I apologise for my long absence; I had A Level exams which are now completed and so I can focus on what I love most again. One a day from now on until I catch up! I had forgotten I was doing the Dymock poets, and was about to study a Catullus poem or two, but that will have to wait!
So John Drinkwater. He joined the poets when Abercrombie wrote a good review of his poems. He also wrote plays during the period. He became close friends with Robert Brooke, but when he died three years after in 1915, the whole group were saddened, and began to fall apart, as others died too.
The poem I have chosen today seems to fit the nature bill, and is also very apt for today (at least where I live) as summer has not yet arrived, according to the rain clouds.
Her blue and golden boon,
Yet now at length she stayeth
Her wings above the noon;
She sets the waters dreaming
To murmurous leafy tones,
The weeded waters gleaming
Above the stepping-stones.
Where fern and ivied willow
Lean o'er the seaward brook,
I read a volume mellow—
A poet's fairy-book;
The seaward brook is narrow,
The hazel spans its pride,
And like a painted arrow
The king-bird keeps the tide.
This poem casts up images of grey days that for a few lovely moments are dispersed with a gleam of sunshine, lifting the spirits of all who witness. Thus, the poet has personified both 'summer' and the nature affected by it; the waters are 'dreaming', which is an interesting, languid image, perhaps evoking the sleepy feeling of relaxing in the sunshine. The idea that the sun affects the sound of the water is also intriguing. Drinkwater might be implying that our perspective of the world is changed by the weather, for one might listen to the water in a more peaceful vein if relaxed by the sun. Without this, it might sound cold and uninviting, I suppose.
There is also the image of nature mixing. The willow is 'ivied', inventing a perfect participle to make the tree appear matched with the ivy, perhaps as a partner. The adjective 'seaward' denotes the fact that the stream which he sits by leads on to greater things, although it may only be 'narrow' now. This latter adjective is the juxtaposed with the verb 'spans' on the next line, again suggesting summer lets us stretch outside our natural habitats.
The final couplet are a little more of a mystery to me. I am assuming that my literal reading of a bird keeping a tide is not what is intended/ possible, and yet I do not know what the metaphor could imply. I have found that kingbirds are insect- eating birds, and so as it hunts it must appear as an 'arrow'. Perhaps Drinkwater wanted to give the only animal in the poem a little more power over the flora, and so personified it to be in charge of its hunting ground.
Overall, this is an evocative poem, recalling sweet summer days, which we all await through the seasons. The lilting rhythm of the poem (7 syllables, 6 syllables) adds to the relaxed tone, mimicking the timelessness that summer brings.
So John Drinkwater. He joined the poets when Abercrombie wrote a good review of his poems. He also wrote plays during the period. He became close friends with Robert Brooke, but when he died three years after in 1915, the whole group were saddened, and began to fall apart, as others died too.
The poem I have chosen today seems to fit the nature bill, and is also very apt for today (at least where I live) as summer has not yet arrived, according to the rain clouds.
Late Summer
Though summer long delayethHer blue and golden boon,
Yet now at length she stayeth
Her wings above the noon;
She sets the waters dreaming
To murmurous leafy tones,
The weeded waters gleaming
Above the stepping-stones.
Where fern and ivied willow
Lean o'er the seaward brook,
I read a volume mellow—
A poet's fairy-book;
The seaward brook is narrow,
The hazel spans its pride,
And like a painted arrow
The king-bird keeps the tide.
This poem casts up images of grey days that for a few lovely moments are dispersed with a gleam of sunshine, lifting the spirits of all who witness. Thus, the poet has personified both 'summer' and the nature affected by it; the waters are 'dreaming', which is an interesting, languid image, perhaps evoking the sleepy feeling of relaxing in the sunshine. The idea that the sun affects the sound of the water is also intriguing. Drinkwater might be implying that our perspective of the world is changed by the weather, for one might listen to the water in a more peaceful vein if relaxed by the sun. Without this, it might sound cold and uninviting, I suppose.
There is also the image of nature mixing. The willow is 'ivied', inventing a perfect participle to make the tree appear matched with the ivy, perhaps as a partner. The adjective 'seaward' denotes the fact that the stream which he sits by leads on to greater things, although it may only be 'narrow' now. This latter adjective is the juxtaposed with the verb 'spans' on the next line, again suggesting summer lets us stretch outside our natural habitats.
The final couplet are a little more of a mystery to me. I am assuming that my literal reading of a bird keeping a tide is not what is intended/ possible, and yet I do not know what the metaphor could imply. I have found that kingbirds are insect- eating birds, and so as it hunts it must appear as an 'arrow'. Perhaps Drinkwater wanted to give the only animal in the poem a little more power over the flora, and so personified it to be in charge of its hunting ground.
Overall, this is an evocative poem, recalling sweet summer days, which we all await through the seasons. The lilting rhythm of the poem (7 syllables, 6 syllables) adds to the relaxed tone, mimicking the timelessness that summer brings.
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