John was a poet before he was a rockstar.
As early as the late 1950s, Lennon was known among his Liverpool peers for his absurdist humor and sharp wit, influenced by Lewis Carroll, James Joyce, and The Goon Show.
🔹 He published two poetry/prose books in the 1960s:
- In His Own Write (1964)
- A Spaniard in the Works (1965)
These were official, but many of his poems and sketches never made it to publication.
🔹 Unreleased and rare poems exist.
Some were handwritten in notebooks or scribbled on hotel stationery. A few were shown in exhibitions, like at the British Library’s 2010 “Lennon: The Lost Album” and in Julian Lennon’s private collection. Others surfaced during Sotheby’s auctions in 2014.
🔹 Themes and tone:
His poetry was often nonsense verse mixed with dark satire, wordplay, political jabs, and reflections on fame, war, and death. Some were deeply personal, like his writings after Brian Epstein’s death.
🔹 The Dakota notebooks (late 1970s):
Lennon reportedly filled notebooks with drawings, aphorisms, and unpublished poems while in his semi-retirement in the Dakota building (1975–1980). Most remain private or in Yoko Ono’s archives.