Songs and Sonnets Atlantean

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Songs and Sonnets Atlantean
Songs and sonnets atlantean.jpg
Jacket illustration by Gordon R. Barnett for first Songs and Sonnets Atlantean
Author Donald Sidney-Fryer
Cover artistGordon R. Barnett
LanguageEnglish
Genre poetry
Publisher Arkham House, Wildside Press, Phosphor Lantern Press, Hippocampus Press
Publication date
First Series June 16, 1971; Second Series 2003; Third Series 2005; trilogy 2008
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrinted volumes
PagesFirst Series; xxx, 134 pp.; Second Series 159 pp.; Third Series 192 pp.; trilogy 550 pp.

Songs and Sonnets Atlantean refers to either the 1971 first volume in a trilogy of poetry collections by Donald Sidney-Fryer or to the complete trilogy. Each volume claims some poems were written by poets in the lost continent of Atlantis and translated by Sidney-Fryer into English. Songs and Sonnets Atlantean: The Second Series was published in 2003, and The Third Series in 2005. All three Atlantean collections were gathered in the 2008 volume The Atlantis Fragments: The Trilogy of Songs and Sonnets Atlantean. Sidney-Fryer also wrote a companion novel. The series has been praised by critics. “Fryer has created, in his fictional Atlantis, an entire civilization and a body of absorbing literature,” said New Bedford Standard-Times. [1] Fritz Leiber wrote in Fantastic Stories: “A total picture of a fabulous Atlantis is presented, more convincing and touching than that of a novel might be. But the book ... shows much more than that. Sunken Atlantis becomes a symbol of all lost glories and grandeurs of Earth.” [2] The Murfreesboro Sidelines reported: “The poems are of unearthly beauty. ... Whether the poems really are from the Atlantean or whether they are the creations of the poet Fryer, they deserve to be read and to be experienced.” [3]

Contents

Creation and publication

Sidney-Fryer began writing the poems in March 1961, inspired by The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser. Songs and Sonnets Atlantean took Sidney-Fryer ten years to write. [4]

The book tells the story of the romance between Princess Aïs and Prince Atlantarion, "but," wrote Sidney-Fryer, "in the form of a seemingly miscellaneous or random complilation of poems or 'fragments' ... Thus, the reader must 'work' to discover or recover the main narrative; ... but 'clues' are scattered both carefully and abundantly over the entire 'terrain' from the beginning of the book (including both its outer front dust-jacket and the inner front dust-jacket or flap) up through its finish (including the printer's note, the inner back dust-jacket or flap, and then the final and outer back dust-jacket...)." The book's "Introduction" and "Notes" sections help tell the story. The scholarly "Introduction" explains how the poems were created in Atlantis, how they were lost for thousands of years, and how they were rediscovered. The introduction's author, Dr. Ibid Massachusetts Andor, also provides an explanatory "Notes" section givinging background for individual poems. "Dr. Andor" is actually a pseudonym for Sidney-Fryer. [5]

Sidney-Fryer erroneously believed that San Francisco publisher A. M. Robertson published 2,000 copies of poetry books by George Sterling, so he persuaded Arkham House owner August Derleth that instead of publishing 500 copies (the normal print quantity for Arkham House poetry books) he should publish 2,000 copies of Songs and Sonnets Atlantean. [6] The book was published June 16, 1971 by Arkham House in an edition of 2,045 copies. Copies of this verse collection exist both with and without the limitation page bound in the rear of the book; the priorites of these states are not known. Soon after the book's publication, the poet went to Sauk City to visit Arkham House, where he personally inscribed, signed, and dated an unknown number of copies. The inscription was identical in each book and reads: "Atlantean Greetings & Salutations/ Donald Sidney-Fryer/ the Last of the Courtly Poets,/ 17 June 1971." Other signed copies with variations of this inscription have been noted and may have been signed at different dates. This first volume went out of print in the early 1980s. [7]

The second volume in the trilogy, Songs and Sonnets Atlantean: The Second Series, was published by Wildside Press in 2003.

Songs and Sonnets Atlantean: The Third Series was self-published by Sidney-Fryer while he lived in Los Angeles, under his own Phosphor Lantern Press company name, in 2005.

Finally, in 2008 New York publisher Hippocampus Press produced all three books together in one volume titled The Atlantis Fragments:The Trilogy of the Songs and Sonnets Atlantean. The hardcover edition also includes a front endpaper map of the continent of Atlantis "and its Relationship to the Known World," back endpaper maps of showing detail of the isle of Atlantis and its capitol, the city of Atlantis; and an introduction by Brian Stableford.

Sidney-Fryer's companion novel about the end of Atlantis, The Atlantis Fragments: The Novel, was published in 2011 by Hippocampus Press.

Critical responses to First Series

August Derleth’s publishing company Arkham House published Songs and Sonnets Atlantean on June 16, 1971. 18 days later Derleth died of a heart attack. His small publishing company did little to publicize the new book. Sidney-Fryer mailed copies to newspaper and magazine reviewers himself. [8]

Only a few mainstream media publications paid any attention to a poetry book from a small publisher by an unknown poet. The New Bedford Standard-Times said: “Fryer has created, in his fictional Atlantis, an entire civilization and a body of absorbing literature.” [1] In the national magazine The Advocate, poet Richard L. Tierney enthused: “It is sheer beauty, and one can tell that Mr. Sidney-Fryer is a lover of life and beauty to the core of his being. ... I am overwhelmed by the depth of feeling and the rich intricacy with which Donald Sidney-Fryer depicts his world. For this creation is indeed a world, not just a book.” [9] University Bookman: A Quarterly Review called Songs and Sonnets Atlantean “a delightful book of verse ... a work that reflects a glittering imagination and no mean talent.” [10] “The poems are of unearthly beauty,” said the Murfreesboro Sidelines in Tennessee. It continued: “The imagery is lush, exotic, full of colors and magic names. ... Whether the poems really are from the Atlantean or whether they are the creations of the poet Fryer, they deserve to be read and to be experienced.” [11] The Lake Geneva Regional News ended its review: “Our complaint is that we cannot possibly thank Donald Fryer enough for this book which hints of a land beyond redemption and entices us into believing we have traveled there.” [12]

Sidney-Fryer generated more coverage by sending copies to reviewers with journals that cover science fiction and fantasy literature. Most of these reviews were favorable, but not all. In Luna Monthly, Mark Purcell wrote a lengthy review that decided “... Mr. Fryer has nothing to say in his poems. ... The strict prose sense in Fryer's poems is banal.” [13] Sidney-Fryer published a long, polite response which expressed his gratitude to Purcell for reviewing Songs and Sonnets Atlantean and then walked through Purcell's review step-by-step correcting misunderstandings and errors. [14]

Other reviewers disagreed with Purcell. Author Jack L. Chalker wrote: “Fryer's an entertaining and competent poet who reads well, and people who like fantasy poetry in general (as I do) will find the collection worth reading.” [15] In Fantastic Stories, Fritz Leiber said: “A total picture of a fabulous Atlantis is presented, more convincing and touching than that of a novel might be. But the book ... shows much more than that. Sunken Atlantis becomes a symbol of all lost glories and grandeurs of Earth.” [16] In The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction , Gahan Wilson reported: “He has managed in his slim book, slim only in size, to evoke an Atlantis which is both haunting and astonishingly solid.” [17]

The most impressive coverage in a publication focused on fantasy literature appeared in the journal Nyctalops, which devoted sixty percent of a double issue to Sidney-Fryer, Songs and Sonnets Atlantean, and his other works. Included in the many articles was one praising “the joy of sound” in Sidney-Fryer's poetry and calling Songs and Sonnets Atlantean “that modern Arkham House masterpiece.” [18] Professor Charles K. Wolfe wrote a detailed, insightful investigation of the book's parts and how they affected readers, pointing out: “Songs and Sonnets Atlantean contains many different kinds of writing, but its impact is above all synergistic: its overall structure and overall effect are more than simply the sum of its parts and make the book what it is, a unique application of the most modern literary methods to some of the oldest literary forms.” [19]

Contents of First Series

Songs and Sonnets Atlantean contains the following pieces. Items presented as written by poets from the lost continent of Atlantis are prefaced with "(A)". All (A) items are presented as originally written in the Atlantean language but surviving only as French translations by Michel de Labretagne (a pseudonym of Donald Sidney-Fryer) and translated by Sidney-Fryer. Items without the (A) label are presented as either written by Sidney-Fryer or translated by Sidney-Fryer from other French poets.

"Introduction" by Dr. Ibid M. Andor (pseudonym of Donald Sidney-Fryer)

Minor Chronicles of Atlantis


Sonnets on an Empire of Many Waters

Commendatory and Dedicatory Poems

"Notes" by Dr. Ibid M. Andor (pseudonym of Donald Sidney-Fryer)

References

  1. 1 2 Earl J. Dias, “Books,” New Bedford Standard-Times (March 5, 1972); reprinted Nyctalops v. 2, nos. 4/5, whole numbers 11/12 (April 1976), p. 79.
  2. ↑ Fritz Leiber, “Fantasy Books,” Fantastic Stories, v. 21 n. 6 (August 1972), p. 108; reprinted Nyctalops (April 1976), pp. 79-80.
  3. ↑ Chris Keith, “Book Makings,” Murfreesboro Sidelines (October 5, 1971); reprinted Nyctalops (April 1976), pp. 77-78.
  4. ↑ Sidney-Fryer, Hobgoblin Apollo: The Autobiography of Donald Sidney-Fryer (New York: Hippocampus Press, 2016), pp. 180-181.
  5. ↑ Sidney-Fryer, “A Defense and Illustration of One Poetic Method,” Nyctalops v. 2, nos. 4/5, whole numbers 11/12 (April 1976), p. 82.
  6. ↑ Don Herron, "Rediscovered: Every Copy of an Edition" (April 10, 2021).
  7. ↑ Jaffery, Sheldon. The Arkham House Companion. Mercer Island, WA: Starmont House, 1989, p. 101.
  8. ↑ Sidney-Fryer, “A Defense and Illustration of One Poetic Method,” Nyctalops v. 2, nos. 4/5, whole numbers 11/12 (April 1976), p. 81.
  9. ↑ Richard L. Tierney, “Books: Sidney-Fryer's Poetry Evokes Courtly Grandeur”, Advocate n. 79 (February 16, 1972); reprinted Nyctalops v. 2, nos. 4/5, whole numbers 11/12 (April 1976), pp. 78-79.
  10. ↑ James Gorski, University Bookman: A Quarterly Review, v. 13 n. 2 (Winter 1973/1974); reprinted Nyctalops v. 2, nos. 4/5, whole numbers 11/12 (April 1976), p. 80.
  11. ↑ Chris Keith, “Book Makings,” Murfreesboro Sidelines (October 5, 1971); reprinted Nyctalops v. 2, nos. 4/5, whole numbers 11/12 (April 1976), pp. 77-78.
  12. ↑ Burton Frye, “Book Reviews,” Lake Geneva Regional News (August 12, 1971), p. 6; reprinted Nyctalops v. 2, nos. 4/5, whole numbers 11/12 (April 1976), p. 77.
  13. ↑ Mark Purcell, “Reviews: Songs and Sonnets Atlantean,” Luna Monthly, n. 43 (December 1972), pp. 22-23; reprinted Nyctalops v. 2, nos. 4/5, whole numbers 11/12 (April 1976), p. 80.
  14. ↑ Sidney-Fryer, “A Defense and Illustration of One Poetic Method,” pp. 81-87.
  15. ↑ Jack L. Chalker, “Books,” Mirage n. 10 (1971); reprinted Nyctalops v. 2, nos. 4/5, whole numbers 11/12 (April 1976), p. 78.
  16. ↑ Fritz Leiber, “Fantasy Books,” Fantastic Stories, v. 21 n. 6 (August 1972), p. 108; reprinted Nyctalops v. 2, nos. 4/5, whole numbers 11/12 (April 1976), pp. 79-80.
  17. ↑ Gahan Wilson, “The Dark Corner,” The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction , v. 43 n. 2 (August 1972), p. 23; reprinted Nyctalops v. 2, nos. 4/5, whole numbers 11/12 (April 1976), p. 79.
  18. ↑ Allene Phy, “Master Donald Sidney-Fryer & Baudelaire,” Nyctalops v. 2, nos. 4/5, whole numbers 11/12 (April 1976), pp. 50-55.
  19. ↑ Charles K. Wolfe, “Romantic Synergy: Sidney-Fryer's Songs and Sonne[t]s Atlantean,” Nyctalops v. 2, nos. 4/5, whole numbers 11/12 (April 1976), p. 67.

Further reading

Nyctalops, v. 2 nos. 4/5, whole nos. 11/12 (April 1976) is a major resource for biographical information on Sidney-Fryer and also literary criticism, especially about Songs and Sonnets Atlantean and his solo performance dramas. It includes twelve pieces by Sidney-Fryer, one interview with him, seven pieces by other writers about Sidney-Fryer and his works, and a collection of nine reviews of Songs and Sonnets Atlantean reprinted from other publications.

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