We lightened the December gloom at this meeting with some beautiful imagery and touching sentiments (but not sentimentality), but began with a local poem inspired by a couple of the monuments in the city. The poem was called ‘Statues in the Park’ and referred to the statues of Isaac Watts and Robert Andrews (one of our historic mayors) that stand in 2 of our most beautiful parks. If you live in Southampton then you will know that the city is famous for its impressive Victorian parks, but sometimes we don’t quite notice the statues.
Ted Hughes’ ‘Fingers’ taken from the Birthday Letters changed the tone, and the ‘Evening’ sequence from Milton’s Paradise Lost elevated it to new heights. ‘Island Man’, by Grace Nichols returned us to melancholy personal detail. Cecil Day Lewis’s ‘Walking Away’ was, we thought, beautifully expressed and controlled, while the first 20 lines of the 14th century poem ‘Pearl’, by the Gawain-poet demonstrated both the beauty and the complexity of medieval poetry.
We will meet again on 5th January 2012, so Merry Christmas!
Ted Hughes’ ‘Fingers’ taken from the Birthday Letters changed the tone, and the ‘Evening’ sequence from Milton’s Paradise Lost elevated it to new heights. ‘Island Man’, by Grace Nichols returned us to melancholy personal detail. Cecil Day Lewis’s ‘Walking Away’ was, we thought, beautifully expressed and controlled, while the first 20 lines of the 14th century poem ‘Pearl’, by the Gawain-poet demonstrated both the beauty and the complexity of medieval poetry.
We will meet again on 5th January 2012, so Merry Christmas!
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