'Art lies in selection,
White of Titanium glaze.
Aqua tints on a damask sheet,
The sheen upon this day'.
Poetry has been called 'emotion recollected in tranquillity'. Poetry is often quoted when we want to convey our higher feelings, such as at a wedding, christening or a funeral. This is because poetry is a condensation of feeling, revealing a truth neatly and economically.
A poem is memorable in a way prose isn't. When I was in school, in the forties and fifties, most children learnt poems by heart. I was once asked if rote learning spoilt the enjoyment of the poem.
Memorising poems makes them accessible at all the times. If we don't memorise them, we might forget about their existence.
Nursery rhymes like 'Humpty Dumpty', 'See Saw, Marjorie Daw' remain with us throughout our lives, enriching us.
Is poetry a matter of line endings rhyming? Yes and no. Some poems rhyme but others, written in blank verse, don't. (Shakespeare often did this in his plays).
Poetry is meant to be read aloud, the sound of the words being important but it is also good to read a poem silently, allowing the layers of meaning to sink into our subconscious minds.
Sunday, 16 October 2011
Sunday, 11 September 2011
You see what you want to
The three kings, also known as wise men, saw a star in the sky. They saw the star because they looked for it.
If they had not been looking for this particular star they might still have seen it but not attached any importance to it. The kings found what they were looking for, as we all do.
On page 112 of my novel, 'Salt Blue', I use an imaginary mermaid to help the heroine, Stella, to see that Connor, her boyfriend is not right for her.
When Connor suggests Stella will not need a job when married to him, a mermaid appears in the bay.
'I've seen her now', Stella says.
The mermaid is a psychological phenomenon, something outside herself that Stella's imagination has created.
No longer is it Stella's decison to break with her lover. She shifts the responsibility to the mermaid and decides to act on the guidance she wants to think she is receiving.
This signal comes just at a time when Stella is under intense pressure and it is a means of removing the burden of guilt from her.
Connor does not see the sea creature, because it is Stella's invention. Stella decides this is the essential difference between them.
She understands the reality is that she must tell Connor that she cannot marry him but resorts to fantasy to stiffen her resolve.
Stella is immature, because she is young and has never had a boyfriend before, but she understands herself enough to know she has to break with Connor.
Writing the novel, the mermaid gave me extra time to explore Stella's feelings and to suggest there are things we know that we don't have to think about or articulate. As D H Lawrence said, trust your blood, it can be wiser than your head.
If they had not been looking for this particular star they might still have seen it but not attached any importance to it. The kings found what they were looking for, as we all do.
On page 112 of my novel, 'Salt Blue', I use an imaginary mermaid to help the heroine, Stella, to see that Connor, her boyfriend is not right for her.
When Connor suggests Stella will not need a job when married to him, a mermaid appears in the bay.
'I've seen her now', Stella says.
The mermaid is a psychological phenomenon, something outside herself that Stella's imagination has created.
No longer is it Stella's decison to break with her lover. She shifts the responsibility to the mermaid and decides to act on the guidance she wants to think she is receiving.
This signal comes just at a time when Stella is under intense pressure and it is a means of removing the burden of guilt from her.
Connor does not see the sea creature, because it is Stella's invention. Stella decides this is the essential difference between them.
She understands the reality is that she must tell Connor that she cannot marry him but resorts to fantasy to stiffen her resolve.
Stella is immature, because she is young and has never had a boyfriend before, but she understands herself enough to know she has to break with Connor.
Writing the novel, the mermaid gave me extra time to explore Stella's feelings and to suggest there are things we know that we don't have to think about or articulate. As D H Lawrence said, trust your blood, it can be wiser than your head.
Wednesday, 7 September 2011
Hard Times.
Thomas Hardy in his novel, 'The Mayor of Casterbridge', describes a hiring fair. These were usually held at Michaelmas and servants were employed for a year.
I've been perusing an accounts book, dated 1807, from a farm in Trefin, towards the north of Pembrokeshire. The farm was evidently prosperous, because servants were needed.
On October2, 1807, an agreement was made with John Griffiths that he should begin work a fortnight after Michaelmas. His wage was to be £9 for the year.
Martha Perry was hired on 22 October, 1807, to be engaged for the year. Her wages were to include a pound of wool and a flannel apron.
The next details concern Jemima Prosser, who is hired from 24th October, 1813 until October 1814.
Jemima's wages are £4 a year plus the pound of wool and a flannel apron. She was probably no older than twelve or thirteen.
In February, Jemima goes to Fishguard to buy a gown and a hat which cost £2.
John James is employed from 18th October 1814 until the following year, and he is to be paid £5 ten shillings. This shows he is under twenty one and not in eligible for a man's wage. In December, Jack (John?) has to buy shoes at a cost of 8/6 (eight shillings and sixpence).
Pembrokeshire farmhouses were often designed as longhouses. Upstairs, one bedroom lead into another with no passageway.
The servants had to go to bed before the master and mistress, to avoid walking through their bedroom when they had settled down for the night.
There was little privacy in smaller farmhouses and this really was communal living.
Most farm workers toiled until they died, no pensions being available.
These were hard times.
I've been perusing an accounts book, dated 1807, from a farm in Trefin, towards the north of Pembrokeshire. The farm was evidently prosperous, because servants were needed.
On October2, 1807, an agreement was made with John Griffiths that he should begin work a fortnight after Michaelmas. His wage was to be £9 for the year.
Martha Perry was hired on 22 October, 1807, to be engaged for the year. Her wages were to include a pound of wool and a flannel apron.
The next details concern Jemima Prosser, who is hired from 24th October, 1813 until October 1814.
Jemima's wages are £4 a year plus the pound of wool and a flannel apron. She was probably no older than twelve or thirteen.
In February, Jemima goes to Fishguard to buy a gown and a hat which cost £2.
John James is employed from 18th October 1814 until the following year, and he is to be paid £5 ten shillings. This shows he is under twenty one and not in eligible for a man's wage. In December, Jack (John?) has to buy shoes at a cost of 8/6 (eight shillings and sixpence).
Pembrokeshire farmhouses were often designed as longhouses. Upstairs, one bedroom lead into another with no passageway.
The servants had to go to bed before the master and mistress, to avoid walking through their bedroom when they had settled down for the night.
There was little privacy in smaller farmhouses and this really was communal living.
Most farm workers toiled until they died, no pensions being available.
These were hard times.
Hard Times
Thomas Hardy's novel 'The Mayor of Casterbridge' mentions a 'Hiring Fair'. These fairs were places where servants were engaged, usually at Michaelmas time, on a yearly contract.
Recently, I looked at an 1807 accounts book from a farm in Trefin.
It appeared to be a prosperous business, employing various farm hands and maids.
A record of October 2, 1807, shows that John Griffiths was engaged as a farmhand at a wage of £9 a year. He was to start a fortnight after Michaelmas. Martha Perry was also engaged for a year. Her wages were to include a pound of wool and a flannel apron.
In October 1813, Jemima Prosser is hired. She will receive £4 a year plus a pound of wool and a flannel apron. She is probably very young girl, maybe thirteen or so.
Jemima needs a new gown and hat in February and she travels to Fishguard, a distance of approximately ten miles, to buy them and pays £2.
An agreement is made with Jack James on 18 October, 1814, that he will be hired for the year at a rate of £5 ten shillings. Jack's wage is not that of a man so presumably, he is under twenty one. By December, Jack needs new shoes and pays 8/6 pence for them.
Many Pembrokeshire farms were built in 'longhouse' style, bedrooms leading into each other with no passageway. In some farms, the main bedroom had to be negotiated first in order to reach the other rooms.
Servants had to go to bed before the 'master and mistress' in order not to disturb them. Unless the farm was large, there was little privacy.
Pensions were unheard of and the poor worked until they died.
Hard times, indeed.
Recently, I looked at an 1807 accounts book from a farm in Trefin.
It appeared to be a prosperous business, employing various farm hands and maids.
A record of October 2, 1807, shows that John Griffiths was engaged as a farmhand at a wage of £9 a year. He was to start a fortnight after Michaelmas. Martha Perry was also engaged for a year. Her wages were to include a pound of wool and a flannel apron.
In October 1813, Jemima Prosser is hired. She will receive £4 a year plus a pound of wool and a flannel apron. She is probably very young girl, maybe thirteen or so.
Jemima needs a new gown and hat in February and she travels to Fishguard, a distance of approximately ten miles, to buy them and pays £2.
An agreement is made with Jack James on 18 October, 1814, that he will be hired for the year at a rate of £5 ten shillings. Jack's wage is not that of a man so presumably, he is under twenty one. By December, Jack needs new shoes and pays 8/6 pence for them.
Many Pembrokeshire farms were built in 'longhouse' style, bedrooms leading into each other with no passageway. In some farms, the main bedroom had to be negotiated first in order to reach the other rooms.
Servants had to go to bed before the 'master and mistress' in order not to disturb them. Unless the farm was large, there was little privacy.
Pensions were unheard of and the poor worked until they died.
Hard times, indeed.
Wednesday, 10 August 2011
O, Western Wind
O, Western wind
'O Western wind, when wilt thou blow
That the small rain down can rain?
Christ, that my love were in my arms,
And I in my bed again'.
Where does the power lie in this short verse, making it one of the most popular poems of our time?
Believed to have been written in Tudor times, its yearning and longing connect to a universal need.
The 'Western wind', which is beneficent, warm, capable of bringing 'the small rain' and soft nourishment, is invoked.
A nebulous plea is given reality by the sound of the speaking voice.Though a drought has been suffered, healing is possible, a blessing brought by the wind.
The use of the word 'Christ' gives a spiritual dimension, an intensity, strengthening the emotional
need.
Finally, the desire to be in bed, a place of birth and death, the beginning and ending of life, but also of greatest security concludes the poem.
This poem works for me on many levels and I interpret it according to my version of reality.
'O Western wind, when wilt thou blow
That the small rain down can rain?
Christ, that my love were in my arms,
And I in my bed again'.
Where does the power lie in this short verse, making it one of the most popular poems of our time?
Believed to have been written in Tudor times, its yearning and longing connect to a universal need.
The 'Western wind', which is beneficent, warm, capable of bringing 'the small rain' and soft nourishment, is invoked.
A nebulous plea is given reality by the sound of the speaking voice.Though a drought has been suffered, healing is possible, a blessing brought by the wind.
The use of the word 'Christ' gives a spiritual dimension, an intensity, strengthening the emotional
need.
Finally, the desire to be in bed, a place of birth and death, the beginning and ending of life, but also of greatest security concludes the poem.
This poem works for me on many levels and I interpret it according to my version of reality.
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