Morrissey isn't a 'poet'. He's a lyricist. As far as I know, he always writes his lyrics to music. Attempting to detach the lyrics from the music in order to 'judge' them is, at the very least, odd. It would be rather like attempting to read the lyrics to an opera without hearing the music, or just reading a play without seeing it performed. You could do it, but you'd be missing out on the full aesthetic experience.

The 'problem', if there is one, is that Morrissey is a lyricist and a performer, but not a musician. He needs to work with other people to express his art, unlike, say, Bob Dylan, who can play and record entirely on his own if he wants. It may well be very boring, but he can.

I'm not saying Morrissey's lyrics are inferior to poetry, just that they have to be judged as products of a different genre. In my opinion, he's one of the all-time great lyricists in any musical genre, and one of the most charismatic performers. But not a poet.

Fabulous name for the book though. Can we assume that there will be a connection made between Morrisey and Byron then? About flippin time, if so. So many half-read dolts make half-understood remarks about M and Wilde. We need someone to re-evaluate the whole thing properly. (btw, poetry is simply words uttered. let's not have a tedious, CSE debate about whether M is a poet or not)

In the bookshop where I work in the poetry section you will find only Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Patti Smith from the music section.
In the music section you will only find books dedicated exclusively to lyrics for Bob Dylan or Nick Cave. Even in specialist music shops lyrics are rarely sold separate from the music.

Some poetry can be set to music, some lyrics are poetic, but most pop lyrics are trite and predictable. I heard some music this week with lyrics so corny I could easily predict what was coming next and it was exasperating. I said “who is this rubbish?” The reply “Take That”.

For some the power of words alone is great. I heard a Morrissey/Joni Mitchell interview. Morrissey said that he’d read the lyrics from a JM album and had to put it aside for another day, too massive to deal with right then, so strong their impact.

Having said that I don’t have to understand the lyrics to enjoy the music. I can listen to music of other languages and cultures and appreciate the beauty of the voices and the universal human emotions expressed without knowing exactly what is said.

Morrissey says he has a poetic sensibility, is constantly thinking about writing (as a teacher is always on the lookout for educational material or an artist for visual inspirations). In this sense it is an obsession/vocation for him. And it is worth remembering that Morrissey was writing about music well before he was being written about as an artist.
Morrissey can write poetically, can be direct or purposely ambiguous. He is an acknowledged master of his lyrical craft by the best of today’s’ songwriters.

Morrissey’s lyrics do not have to be considered “autobiographical” in order to be understood. If I write a sad song it does not mean I am always sad. If I write a comic poem it may be a wry reflection on painful experience. His lyrics reflect human experience to which we can connect to a greater or lesser degree.
Some of his writing is mind-blowing, some good, some bad, and some unlistenable. Whether you want to call it poetry or not is down to personal interpretation.

For me some of it is.

The more flamboyant romantic British poets - Byron, Shelley, (and to a lesser extent my favorite, Keats) were the rock stars of their day. They created political havoc, set the bar for male beauty and fashion, and fought with the press, the establishment, and occasionally each other.

The nature of Poetry has changed, the media has changed, but the "poetic sensibility" has not. Morrissey was the great British poetic personality of the 20th century. At least on this side of the pond he was perceived as such. That whole "greatest living British icon" thing really makes sense in this context.

I've been told by posters here that I have far too romantic a view of British culture. I would submit, however, that your poets (and writers) created a global cultural empire as surely as your military created a political one. It would appear that the cultural influence has endured, thanks to the persistence of incredible wordsmiths, Morrissey foremost among them.

do we really need another book on Moz?