens Verse, and his Selected Poems are published by Penguin. Pattens work has been widely translated.

UK | USA | Canada | Ireland | Australia India | New Zealand | South Africa Penguin Books is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com. This selection first published 1967 Revised and enlarged edition published 1974 Revised edition published 1983 Published in Penguin Classics with revisions 2007 This restored edition published 2017 Copyright Penguin Books Ltd, 1967, 1974, 1983, 2007, 2017 The moral rights of the authors have been asserted Cover: detail of Fairground Image N2, 1962, mixed media on board by Adrian Henri Private collection Adrian Henri Estate ISBN: 978-0-141-19085-3 The poem Me by Adrian Henri is taken from the following book, to whose publisher acknowledgement is due: The Best of Henri, 1975, Jonathan Cape Ltd. This selection first published 1967 Revised and enlarged edition published 1974 Revised edition published 1983 Published in Penguin Classics with revisions 2007 This restored edition published 2017 Copyright Penguin Books Ltd, 1967, 1974, 1983, 2007, 2017 The moral rights of the authors have been asserted Cover: detail of Fairground Image N2, 1962, mixed media on board by Adrian Henri Private collection Adrian Henri Estate ISBN: 978-0-141-19085-3 The poem Me by Adrian Henri is taken from the following book, to whose publisher acknowledgement is due: The Best of Henri, 1975, Jonathan Cape Ltd.

For the rest of the poems acknowledgement is due to the author. The poems by Roger McGough are taken from the following books, to whose publishers acknowledgement is due: Sad Aunt Madge, At Lunchtime A Story of Love, from The Liverpool Scene, 1967, Donald Carroll; Goodbat Nightman from In the Glassroom, 1976, Jonathan Cape Ltd. The rest of the poems were first published by Penguin Books in an earlier edition. The poems by Brian Patten are taken from the following books, to whose publisher acknowledgement is due: Somewhere Between Heaven and Woolworths, A Song, Little Johnnys Confession, Party Piece, A Creature to Tell the Time By, Where Are You Now, Batman?, A Green Sportscar, After Breakfast, Song for Last Years Wife, Prosepoem Towards a Definition of Itself, In a New Kind of Dawn, On the Dawn Boat, Sleep Now, Seascape, The River Arse, Room, Maud, 1965, Schoolboy, On a Horse Called Autumn, The Fruitful Lady of Dawn, A Talk with a Wood, Travelling Between Places, Looking Back at It from Little Johnnys Confession, 1967, George Allen & Unwin Ltd; The rest of the poems were first published by Penguin Books in an earlier edition.

(for Charles Mingus and the Clayton Squares) Tonight at noon Supermarkets will advertise 3d EXTRA on everything Tonight at noon Children from happy families will be sent to live in a home Elephants will tell each other human jokes America will declare peace on Russia World War I generals will sell poppies in the streets on November 11th The first daffodils of autumn will appear When the leaves fall upwards to the trees Tonight at noon Pigeons will hunt cats through city backyards Hitler will tell us to fight on the beaches and on the landing fields A tunnel full of water will be built under Liverpool Pigs will be sighted flying in formation over Woolton and Nelson will not only get his eye back but his arm as well White Americans will demonstrate for equal rights in front of the Black House and the Monster has just created Dr Frankenstein Girls in bikinis are moonbathing Folksongs are being sung by real folk Artgalleries are closed to people over 21 Poets get their poems in the Top 20 Politicians are elected to insane asylums Theres jobs for everyone and nobody wants them In back alleys everywhere teenage lovers are kissing in broad daylight In forgotten graveyards everywhere the dead will quietly bury the living and You will tell me you love me Tonight at noon No one owns life, but anyone who can pick up a fryingpan owns death. William Burroughs To whom it may concern: As my imminent death is hourly expected these days/ carbrakes screaming on East Lancs tarmac/trapped in the blazing cinema/mutely screaming I TOLD YOU SO from melting eyeballs as the whitehot fireball dissolves the Cathedral/being the first human being to die of a hangover/dying of over-emotion after seeing 20 schoolgirls waiting at a zebracrossing.

I appoint Messrs Bakunin and Kropotkin my executors and make the following provisions: 1. I leave my priceless collections of Victorian Oil Lamps, photographs of Hayley Mills, brass fenders and Charlie Mingus records to all Liverpool poets under 23 who are also blues singers and failed sociology students. 2. I leave the entire East Lancs Road with all its landscapes to the British people. 3. I hereby appoint Wm.