There is a temptation, whatever the point is in writing about books here, to post reviews of new books asap. I like to get there early if I can.
I quite often say that the book, or record, isn't going to be filed away immediately and will continue to be read or listened to, either because it demands as much or because there must be more to find. Heaven knows, I'll never get to the bottom of the Silesian Quartet's Bacewicz String Quartets so I'm certainly not ready yet for the follow up that came in short order.
But Sean O'Brien's Europa was given relatively short shrift from me, as someone who adores the best of his poems to a fault. I didn't say I didn't like it and I didn't say it was no good but perhaps I implied it might be Beethoven 4 or 8, that are less lauded than 3, 5, 6, 7 or 9 and perhaps even 1 and 2.
But it wasn't put away, has been regularly re-read, and Goddess, first among others, is revealed as a masterpiece. It may or may not be a companion piece to Julia, I'm not the maestro's biographer, I wouldn't know. But I do want to be as soon as I can in amending any underwhelming verdict heretofore offered.
The shortlists towards Best Collection and Best Poem of the Year, nearly halfway through already, at least now have one entry on them. I don't know who else has books due this year but they would be worthy winners even without opposition put in front of them.