The Dancer's Son

The poem from which this collection gets its title, 'The Dancer's Son', was inspired by a scene in Tolstoy's War and Peace. As Natasha Rostov in that classic story was swept along in the folk dance in her uncle's house, so Graham McLanachan takes up an idea and dances with it. He follows where it leads, expressing complex thoughts in smooth-flowing uncluttered verse. At a time when European society and culture seem to be dying, it is perhaps apt that Graham draws inspiration from great works of literature, music and art that were themselves created in times of crisis.