List of the Contents of Nicholas Hagger’s poetic works, short stories and other literary works

Collected PoemsList of poems in Contents

Preface to Collected Poems xliiiPreface on the New Baroque Consciousness and the Redefinition of Poetry as Classical

Baroquexlv

Introductory Note by the Poet lxxvii

1. A Well of Truth 1958–1963Dear Sir 1A Dream So Vague 1Why So Dejected? 1Lines Written in the Depths of Despair 2Epitaph 2I Knew a Boy 2Medusa 2On Being Accused of Emotional Materialism, i.e. Of Knowing What He Wants 3The Oath 3A Life’s Theme in an Image (A Fragment of a Destroyed Poem) 3The Double 3Stallion 4At the Grave’s Edge (A Fragment) 4Angels 5On Revisiting the Greek Islands 6Elegy on a Neglected Graveyard in Sciathos 6Chopped-Up Pentameters 6Blind 7I Will Call On My Love Again 7Young and Old 7The House of Unreason 8Two Songs from The Molten Owl’s Song 8The Persistent Woman 8Ode to a Prospect from a Window Frame 9Nudity of Heavens and Man 9Externals 10Two Men Hanged 10Beauty 11The Lone Sailsman in Exile 11Stratford 11Lament of the Farrash 11The New Man 11Faces of the Ages 12Sunday Morning 12Chiaroscuro 13

Sun-Light 13Earthquake 13Notes 13

2. A Stone Torch-Basket 1963–1965The Expatriate (A Dramatic Monologue set in Japan) 14

I. Wheel 14II. Mirror 15III. Cinders 15IV. Dawn 16

The Seventeenth Century Pilgrim 16Binsey Green 17And Scholars Will Ask 17Odi Et Amo 17The Nomad 17The Priest Refuses Death 18Twilight (First Version) 18Twilight (Second Version) 18The Oceanographer at Night 19Postscript to Bruegel in Tokyo: Dream and Reality 19Winter in Nara (An Investigation of the Relation between Culture and Death, Civilisation

and Eternity)20

Christ of the Sea-Spray 21Song of Three Thames-Daughters 22Notes 22

3. The Early Education and Making of a Mystic 1965–1966The Early Education and Making of a Mystic 24

1. Folkestone 242. Holy Grey 243. 3Cricket Captain 254. New Year’s Eve Dance 255. History like the Rushing Dee 266. Corps Camp 267. Murder in the Dark 278. Leaving School 279. Etna 2710. Office Love 2811. The London Hell 2812. A Destiny 2913. The Underground Dead 2914. An Awakening in London 2915. Crimes and Virtues 3016. The Power by the Lake 3117. The Cricket Club Dance 3118. A Tearful Surrender 3219. Hitch-Hiking back from Greece 3220. A Twirled Stem 3321. Drugtaking 3322. A Coffined Counterpane 3423. A Grubby Soul 34

24. An Amateur Fortune-Teller 3525. Bookstealing 3526. Private Eye 3627. An Isaiah Infected 3628. Smallpox Alley, Baghdad 3629. A Priest at the Ambassador’s 3730. Dover Sole and a Whistle 3731. Three Closenesses 3832. Quarrel with a Friend 3833. A Death 3934. The Splitting of the Dark at the Strawberry Hill Pond 3935. Demiurge among the Bikinis 4036. Advice to a Student 4037. An American Professor 4038. Paradise Valley 4139. A Garden Temple 4140. Satori 4241 Andrizesthe 4342.A Vast Palace and a Chiming Clock 43

Notes 44

4. The Silence 1965–1966The Silence 45

I. Dying: Shadow 45II. In the Underworld: Moon on the Northern Dead 51III. Rising: Reflection on the Clouded Ground 65

Notes 79

5. The Wings and the Sword 1966–1969Archangel 87Blighty 94An Inner Home 97The Conductor (Or: At The Royal Albert Hall) 98Two Moral Letters after Horace 99An Epistle to an Admirer of Oliver Cromwell (Advice to a Young Revolutionary going into

Politics) 99

Epistle to His Imperial Highness, on His Birthday 102A Well-Glazed Jar (A Fragment) 104A Heresy 105A Shrub and Smiling Leaders 105The Rubbish Dump at Nobe, Japan (An Investigation of Nature and History, Pattern and

Meaning) 106

Haikus 107Tankas 107Sakura-Ba 107A Chambermaid Lies on the Beach in a White Mini and Laments 107An Incense Cone Burns in a Storm 108Blood in the Eye 108Night: Cathedral and Tower 108I Have Seen 108High over Calcutta: A Castle in Spain 109

Steamed Up 109A Poet Reads the Fire 109The Greenfly and the Money Spiders 110Storm and Fire 110Johnson McViters 110A Small Boy looks ahead during his Summer Holidays 110Nonsense Rhymes for Children 111Barbary Shores (The Exile) 112Notes 113

6. Old Man in a Circle 1967Old Man in a Circle 116

I. Uncleanness after the Sunset 116II. Purging under the Moon 121III. Dawn over Mount Brocken 125

Savonarola (A Fragment) 128Notes 128

7. The Gates of Hell 1969–1972Orpheus Across the Frontier 131Providence Which Takes 131A Banged Door and a Strong Gin-Punch 132Well, Dried Grasses, Dead Butterfly 132Lump like a Cannon-Stone 132Two Damnations 133Sparkling Pavements and Red Rose-Hips 133Hopeless 133A Nothingness 134The Death of Ought 134Feast: Skull on a Beach 134Marquess 135Geisha 135Muffin Man 135Gates of Hell 136Au Revoir 136A Wheeled-Away Staircase 136The Good-Bye 136Wrecked 137Despair like Bellbind 137A Small Girl’s Curfew 137A Drowning in Anguish 138Cairo 138Way of Loss 138Ghadames Spring (Poems like Bubbles) 138Eurydice Lost: Expectation and a Tear 139The Fall 139The Spectre 139Like a Fruit Machine 140Danger 140A Death of Sorts 140On the Waterfront 140

The Escape 141Kingdom of Windows 141Oran: Hell Remembered Again 141Despair 142Rain and Sun: A Being like a Snowstorm 142Faces in Smoke 142Chamber in Hell 143Throne 143Me 143Thinking Cold 144Sailor 144The Wind 144Orpheus-Philoctetes at High Beach 144Three, two, one. Aging: An Autumn Leaf and Holly 145The Overcoat 145The Wreck 145Leaking 146The Hour of Butterflies 146Dictator 146Full-Time Lovers 146The Sacrifice 147Journey’s End 147October Sea; Abyss 147Room like a Merry-Go-Round 148To Think! 148My Hell 148Love like Willow 149My Shopwindow 149Weathervane and Wind 149Christmas: Feathers and a White Bedspread 149January 150Knot 150Frost on the Tongue 151Traitors’ Gate 151Orpheus-Prometheus in the Blackweir Region of Hell 151Lost Calm 151Summer Fatigue 152Disentangled 152Heart 152Flow: Moon and Sea 152Visions: Golden Flower, Celestial Curtain 153More Visions: The Judge 153Visions: The Pit and the Moon 153Visions: Shield of God 154Flowers in the Soul 154Orpheus: Holy Fool 154Fever: Fire and Mercury 154December 4th 155An Amputated Limb 155February Budding, Half Term 155A Stolen Hour 156

March: Crocuses 156Hell, March 156Miniature Rose 156Law of the Seed 157A Glacier in the Heart 157The Void and the Snowdrop 157Pure Water of Eternity 157Self-Planting Corn, Graveyard Hawthorn 158Bruised Plum 158Time and Eternity (First Version) 158Visions: Raid on the Gold Mine 159The Furnace 159Vision: Snatched by God, a Blue Light 159Vision: Love like a Grid 159Rose, Golden 160Red Rose and Potato-Peeler 160Ivy and Rainbow 160Tattershall 161The Meaning of Life 161Obida (Hurt) 161Under a Muslin Net 161Guy Fawkes Night 162Shooting 162Hope and Fear 162Next Morning: Sunrise and Smoked Glass 163Tagetes like Shopgirls 163Possibilities: Dead Leaves and Oak 164A Bathroom Mirror and a Shadow 164Will like a Mountain Peak 164Mirroring: An Ache like a Ripple 164Birthday like a Gong 165Starless Caves and Starlit Beach 165Nature like Meccano 165Standard: Christmas 166Gagged 166Face 166Blackheath Fog 167Eyes That See Through The Dark 167A Tongue at Low Tide 167Fire like an Adder’s Tongue 168Jealous Oath 168A Woman like Thunder 168Pleasantries like Crowbars 169The Wind that is Wild 169Dreams like Haggard Faces 170Three 170A Past like Shaving Lather 170The Rainbow in the Water Shower 171Wheat Germ 171A Pond like a Well 171Delilah of the Sidewalks 171

Justice like a Clown’s Kiss 172Success 172Life like Lilac 172The Midas Touch 173Mephistopheles 173Sea-Wails 173Masks 174Sunbathing 174Fountain 174Thistles 175Angles 175The Pearl 175The Code 176

Six Songs to be Set to Music:Breaking 176Kentish Girl (A Ballad) 177Song: I Can’t Count The Red Sun 177Time To End It All 178Song: The Orange Lady 178Black Chestnut 178Notes 179

8. The Flight 1970The Flight 181

I. A Green Country 181II. Chamber in Hell 183III. Waves on the Shingle 186IV. Gull over a Clay Pyramid 187

Notes 190

9. A Bulb in Winter 1972–1974Carnations 191Fragment 191Carving Knife 191On the Death, caused by the Israeli Bombing of Damascus, of a Norwegian UN

Observer, his Wife and Child192

Scar 192Sand 193Nets 193Sweet and Sour (On Memnos) 193Your Brother 194A Tree that is Wild 194Snowman 194Doctor 194Heavy in Heart (Leaves Falling) 195Bulbs 195The Singer 196The Sun (Remembrance Day) 196When I Am Old 197Violets 197

Time 197Years like Ashes 198Cold Men, A Cold Sky 198Taoists 199I Am Risen 199Society: The Spring in my Being 199Providence 199Toad-Like 200Time like a Well-Shut Album 200Key 200You Who 201Certificate 201Séance for a Dead Woman 201The Heart of a Violet 202See-Saw 202Ode: Spring 202A Buried Heart 202Jigsaw 203Clean 203The Yellowhammer 203Treasure Trove 204Yew 204Integrated Studies 204Knight 204The Waterfall Stopped and Cried 205Copper Fountain 205Golden City 205Eternity Ring 206Night: Silence and Sea (A Second Honeymoon) 206At Battle: Violent Event, Serene Nature 206Caves 206At Bognor 207Closed 207Shrivelled 207Silent Pool 208Chased 208Breakwater 208Trap 208Trunks 209Fire and Waterfall 209Common Entrance 209Ode to Solzhenitsyn 209Back and Forth (A Budget of Flowers) (First Version) 210Back and Forth (A Budget of Flowers) (Second Version) 210Bird on the Spring 210Half Way Through 211Urn 211A Bitter Pill 211Painting 212My Bird 212Ice 212

Walking Stick 213Gift like a Flutter 213The Graveyard 213A Pear 213Peace 214Goldfish 214Arundel 214Pain 215A Chill like Smoke 215A Feeling like an Acorn 215Water Music 215Migrations 216Rhododendron 216The Undefeated 216Notes 216

10. The Pilgrim in the Garden 1973–1974In Marvell’s Garden, at Nun Appleton 220Westminster Abbey 221At Stoke D’Abernon 222Tattershall Castle 223Worcester College and Port Meadow Revisited 224Royal Victoria Hotel, St. Leonard’s 225Dunford House 226Stanhope Gardens 227Century House: On a Patriot (Or: On the Unfortunate Necessity of Governments 228High Beach Church 229Sompting Abbotts 230Chester Court, Sussex Square 231Journey’s End (13th Elegy) 232Strawberry Hill 232Porthleven 233Brompton Oratory 234Hill Place 235The Royal Observatory, Greenwich 237Loughton Methodist Church 238Chigwell School 239Queen Charlotte’s Hospital 242Our Lady of Victories 244Brechin Place 245Notes 246

11. The Night Sea-Crossing 1974Blind Churchill to the Night 249The Night-Sea Crossing (A Symphonic Poem in Sonata Form) 250Notes 259

12. Visions Near the Gates of Paradise 1974–1975Remembrance Day 260A Trunk and a Heart Attack 260St. Lucies Day 260

The Swing 261The Pyramid 261Lantern 261Houses like Talents 261The Lock 262Stinging the Beehive 262A Klaeber Among Women 262Power like an Overcoat 263Fencing: Two Selves 263Naughting 263Baby 263Swingalongamax 264City of Destruction 264The Way Opens 264The Blind 265Generations 265Recurrence 265A Sheikh in his Harem 265Southwark Cathedral 266God 266Electricity 266Backward Images 267Seed 267Cherry Blossom 267Sunday 268Man and Nature: Renewal 268Providence like a Pentagram 268Black Shoes, Blue Socks 269Care 269Robbery 269C Sharp, F Sharp 269The Valentine 270Evil like Hurdles 270If 270The Summons 271Life 271Paradise 271Victoria Station 272The Ruin 272Headstone of the Temple 273Springcleaning 273The Now 273Poems like Vases 273Pilgrims’ Pavement (In Canterbury Cathedral) 274A Waking 274A Boiling Sea 274The Keep (On an Anniversary) 275Seed of God 275Sacrifice 275The Purpose of Life 276De-Frosting 276

At-One-Ment 276The Call 276The Way Really Opens (To an M.P.) 277Church like a Tree 277The Wind that Bloweth 277The Spiral Whirl 278Women like the Wind 278A Kyrielle at Easter 278A Sixty-Four Thousand Pound Ruin 279The Windmill 279The Newly Dead 279Sculptors 279Forgiveness like a Gardener 280Light like the Ocean 280Perhaps like a Butterfly 280Swallowtail by the Stream 281Hostages from the Bridge 281A Joyful Sob 281Circuit 281Apples on an Invisible Tree 282Splinters in the Flesh 282A Vision Near the Gates of Paradise 282Notes 283

13. The Four Seasons 1975The Four Seasons 284

Summer 286Autumn 290Winter 294Spring 299

Notes 306

14. Lighthouse 1975Lighthouse 307

I. Storm Wind and Lamp Fire 308II. Waves over the Watch-Tower 310III. The Breaking of the Cloud 313

Notes 314

15. The Weed Garden 1975The Weed Garden 315

1. The Soul in Autumn 3162. How the Summer Ended 3193. A Thought for Winter 3224. Lily for a Distant Spring 325

Notes 330

16. The Labyrinth 1976The Labyrinth 331Notes 335

17. Whispers from the West 1976–1979A Quarter Past Four 336The Moon (On our Second Anniversary) 336Nets in Drizzle 336Fall Out 337At Roche Chapel 337Lightning over Polruan 337Lady of Garian 338Trenarren 338Arthur’s Innocence 338The Broken Marriage-Picture 339The Shell 339Worldly Power 339To a Serviceman on Frontier Duty in Germany, A Reply 340Sindy 340My Flat Little Mouse 340Evil like Wind-Blown Leaves 341A Tidal Wave and Migrating Swallows 341Angels near a Fairground Hell 341Love like a Length of Cloth 342Lament of the Cast-Off Shirt 342Like a Tin of Fly Spray 342A Shadow and a Butterfly 343Girls like Crocuses 343A Broken Curtain-Rail and the Light 343A Crash and Candlelight 344A Boo-oom and an Undeaf Ear 344Souls in Nuts and Bars 344A Ruined Tower and Grubby Souls 345Soft Fingers and Stabbing Lead (Or: A Barber like an Embalmer) 345Snow 346God like a Television Lever 346Dancing Wraiths 347Poor Souls 347Re-Run 348Perhaps, My Love 348Providence 348A Telephone Call and a Tent 349A Morning Thing (Or: Love like a Furtive Sin) 349Hospital Garden 349A First-Class Citizen 350Spectre of a Cloud 350A Naughty Fish and a Cat 350Blackbird in the Gardens 351My Typist and a Tuppenceworth 351Sparks from a Muse 352Fins 352Totterings 352Telephones 353The Entryphone 353

A Sedan-Chair and Dorset Rocks 353Funeral like an Eel in a Green Sea 353Decisions 354We Two Are Three 354Freedom like a Constant Wife 354Russian Cross 355A Coat of Arms 355A Shower of Pussy Willow and Hazel Catkins 356Words like Ditches 356Ritual like a Knight’s Candlelight 356Ambassador of the Eternal 357Moon 357A Plasticine Soul 357Bank Balance like an Honest Wife 357The Elysian Club 358Squandering Time 358New Powers 359Form like a Radiator 359Bringing Evil Down 360Cold War 360Fly-Wheeled Away 361The Heart of Celery 361Time a Minute Away 361Wind in a War Cemetery 362Near Cabourg 362A Wish by Water 362Heaven: Glass like the Windows of a Soul 363The Present Moment (Or: Being) 363Is There a God? Is There a Sun? 364Rapt 364Tankas 365

1. Mind like Broken Glass 3652. Serene 3653. Illusions 3654. A Humpty Dumpty Man 3655. Daisy Chain 365

Haikus 365A Mallard and a Law of Nature 365Two-thirty a.m.: Parenthood 366Driftwood Girls 367Communities like Apples 367Tradition like a Splendid Wall 367After the Eclipse 368Illusions like Cotton Wool 368Volcano 368Gold 369Gargoyle 369The Disgust of Death 369Souls like Pigeons 370Pollen 370A Muscular Sensibility 370

No Pros 371Overflow 371Ghost Town 371Energy Techniques 372Wistful Time-Travellers (First Version) 372Leaves that Feed 373Winter Wind 374A Flowering 374Westerners and Desire: A Dialogue between Body and Soul (Or: Between the Maenads

and Orpheus)374

A Finger of Lightning 375Illusions like Blossom 375The Price of a House 376The Fall of the West 377Grass and Brambles, Pulsing 379April Daffodils 379Tanka 379A Tin-Lid Mind 380Skeleton 380Crested Newt 380The Consolation 381The Height of the West 381Fallen London 381Decay 382Guest, Guessed 382Garden (On the Third Anniversary) 382The Sea-Crossing 382Imagination: Tree of Candles 383Robin in Snow 383A Robin looks at Humankind 383Wasp, Buzzing 384Source 384Strawberry Hill Pond 385Tooting Fair 386Wet Rot 386Vitality Globules 386Eagle 386Bee 387Crab 387Head 387Prison 387Philoctetes Detached 388Wobblings 388Suns 388A Frosty Grave 389Discoverer 389Tanka 389Frail Western Cities 389Eternity Caught 390Stillness within Motion 390Lopping Time 390

Plant 390Sun, Shade 391Time’s Mowing-Machine 391Singing Birds 391Fly 391Creation 391Snow, Ice 392Beyond the Veil 392Bobbing Law 392Life that Might Have Been 392Urn, Time 393The Teleport 393Fifth Anniversary 393The Sea is Wild 393Fingers of Providence 394Notes 394

18. Lady of the Lamp 1979Lady of the Lamp 398

1. Rapt in a Hotel Room 3982. Light from a Warm House 3983. Like an Earth-Mother 3984. My Soul 3995. A Bee-Like Soul 3996. The Burden 3997. Glass Goldfish 3998. The Shell 4009. Lord with a Sword 40010. Eurydice 40011. Blindfolds: Lady of the Lamp 40012. Near-Wife 40113. Ten Wives 40114. Breaststroke, Drowning 40115. Greyness 40216. The Mask 40217. Dream Cottage 40218. Secret Place 40219. Chaffinch Song 40320. Enemy 40321. Horseshoe 40322. Blowlamp 40423. Web 40424. Sea of Light 40425. Portrait 40426. Blue Tit 40527. The Mugger 40528. Kerb-Crawling 40529. Curate 40630. Barrier 40631. Wilderness 40632. Swan-Upping 406

33. Warm Fire 40734. The Challenge 40735. Encampment 40736. Dustpan 40837. Solitude 40838. Door 40839. Stalemate 40840. Mutiny 40941. Softness 40942. Parting 40943. Cushion 41044. Mariner 41045. Friendships 41046. Ivy and Oak 41047. Locket 41148. Taoist Lady 41149. Nun 41150. World like a Wife 41251. Kite 41252. Tribunal 41253. Immobility 41254. Snowman, Melted 41355. Neglected 413

Notes 413

19. The Fire-Flower 1980Preface on the Metaphysical Revolution 415A Metaphysical in Marvell’s Garden 424A Crocus in the Churchyard 425Fire-Void (A Rubbish Dump at Nobe, Japan: An Investigation of Nature and History,

Pattern and Meaning)426

Sea-Fire 427A Mystic Fire-Potter’s Red Sun-Halo 428An Aesthete’s ‘Golden’ Artefacts 429Pear-Ripening House 430Clouded-Ground Pond 431Two Variations on One Theme 431

1. Time and Eternity (Second Version) 4312. The Bride of Time 432

A Stonemason’s Flower-Bowl 433An Obscure Symbolist’s Rock-Tree 433The Tree of Imagination 435Firethorn 436A Temple-Dancer’s Temple-Sleep 437A Metaphysical’s Light-Mandala 439The Fire-Flower 440Notes 442

20. Quartet: Beauty and Angelhood 1981Beauty and Angelhood

1. High Leigh 457

2. Hawkwood 4583. Kent House 4594. St. Peter’s Convent 460

Notes 461

21. The Wind and the Earth 1981The Wind and the Earth 476

1. Reddening Leaves 4762. Rosy Cheeks, Blurred Eyes 4763. Nothing Said 4764. African Violet 4775. Turnip Lanterns 4776. Chill Fingers 4777. A Shaken Head 4778. Moaning Wind 4789. Lost Light 47810. Crack in the Earth 47811. Heart like a Stopped Clock 47912. A Flickering Candle 47913. Lamb and Rose 47914. Fire: Sparks 47915. Frost-Burn 48016. The Fingers that Plucked the Strings 48017. Memory, Phone Line 48018. A Spray of Fern 48019. A Thread to the Rafters 48120. Smoke 48121. Wind-Chaser 48122. Beethoven 48223. Sacrificed Life 48224. Black Bags, White Cards 48225. Grieving 48226. Wedding Ring 48327. Christening Dress 48328. A Paper Wasps’ Nest 48329. Scattered 48330. White Blanket 48431. Photo Album: Question and Answer 48432. A Thaw 48433. Love like Frosty Air 48534. Leaves in the Hair 48535. Like a Roman Coin 48536. Violin Soul 48537. Earth 48638. Urn like a Nest 48639. Cinders 48640. Chinese Table: Rose of Light 48741. Privacy 48742. Tortoiseshell Clock 48743. Violin Sighs 48744. Invisible Body 488

45. Saint 48846. No One Has Rung 48847. Imagining 48948. Shout 48949. Lurch 48950. Toadstools and Puffballs 48951. Brittle Leaves 49052. Reduction 49053. Forget-Me-Nots 49054. Chrysalis 49155. Stone 49156. Toy Soldiers 49157. Ghosts 49158. Still Mind 49259. Ash 49260. Head-Scarf 49261. Wind-Dancer 49362. Call 493

Notes 493

22. A Rainbow in the Spray 1981–1985Crab-Fishing on a Boundless Deep 494The Royal Masonic Hospital: The Nut within the Sun 495Cambridge Ode: Against Materialism (Or: Newton’s Enlightenment) 495Garden of Organism 498Night Visions in Charlestown (An Ode) 499On the Death of Aunt Flo (Sonnets) 501

1. Dead Cheek 5012. Kestrels 5023. Evening Star 5024. Meteorite 5025. Stream and Sea 5026. Watching Smoke 5037. Grain 5038. Snake Skin 503

A Fountain of Stars: The Universe in Love 503At Penquite House, Near St. Sampson’s 504Passion Play 505Copped Hall 505The Tide 506At Hatfield House 507Fragment: Being Dammed 507An Infinity of Universes (A Fragment) 507Multiplicity: A Nightmare (A Fragment) 507Multiplicity: Through the Mirror 508Multiplicity: Between Bathroom Mirrors 508Dialogue between Body and Soul 508A Woman’s Heart 509Chariot-Race 509When I Die 509Goldfinch 509

Flowers from a Shell 509At Greenfield Farmhouse 510Greenfield 511Glass-Blowing: Flower 511Lock-Gate at Fort Augustus: Back to our Source 511The Bagpiper 512Iona: Silence 512Staffa: Wind 513At Findhorn 513The Massacre at Culloden 514Letter to Wordsworth 515Letter to Beatrix Potter 515Sea Force 516Sea-Rescues: Death like a Cormorant 516Dark from Polkerris (A Fragment) 517At Tintagel: St. Juliot and Merlin 517Hauling up Nets in Mount’s Bay: Divine Plan 518Mist: Lungs, Waves 519Clouds Hill 519Quiet 520Sportsmen, Mists 520Insouciance 520At West Ham: Saved by an Artist 520Orpheus (A Dramatic Monologue) 522Bristol Fighter 522Rainbow Land 523Man the Polluter 523After the Storms 523Dead Voice 524Thoughtless Boy 524Athene the Wise 524Ten Years 524Wind-Harp and Wind-Veins 524Sunrise and Clarinet 525Orpheus to Eurydice (A Soul-and-Body Sequence) 525Lock-Gate 527Time Compressed (Or: A Universe like Sparkles from a Wave) 528Lights like Driving Rain 528Raindrops like Stars (Or: Warmth on a Dewdrop Earth) 528Still Clouds and Whirling Stars (Or: A Hole in an Eggshell Universe) 529Veins 529Blue Up, Brown Down 529Crystal: Rainbows 530Rainbow Vision 530Worthing 530Need 530Star-Gazing 531Illusion and Reality 531Bats Flitting 532A Blind and a Kink 532As Without So Within 532

The Flight of the Shaman 532Sunflowers and a Godless Society 533Tease 533Sculptor at Château Montfort 533Channel Crossing 533The Merry-Go-Round 534On the Channel 534Stars like Bees and Petals 534A Universe of Glowing Seed 534In Périgord 535Reason like a Boat 537Will like a Kite 537Tamed Ponies 538Consciousness 538Something Discarded in the Sand 538Rod-Fishing 539Words Spent like Waves 539Moments like Waves 539Cerberus 539The Regeneration of the Creative West 540Soon not see the Sun 540The Wonder of the West: At Goonhilly 541The Divine 541At Gunwalloe 541At Porthleven: All One 542Wisdom (Fragment) 542Tin-Mine and Hawk 542Ilfracombe 542Rough Stones like Monks 543Trevarthian Revisited 543Lettice 543At Geevor Tin-Mine 544At Pendeen Lighthouse 544Fire: Senses 544Drips of Light 545Oaklands: Oak Tree 545With Harold at Waltham 545Greensted Church: Martyr 546Hallooing in Fog 547Pilgrim’s Flight 547White Daisy 548Astronomy and Order 548Cathedral of Poetry 549At Dark Age Jorvik: The Light of Civilisation 549Everyday Life and Economics: Past Lives 550Soul like a Magpie 551Snow, Hair 551Notes 551

23. Question Mark over the West 1986–1988Fountain of Ice 560

Oxford Revisited 560Question Mark over the West 561Cotswolds: Winter Four-Sidedness 562Ode: Counter Renaissance 563At Dove Cottage 565At Blea Tarn House 566The Artist 567lnner Power 567The Power within the Mind (Or: At Aira Force Waterfall) 567The Guide of Meaning (Or: The Quicksands of Meaninglessness) 568At Cartmel Priory: Taming the Unicorn 569The Victim of Terrorism (A Fragment) 570Morris Dancers 570In Shakespeare’s Stratford: The Nature of Art 570Castles in the Air 573Windmill 574Weeping Willows 574Shadows 575Warm Rain 575Bluebell Wood 575Ice-Skating 576Split Pine and Pine-Cones 576Squirrel on the Lawn 576A Death in the Boat 576At Gunwalloe: The Tao 577The Fishermen: God’s Plan 577Bats 578Dazzling Glare 578Cloud of Unknowing 578In Gough’s Cavern, Cheddar 578Paper like a Tongue 579By the Chalice Well, Glastonbury (A Contemplation) 579The Romantic Revolution 582Gog and Magog 582Hedgehog in the Wild 583A Pilgrim in Europe 583St. Olaf’s Church 586Dried Spring 586Full Moon on the Pennines 586Near Barham 587Visit to a Philosopher (A Fragment) 587Reality in Legoland 588The Metaphysical Conductor 588A Viking Inheritance 589Long Barrow at Lejre 589Centre of the Maze 590At Gilbjerg: Kierkegaard the Romantic 590At Jelling (A Fragment) 591Vikings and the Sea 591At Charlestown 591Time and Eternity: A Cross of Light 591

Spur Dog and Philosopher 592Out on the Alone, or, The Mystery of Being 592Gravity 593Christmas 593Christingle 594A Stroke from the Dark (Or: Mind in a Brain X-Ray) 594A Gardener in Heaven 595From the Cobb, Lyme Regis, 1988 (Or: 400 Years On) 595Family Gatherings 595At Polruan Castle, a 15th Century Blockhouse 596Moonlight 596On Eliot’s Church 596The Dead Poet Bids Farewell to his Mourners 596A Home like a Nest 597Notes 597

24. A Sneeze in the Universe 1989–1992The Artist and Fame 602Maturing Love and Vision (Or: The 85 Year Old Orpheus to any Woman) 602Shingle Streaked with Tar 602A Business Walk by the Sea 603Chain and Padlock: Time and Forgotten Years 603Thought between Gorran Pier and Charlestown Sea 603Images at Twilight: Emperor to Sun-Goddess 604Prince Toad 604Pump and Brain Downstairs 605Easter Sunday 605Toil 606Being’s Shout 606Charlestown in Motion 606A Cold in the Heart 606A Summer’s Day, A Horrible Event 607Dancing Universe 607House Martins in the Dock 608Silence 608Under the Stars 608An Evangelist’s Instant Salvation 609Angels and Paradise: Question and Answer 609Brezhnev to Gorbachev 610Donkey Derby 610Parachutist 610Ben Nevis: Cloud of Unknowing 610Spring, Brain 611Charlestown: Moon and Meteorite Trails 612Up the Tamar 612Two Swans 612Universe 613The Church of Storms 613At Gunwalloe: Light 613Light like Fish 613Run Aground 614

Pale Fire (A Fragment) 614Pale Fire 614Coupling: Space 615Elemental Sea 615Invisible Foam 615Stillness and Tides 615Candleflame Storm 616A Man of Winds and Tides 616Being as a Ripple or Two 616Gnosis: The Nature of the Self (Or: Brain Mind; Heart, Soul; Spark, Spirit) 617Skylark and Foam 618Consciousness like a Pond 618In Budapest Old City 618Danube: Ball and Chain 618Willow-Warblers 619Western Men and Isis 619A Crystal 619Metaphysical-Physical (Or: Orpheus-Tammuz, Serene among the Maenads) 620Wistful Time-Travellers (Second Version) 620Snow, Peace 621Ode: Spider’s Web: Our Local Universe in an Infinite Whole 621Tinkling: Being like a Breeze 624Abbot of the Spring 624Two Tombs: Life within Death 624Sparkles in an Infinite Sea 624Rippling One 625At Polruan Blockhouse: Soul and Body 625At Gunwalloe: Calm and Serene 625At Porthleven 626Tall-Masted Ships and Woodpeckers 626Reflection and Reality: Peak Experiences and Tidal Consciousness 626Spring, Monk 630A Shooting Star (Or: Universe: Hostile and Friendly) 630Calvary: A Pure Being goes under the Earth 631Smeaton’s Tower and Western Civilisation 632Bumble-Bee: Correspondence 633Polkerris-Kerris 633Lyonesse: Being like Submerged Land 633Shadow on the Cliff 634Night Winds: Dozing 634Cathedral 634Gulls: A Cloud of Being 635Lepers’ Abbey 635The Universe in Motion, and a Still 635Lightning over the Sea 636A Gold Being, Glowing 636At the Ballowall Barrow 636Dandelion 636Mermaid of Zennor 637Ancient Village: Our Skilled Tin-Panning Ancestors 637A Moon with a Halo 637

Cleansed Senses and a Tinkling, Rustling Green 637Eternity 638Mechanised Motion and Nature 638Fire within the Globe 638Harvest Moon and a Cheer 638Image and Reality: Street-Lamp and Sun in Mist 639War and Peace 639At Kabuki: The Flower of Culture 639Flower (Yugen) 639Children like Fruit 640Copper Beech: Fountain and Fire 640The Divine Breath 640We Two are Clouds 640Two Clouds 641Full Moon 641Orange Tree 641An Old Cornish Lady Glimpses Reality 642Rainbow 642Reflection and Reality 642Bare Tree 642Separate Clouds 643Tube 643Snowdrop Drooping 643Sunlight 643Mystery 644Fragments about the Universe 644Stepping-Stones 644Gig-Racing 644The One and the Many 645Moon and Tide 645Hooded Falcon 645Still and Moving: Moon and Eyes 646Wind, Walls 646Young and Old: Noise and Stealth 646What if Gravity Snapped? 646Notes 647

25. A Flirtation with the Muse 1992–1993Christine Carpenter to the World 652The Artist, Enclosed 652Hesitation 652Anticipation and Regret 653Quatrefoil: Mirror Images 653Stepping-Stones 653Healing Muse: Images 654A Free Spirit 654Wind 654Time and the Timeless 655Tin-Mine near Land’s End 655Rising Souls 655Collapse of Progress 655

My Muse 656Love and Death 656My Muse, Gone 656Ruin 657Storm and Art 657Yugoslavia 657Spring Tide and Academic Work 657Muse’s Gift 658Imagination: Spring and Sea 658Seismic Inspiration 658Midnight in Jesus College, Cambridge 658Forms from Movement Theory 659A Sunlit Wall 659Autumn at Flatford Mill 659Lock-Gates 660Nature, Walled 660Five-Per-Cent Rise in Interest Rates 660Being in Snowdonia 661Snowdon 661Lights like Souls 661Stillness Overlooking Anglesey 661Plunging, Soaring Mountains (Or: “Cor!”) 661A New Life 662Transient Existence and Lasting Being (Or: Lasting Things and Transient Things) 662Rabbit: Self-Preservation 662Ladybird 662Love like a Selfless Priest 663Leaves like Memories 663Brilliant Sun 663Split Ash 663All Souls’ Day 664Flow and Flood 664Gunwalloe Metaphysical Sonnet: Boiling Foam 664Elemental 665Harbour-master 665Royals 665The Workings of the Universe 666The Return of the Muse 666Lady through the Window 666Muse Inspiring: Winged Lion 666Lines: Town and Country 667Frost 667Reflections on Time: Past and Present, Horseman and Lion 667White-Centred Flower 668After a Death 668Fog and Frost: The Universe 668Crematorium 668Parting the Blind 669Healing Muse: Knowledge 669Doubt: The Muse as Will O’ The Wisp 669Muse: Love like Flowers 669

Muse: Questions 670Muse: Alive 670Dream of the Muse 670Arrivederci, Muse 671Turbulence 671Drizzle 671Airwaves 671Butterfly 672Tropical Fish 672Paradiso 672Not Endurance but Process: The Past Present 673Rain Globes 673Illumined Artists as Leaders of their Civilisation 674Muse Withdrawn 674February Daffodils 674Flock 675At Colinton 675In Spylaw Street: Love and Pain, Flow and Boulders 675Outside Heaven 675Like a Descending Christ 676Long-Tailed Field Mouse 676Chaos and Order 676Fire I Am 676Car Park: Ascending 677The Nightingale in the Mind (Or: The Source of Poetic Inspiration) 677Soul like a Greenfinch 677Stormy Petrel 677Sand-Hoppers 678Notes 678

26. Sojourns 1993Pisa 680Bells 680Thunder 680Paradise, Red Card 680Rain, Mind 681Cloistered 681Peace and a Tear 681Sun and Shade 681Muse, Desolate 682Spiral 682The Gateway to Paradise 682Water 682Fountain Spray 683Muse: Working in Isolation 683Italy: Lizard 683Fire: Source 683The Laughing Philosopher 683A Stain of Fire 685Execution 685Poet and Snail 685

Sting 686Oak 686Epithalamion 686Peace and War 687Garden 687Soul like a Rose 688Niagara Falls: Beauty and Transience 688Floral Clock: Beauty’s Chimes 688At Lake Ontario 688In Boston 688Rainbow in Mist 689Susquehanna 689On Catching a Glimpse of the U.N. Security Council Chamber 689Amish Farms, Pennsylvania 690Everglades Swamp, Florida 690Buried Treasure 690In St. Augustine 690Crossing Howard Franklin Bridge, St. Petersburg, USA 691At Spaceport, USA 691Daytona, USA 691George Washington and a Lizard 692American Liberty Quintet 692The Hills of Fife: Doves and Wedding 707Tobogganing Down the Sky 707Rubble 708Arrival of the Muse 708Mask 708Together 708Aura 709Beauty: Pumping, Deflating 709Gong 709Snake-Charmer 709Waters 709Muse, Coaxing 710Buried Together 710Images 710Tram 710Possessed 710Vines and Roses 711Rain 711Execution 711Goodbye 711Painted Face: Coin 712Dog Days: Shooting Stars 712Emptiness 712Trawling 712Stealth 712Sea-Shanty 713Tall Ship 713Brig 713Philoctetes: Wound and Bow 713

Midnight Sky: Hawthorn and Almond 713Dancing 714Correspondence 714Springs of Art 714Milky Way: Lobster and Sauce 714Headband 714A Boy, 22, Dead 715Mist: Bat and Walls 715Snail Shell 715Stillness 715Storm, Destroying 716Guests 716Truth 716Night Sky: Quatrains 716

1. Fountain of Stars 7162. Tent 7163. Tree 7164. Peacock 7165. Sparks 7166. Raindrops 716

Downpour of Light 717Light like Mackerel 717Greenfinch with Worm 717Trodden Daisies 717Youth 717Tram: Orange and White 717Flat 718Pale 718Dishes 718Well 718Reputation: Self-Stripping 719Rich 719Heartache 719Secret of the Muse 719Notes 720

27. Angel of Vertical Vision 1993High Angel 723As If 723Elegance like Paradise 723Smirk 723Glow 724Bees 724Golden Mean 724Levels 724Juice 725Dark Angel 725Typist 725Genius 725Energy 725Kneading 726

Height 726Earth Goddess 726Fertility 726Dream 726Thoughts 727Full 727Attention 727Bruised 727Shrapnel, Grappling Iron 727Ashes 728Cord 728Beautiful Soul 728Pruning 728If You Wonder: Answer 728Poems like Canvases 729Earth and Light (Or: Pythoness) 729Busybody Sun 729After the Fracture: Growth 729Man (Or: God the Artist) 730Communists like Wasps 730The Shingle of the Stars 730Invisible Tree 731Moist 731Peering Face 731Fire: Logs 731Fountaining Leaves 731Books, Lives 732Red Sun 732The Way We See 732Standards 732The Philosopher’s Stone: Soul and Golden Flower 733The Philosopher’s Stone: World and Mankind 733Notes 734

28. A Dandelion Clock 1994–2004Charlestown 736Scale 736Snow-White 736Tiny Flies 736Snowdon, Snow 737Togetherness 737Great Events, Small Things 737Puffin Island 737Calm Sea, Devouring Dark 738A Modern Pilgrimage 738A Grand Tour of Central Europe 742

1. Brussels: Quadriga 7422. Hannover: Rathaus 7433. Berlin: Vibrant East 7434. Berlin: German Reunification 7435. Berlin: Von Stauffenberg 743

6. Potsdam: Spokes of Light 7447. Potsdam: Frederick’s Summer Palace 7448. Warsaw: Razed, Rebuilt 7449. Warsaw: Unknown Soldier 74510. Jasna Gora: Black Madonna 74511. Cracow: Bodily Assumption 74512. Cracow: Ghetto 74513. Budapest: Phoenix 74614. Budapest: Gabriel 74615. Budapest: Light, Horror 74616. On the Danube Frontier 74617. Vienna: Wheel of Fortune 74718. Vienna: History Clock 74719. Salzburg: Mozart 74720. Munich: Hitler 74721. Rothenburg: Blood 74822. Lorelei: Siren 74823. Cologne: Marionette 748

Death Like a Crow 748Being 749In Ithaca; Treasure 749Odysseus Near Amalfi 749Fragments of Unused Drafts for Overlord 750Fragments of Unused Drafts for Overlord: The Universe 752Undated Unused Fragments for Overlord 753Undated Fragments on Europe 755Undated Fragments on the Universe 755Mount Brocken: Form 756Wrinkled Sea 756Birds Singing 756The Steed of State 757Time: The Earth’s Axle Turning 757Goblet of Light 757Rush 758Tilty 758Sonnet to Cerberus: on the War in Yugoslavia 758In an English Garden, True to Nature 758Wasp 759Flint 759Ferreted Rabbit 759Lock-Up 760On the Author-Owner of St Osyth’s Priory 760Bird Soaring 761A Rose 761Sea-Gale and the One 762Cormorant Fishing 762At the Riverside Mill, Bovey Tracey: The Joy of Existence 762Light-Shower at Sea 763At Gweek 763The Message of the Ruins 763Fragment Unused in Zeus’s Ass 763

Togetherness, Wet-Dry 764Foaming, Dipping, Bobbing 764Under Pompey’s Theatre 764Sweet Chestnut, Acorn 765Love 765Snow and Silence 765Soil 765Sisyphus 765Crucifixion 766Poems like Coins and Stamps 766Illusions in a Plane 767America Lost 767Spirals 767Corpulent Souls 768At Passirac 768Dialogue between Soul and Egocentric Body 768Cormorant 768Snails, Hiding 769The Harbour 769Garden: Reflections at Great Easton 770Greeting 770Winning 770Burrs 771Sea Energy 771Attached-Unattached 771Squirrel 771The Sea’s Disturbed 772Sunlight Splashing 772Stance 772A Dandelion Clock 773Terns 773Petals Like Snow 773Snails 774Small Tortoiseshell 774Sunray 774Rare 774Smoke, Ink 775Diamonds 775Pearl 775Shooting Star 775Storm 776

1. The Dancer 7762. Assault 7763. Power 776

Quicksand 777Sun 777Fossil 777Sprinklings 777Aargh! 778Flowers 778Dreadful Event 778

Herbs 778A Silent Woman’s Best 779Summer 779Lady-Smock Time 779Swifts 780Ladybird Crawling 780Snail 780Souls Like Fish 780Little Person 781Diamond 781Acorns 781Breathless Calm 781Snail Sliding 782Nectar 782Intelligence 783Dark 783Still 783Paradise 783Gnats, Snails 784Each Leaf Unique 784Notes 784

29. Summoned by Truth 2000–2005Preface on Truth 788Zeus’s Ass 790Attack on America 810Shock and Awe 818Notes 833

30. Sighs of the Muses 2005Groans of the Muses 840Return to Oxford 845Hustings: Raw 847Authorship Question in a Dumbed-Down Time 847Epitaphs 849Notes 849Appendix: Vision and Technique in the Collected Poems 853

1. The Experience of Illumination 8532. The Method and Form of ‘The Silence’ 8593. The Genesis and Shaping of the New Baroque Vision 9654. Extracts from ‘Revolution in Thought and Culture’ 8745. The Approach of the Later Poems 882

Classical OdesList of poems in Contents

Preface on Classical Odes xvThe Principle Behind the Order of the these Odes xx

Book One: A Tudor KnotPreface 23

IAt Otley: Timber-Framed Tradition 24Pastoral Ode: Landslide, The End of Great Britain 26At Chartwell with Churchill 29At Colchester’s Keep 33At Chalfont St Giles: Shakespeare’s Dark Lady 35At Caernarvon Castle 39At Tilty Battlefield 41At Scadbury 42At Pengersick Castle 45At Raleigh’s Sherborne 46Contemplations by a Sundial 49At Sir Humphrey Gilbert’s Compton Castle 50In Boulge Churchyard 52In Letheringham Priory Church 53Ancestral Seat: At John Hagger’s Bourn 55At Netherhall 57In Dark Age Angle-Land 58On Curtius Leaping into the Earth 60At Butley Priory Gatehouse 62At St Osyth’s Priory 63In Edward de Vere’s Castle Hedingham 66At Royal Sutton Hoo: Raedwald and the End of England 69In Anglo-Saxon Suffolk 70Sixty in Lavenham Priory 71South Wraxall Manor, Wiltshire 73In Otley Hall’s Medieval Gardens* 74

IIA Tudor Youth 77At St Mawes Castle: The Defence of England 79Imagination and Reality: The Globe Actors Search for Realism 81Sheep at Tilty Abbey 82Imagining Tudor Players in the Plahouse 84At the Bell: The Past 86At the Bourn Fête: Ancestors 87Stone Circle: Reflections on Leedon Tor, Dartmoor 88At Holcombe Court, Devon: Tower 91At Little Coggeshall Abbey 92In the National Gallery 94At Columbine Hall 95Round Hedingham Castle 97With Holbein’s Ambassadors on 11 April 1533 99Among Otley Hall’s Enthusiasts 101

IIISecond Pastoral Ode: Landslide Unchanged: The End of England 104At Helmingham Hall 107At the Earl of Southampton’s Titchfield 109

At Sandringham 113At and With Somerleyton 115At Spains Hall, Finchingfield 117At Shake-speare’s Globe 119In Westminster Abbey: Sanctuary Pavement 121At Middle Temple Hall 126In Rutland’s England 129Farewell to my Tudor Knot 134In Somerset’s Avalon 138In the Empress of India’s London 140In Westminster: The Passing of an Era 144At Surrey’s Tomb, Framlingham 145In De Vere’s Hackney 149At Beckingham Palace: Talent of a Meritocracy 152At the Queen’s Golden Jubilee, London: The End of a Golden Age 154At the Thaxted Horn Dance 161In Poets’ Corner with Marlowe: Marigold 162At Tudor Otley Hall: The End of England 166

IVIn the De Vere Society Library, Otley Hall: Caleygreyhound 168At Horham Hall 170Outside the Old Bailey: A Ruthless Queen? 172In Search of Bartholomew Gosnold’s Boyhood Home 177On Harrowdown Hill 179In Old Charlestown 184In the Houses of Parliament 187At Roxwell Church 189In the Carlton Club 190At Cistercian Tilty Abbey 193In Buckingham Palace’s State Rooms 194At Normanhurst School: A Lost Leader 199At Bancroft’s with the Conservatives: Plots and England’s Decadence 204In the Commons: Coup 207With the Ofsted Inspectors 209Tracking Shake-speare 210Return to Stratford* 213The End of Otley Hall 224The Conquest of England 228

Book Two: In Europe’s RuinsPreface 237

IAt the Gates of San Sebastian: The Fall of Rome* 238On Delos: Island of Apollo 239In Porto Cheli 241On Skiros 242At Versailles Palace: Palace of Art 244At the Chapel of the Holy Blood, Bruges 248At Waterloo 250

At Rembrandt’s House, Amsterdam 251At Beethoven’s Birthplace, Bonn 252In Habsburg Prague, with Knights and King of Jerusalem 255At the Villa Careggi, Florence 259At San Marco, Florence 263By the Arno, Pisa 266On the Führerbunker, Berlin 268In Potsdam 269At Jasna Gora, Czestochowa 270In Cracow 272In Old Buda 275In the Serbian Orthodox Church at Szentendre 277Summer Palaces 278At Mozart’s Salzburg 282In Rothenburg: Blood and Rose 283In Obersalzberg 285In Hitler’s Nuremberg 287At Goethe’s Houses, Weimar 289Auschwitz and Immortality 292

IIIn Pythagorion, on Polycrates’ Samos 294In Byron’s Ithaca 297With Munich’s Wittelsbachs 299In the Harz Mountains, on Mount Brocken 301On Montgomery’s Lüneburg Heath 303At Rheims’ Jerusalem 304On and under Athens’ Acropolis: The First Greek Theatre 305In Plato’s Athens and Eleusis: The Mysteries of Death 309At Paestum 311At the Grotto of the Sibyl, Cumae 313At Pompeii 315At Virgil’s Tomb 318On Vesuvius 320At the Villa Jovis, Capri 322At Herculaneum 323At Poppaea’s Villa, Oplontis 324A Leaping Diver in Sybarite Paestum 326In Delphi: Oracles, Inevitability and Freewill 328In Pheidias’s Workshop 331At Nestor’s Palace, Pylos 333In Cleon’s Pylos 335At Byzantine Mistras 336At Menelaos’s Palace, Sparta 338At Aegina’s Temple of Aphaia: Athenian Sea Power 340On St John’s Patmos 342Among the Knights of Rhodes 344At Knossos: Minotaur 346At Sounion: Dreaming of Empires 348

III

The Admiral’s House in Atlantis 351At Daphni 353At the Pantheon 354At Horace’s Sabine Farm 356At Hadrian’s Villa, Tivoli 358At the House of Augustus, Rome 360In the Vatican 362At the Ara Pacis, Rome 365At Castel Sant’Angelo, Rome 367In Domitilla’s Catacomb, Rome 369In the Sistine Chapel 371In Keats’ House, Rome 373In Dante’s Verona 375At Catullus’s Sirmione 378At the Doge’s Palace, Venice 380In Edward de Vere’s Venice 383At Rennes-Le-Château: Mission 1891 387At Carcassonne and Montségur: Castles of Light 389On Motya and the Ephemerality of Nationalism 392Etna: Eruption of Intense Power 394At the Turin Shroud: The Face of Christ 396In Syracuse: The End of Empires 400

IVIn the Baroque Royal Palace of the Defunct House of Savoy, Turin: On the Ephemerality

of Monarchs402

In Nero’s Golden Palace 403Among Botticelli’s Rediscovered Illustrations of Dante 405A Walk through the Palatine into Julian Rome 406At Bracciano Castle, near Rome 407Looking at Cleopatra’s Palace 408On the Rediscovered Library at Herculaneum 410Among Lisbon’s Discoverers 412At the Bourbon Royal Palace, Madrid 415At Philip the Second’s El Escorial: The Unity of Knowledge 417In El Greco’s Toledo 421In Moorish Cordoba: An Orange Tree 423In the Moorish Alhambra, Granada: Paradise, Oneness 426At the Moorish Alcazar, Seville 430At Agamemnon’s Mycenae and Epidavros: Justice 434At Epidavros: Temple-Sleep 437At Chania’s Hill 439In Selinunte’s Carthaginian Settlement 441Among Aeneas’s Trojans 442At Su Nuraxi, in Sardinia 446In Colonial Menorca 448A Teenager in Greece: Youth and Age 449In Aphrodite’s Cyprus: Body and Spiritual Beauty 451In Turkish Cyprus 454In EOKA’s Cyprus: End of Empire 457In Aquitaine 462

In the Fortunate Isles with Columbus 465In Maspalomas Wellness Centre 467Near Baiae’s Oracle of the Dead: Gateway to the Underworld 469In Paphos’s City of the Dead 473In Euro-City, Brussels* 475

Book Three: A Global SwayPreface 483

IAt the Bank Managers’ Dinner, Grosvenor House Hotel 484At Troy VI 485In Hellenistic Pergamum 487In Ephesus 490At Didyma’s Oracle 492At Dostoevsky’s Apartment, St Petersburg 494At the Winter Palace, St Petersburg 496At the Yusupov Palace, St Petersburg 497In Conference Yalta 499At Chekhov’s House, Yalta 500In the Kremlin 502At Tolstoy’s Winter House, Khamovniki 505On Martha’s Vineyard 507At Jamestown, with the Founder of America 509On Top of Jefferson’s Mountain 512On Roanoke Island 514Whale-Watching under Snæfellesjökull 519In the Westman Islands off Iceland 520Petrol Blockade 522At the Tomb of Kha: On the Transcendence of Mortality 523Watching Revolution in Belgrade 525In Stephen Ward’s Web 526Reflections on the Nice Summit 530

IIAt the American Embassy, London 534At Cyrene: Apollo’s Bride 536Near Leptis Magna 537At Sabratha 539Return to Tripoli 541At El Djem Amphitheatre: Desert Rose 547At Carthage 549In the British Library: Proofs of Genocide 551At Chingford Assembly Hall: Leaders After Laeken 554In the Global Economy with Bill Clinton 556In the Lord Lieutenant of Essex’s Yorktown 558In Tilty: Star of Bethlehem 561At Sulgrave Manor 565On the Queen’s Visit to Ipswich: Dissident 567In Global Eden 570Commonwealth Games: Peace Through War 572

IIIIn the Humble Administrator’s Garden, Suzhou 574In Shanghai’s New Manhattan 578Among Yichang Museum’s Ming Treasures 580In the Yangtze’s Three Gorges 581At the Foot of Baoding Mountain 585In People’s Hall Square, Chongqing 588In the Hall of a Hundred Grasses, Chongqing 589With Xi’an’s Terracotta Army 590With the Tang Court Musicians 593In the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong 594In the Forbidden City, Beijing 597In the Taoist Temple of Heaven, Beijing 599In Cixi’s Summer Palace 601At the Beijing Opera: Moving Boat 602On the Great Wall of China 603At Yongle’s Tomb, Changling 605In the Jamestown Fort: The Discovery of Bartholomew Gosnold 606On Iraq: Peace or War? 609After the Iraq War: Reflections on the Fall of Baghdad 615On Stansted’s Second Runway 619In Egypt: Tyranny and Armageddon* 621

Book Four: The Western UniversePreface 633

IThe Eclipse of Reason (Or: Totality)* 634At Theydon Garnon Church 636On the Order in the Universe 638At Coombe House, Devon: A New Millennium 639In North Tawton Churchyard 641Wedding at Otley Hall 642Hearing Aid: Retirement and Art 645Accident 647At the Bank’s Dinner at Grosvenor House: Turnover 648Among Neanderthals 650At the Employment Law Seminar: Law Like Old Age 651At the Chingford Carol Service: Christian Religion 652At Coopersale Hall’s Christmas Concert: Education 654Among Brueghel’s Peasants: On the Artist as Truth-Teller 655At the Start of a New Millennium, the Sun Rising against Aquarius 656Blood Test: Anti-Phospholipids 659Eclipse: Moon Drenched in Blood 660At the Osteopath: Soul and Body 662At St Andrew’s Church, Alexandra Palace 663England Seen from the Bell 664At 33,000 Feet: A Second from Death 665At the Old Chigwellians’ Shrove-Tuesday Dinner 666On Trilobites and Asteroids 668

II

On Charlestown Pier: The Infinite Universe; The End of Materialism 670At Hill Hall, Theydon Mount: Mind and Soul 672At the Accountants’ Seminar: Businesses like Bodies 676At the Eden Project: Paradise 677Picasso Declassicising: Copying and Making 679In Claybury Gym: Cult of the Body 682Breathing Air: Mystery 684At Ambresbury Banks, Epping 686At Charlestown: Among Rock Pools 688In Cornwall: A New Renaissance 689In the Auction Room, Truro 693In Addison’s Essex 694At the Mansion House 696At Worcester College, Oxford: Gaudy 697At the British Library: Universalism is an Existentialism 700At St Mary’s, Loughton: Christening 702In my Body: President Soul 704At Redbridge Magistrates Court 707On the Film Set: Home Truths 710Copped Hall Revisited 711At Holly House 712In Loughton, within Western Civilization 714Home-making in Charlestown 716At Brecon Cathedral 717An Acre on the Moon* 720

IIIIn Moonlit Charlestown: The Bright Shadow of Dark Energy 724At the Prince Regent Budget Seminar: Advisers and Clients 727In Jubilee London on May Day: Stability and Order 729In Freiburg: Husserl and Heidegger 733In Heidelberg’s Rosicrucian Castle 738In Loughton, Impersonating 741At Dickens’ House 744At the London Independent Hospital, Whitechapel 745Above Frankfurt: Brain and Soul 747With the Grand Inquisitor, in Loughton 748At Queen Elizabeth’s Hunting Lodge 750At Harold’s Waltham Abbey 752At Coopersale Hall: Founder’s Day 757At Oaklands 761Among Loughton’s Sacred Houses 764The Tek Sing’s Cargo and the Sea 768Among Life’s Structures in the West: Against Scientific Materialism 769At St Ives 774At Chigwell School 777After the Pisan Arno 779At Connaught House* 782

* See this poem for Book title.

Life Cycle and Other New PoemsList of poems in Contents

Preface xv

Volume 31: Life CycleLife Cycle 1

Volume 32: In Harmony with the UniverseIn Harmony with the Universe 19The Ghadames Spring: Bubbles 22Daisies 23Crystals 24Nightingale 24Fragment: Question 25Further Undated Unused Fragments for Overlord 26Unused Draft for Overlord 36Quarry 38Terrorist 39Two in One 39Six-spot Burnets 40House Martins 40House Martins in the Eaves 40Undated Unused Fragments for Armageddon 41A Breathless Calm 43Gigs, Insects 43Daisies, Mower 43At Great Milton Manor House: On Life and Death 44Storm 47Dripping Stars at Midnight 47Leaves Falling 1 47Skimming Stones 48Concorde 48Oak 48A Wish for my Granddaughter 49Snails 52Grace 53Bone 53Near Teignmouth 54Splashes of Light 54Bronze Age 55River, Headlong 56Sky 56Fragment: Rain 57The Wheel of Creation 57Fragment: Gold 61Sunlight 61Robin 62Fragment, Where are my Friends 62

Magpie in Snow 62Song Thrush Piping 63Ladybird 64Owl 65Honey-bees 65Spruce Cone 66Song Thrush Dead 67Skull 68Gulls 68Smile 69Sun and Snow 69Time 1 70Time 2 70Smiling Buttercups 70Wind: Change 71Buddleia: From Nothing to Form 71Olympian 72Sea, Sky: Whole View 72Mist over the Sea 73Downpour 73Storm II 74Squirrel 74Squirrel’s Reply 74Drowned 75At Beverley Minster 75Marble 77Pirates: Question Mark 78Looking Down: Not Bestriding 79The Seven Hills of Loughton 79Savage 80Sun 80Taking Wing 81One’s Reflection 81Unaware 82Moonlight 82Rain Hisses 82Sea Bird 83The Old in the Cold 83Ruby 84Discovery of Inflation: At One with the First Cause 84Spring 86Fading 86White Hawthorn Blossom 87The Wind’s Whistling 87Discord: Humans who Drop 88The Mild Wind’s Blow 88A Blackbird’s Clear Piping 89A Family Like Vases 89Song Thrush 90Mouse 91Time, in Tiers 91

Parakeets 91Poppies 92Green Woodpecker 93Brilliant Stars, Snapped Gravity 93Founder’s Song 94Blue Tit Chirping 95Hooting Owl 95Daffodils, Sunlight 96Full Moon 96Sheep 97Horses 97Dancing Light 98Rainbow 98Blackbird 99Ridging Waves 99Blushing Sky 99Helsingor 100Crown Prince’s Palace 100Vikings 101Ghost 101At the Van Gogh Museum: Obscurity 102Long-legged Fly 103House Martins Darting 104House Martins and Carnival 105Storm, Surge 105Force 105Shooting Star 106Meteorite 106Heron 107Spider 107Bat 107Moth 108Stag 108Carp, Goldfish 109Box-Leaf Caterpillars 109Red Moon 110Blue Tit 111Snowfields 112Bay in Sun 112Planetary Trio 113Wind Whistles, Force 113Golden Rose 114Scudding Stars 114In Gerard’s Herball: Snake’s-Head Fritillary 114Sea Lights 118Mist 118At Connaught House: Weather-vane 119Leaves Falling 2 121Leaves Flutter 121Return to Suffolk 122Birds and Beasts: The Lament of Orpheus 124

Snake (Orpheus to Eurydice and Hades) 124Ferris Wheel: Life Cycle 125Muntjac 126Stars, Waves 126Rain 126Sea Surges 127Vein 127Pied Wagtail 128Time like the Sea 1 128Time like the Sea 2 129Goldfinch 129Nuthatch 130House Spider 130Fox 131Stag, Trapped 131Epistle to King Harold II of Waltham Abbey and Loughton 132

Volume 33: An Unsung LaureatePastoral Ode: Landslide, The End of Great Britain 137Second Pastoral Ode: Landslide Unchanged, The End of England 145In Westminster: The Passing of an Era 151The Conquest of England 154Lisbon Treaty: The End of Great Britain, Demise of a Nation-State 165Zeus’s Emperor (A Mock-Heroic Poem) 169Royal Wedding 190Epistle to Gaddafi 197Changelessness like a Fanfare: Trumpeting a Jubilee 200Isles of Wonder 203Ceremonial: On the End of a National Era, The Funeral of Margaret Thatcher 207Reflections by the Mary Rose 211The Lion and the Unicorn: Plebiscite in Scotland 216Caliphate 221Churchill 50 Years On: Great Briton 227On Richard III: The Last Plantagenet 231On Thomas Cromwell’s Ruthlessness 235Enigma 236Stability: On an Unlikely Conservative Election Victory 242In St Petersburg: Thoughts in Hermitage 245In Tallinn: Premonitions of War 250Chaos in Iraq 252Watcher and Two Carts 255Oxford Bait 257Symposium: Averting a Nuclear Winter 259The Sorrows of Allah, The Nameless One 263Thoughts on Syria: Rush to War 263At Berlin’s Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church 266Collapse of the Old Order 267Epistle to the Chancellor of the Exchequer 270

Volume 34: Adventures in ParadiseIn Iran: Persian and Shiite Empires 277

In the Galapagos Islands: The Purpose of Evolution 281In Peru: The Sun of the Incas 286In Antarctica: In the Southern Ocean and our Ice Age 291In North Norway: Arctic Circle and Northern Lights, Among Vikings and Altaics 296The Way to Rome 299On Hadrian’s Wall 310India: Revisiting the British Raj 315Delhi’s Red Fort Revisited: Paradise 338Reflections in Arabia 340Verses on the Death of Mr Nicholas Hagger 344

Indexes:Chronological Order of Poems 351Chronological Order within Volumes 361Index of Titles 371

OverlordList of books in Contents

Preface to One-Volume Edition of Overlord viiPrefaces to First-Edition Volumes of Overlord ix

Book 1 Eisenhower Invades 1Book 2 The Tyrannicides Fail 67Book 3 The German Army is Encircled and Routed 118Book 4 The Allies are Repulsed 188Book 5 The Jews Revolt and Stop the Holocaust 246Book 6 Hitler Strikes Back 325Book 7 The Triumvirate Divides the World 409Book 8 Eisenhower Crosses the Rhine 505Book 9 Stalin Closes in on Berlin 571Book 10 The Fall of Berlin 638Book 11 The Germans Surrender 735Book 12 The Americans Drop the Atomic Bomb 820

Appendix The 25-Year Gestation and Birth of Overlord 933

ArmageddonList of books in Contents

Useful Sources viiiPreface xvii

Book 1 September 11th: America Under Attack 1Book 2 The Syndicate Prepares For War 52Book 3 Victory in Afghanistan 93Book 4 Bush Visits the Underworld 141

Book 5 More War in Iraq 189Book 6 The Sunni Insurgency 219Book 7 Israel Fights Iran’s Proxies 254Book 8 Bush’s Surge Pacifies Iraq 293Book 9 Bush Rebuffs Israel and Prevents World War 341Book 10 Israel and the Syndicate Strike Back 375Book 11 Christ’s Difficult Second Coming 432Book 12 Universal Order: A New Heaven and a New Earth 488

Historical Addenda1. Timelines

A. Historical Events 572B. Mythical Events 580

2. Bin Laden’s/Al-Qaeda’s Historical Attempts to Acquire Weapons of Mass Destruction and Unleash Armageddon in the US

582

Appendix1. The 10-Year Gestation and Birth of Armageddon

Extracts from Nicholas Hagger’s Diaries/Letters 5962. Visits by Nicholas Hagger to Countries/Places Relevant to Armageddon 6213. Maps that Throw Light on Areas of Armageddon:

A. Caliphate 624B. War Zones 626C. Greater Israel/Greater Iran 629D. Oil and Gas Pipelines 633

Collected Verse PlaysList of verse plays in Contents

Preface to Collected Verse Plays 1The Warlords 7Preface to The Warlords, parts 1 and 2 16The Warlords, Part One 20The Warlords, Part Two 201The Tragedy of Prince Tudor 325Preface to the 1999 Edition 330Preface to the 2007 Edition 332Ovid Banished 471Preface 475The Rise of Oliver Cromwell 579Preface 583Appendix: The Warlords, Abridged Version 741

The Dream of EuropaContents

Preface: Masques and Europe xiii

Grouping of Nation-States xviiiPositioning of Representatives xix

The Dream of EuropaPrologue 3Antimasque 7Masque 17Revels 49Epilogue 71

Timeline: The Growth and Enlargement of Europe 75Appendix

1. Groupings within Europe 832. The European Convention on Human Rights: Articles 1–19 953. The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the Union 1034. The Tree of European Civilization 118

King Charles the WiseContents

Dramatis Personae ixPreface: A Court Masque and Universal Peace xiEngraving: The Genius of Literature presenting her pupils to Minerva xv

King Charles the Wise 1Prologue 3Antimasque 13Masque 35Revels 47Epilogue 61

Timeline 65Notes 67

Collected Short StoriesList of short stories in Contents

A SPADE FRESH WITH MUDPart 1

A Spade Fresh with MudA Spade Fresh with Mud 4Antie Joone Said Moosic 5Foreigners Apart 6Home-made Marmalade and a Bonfire 7Neck out to Sea 7Limey 8

O’Hanlan’s Dream 8Turf on a Tiled Laundry Floor 9Dead Skin and Bone 11A Crown of Thorns 11A Prodigal and His Sneer 12Angels in a Golden Light 13A Rubber Man 13People Like Masks 14A Bullet-Proof Mask 16The Tunnel 17A Gun-Runner in Danger 18A Thousand Feet and a Cage 18The Need to Smash 19An A-Bomb and a Knee 20A Pink-Faced Ape, Minutes Like a Mutter 22Dust and a Walled-in Queen 23A Crag and Bursting Stars 23Breath Smelling of Violets 24Music in Running Water 25A Shrine Under Sunset Point 26Rainbow Trout 27A Bottle of Anjou Wine 27A Girl with a Twisted Hoop 28A Gangway Boy in Love 29An Orphan in Prison 29A Soul Like a Blemished Nail 30Dirt in a Bleeding Toe 30A Wish and a Fear 32Arabia and a Mortal Shell 32A Puppy Like a Child 33A Clay Griffin and Whirring Storks 34Mosquitoes in a Bamboo-Grove 34Like a Boil or a Mexican Vagina 35Like an Exorcised Witch 36Fils Under the Palms 36A Hand in the Furnace 37A Nervous Breakdown 38A Bread-Knife and a Lima Brothel 39A Rag-Doll with Open Knees 40A Bathtub and a Falling Moon 41A Kingdom and a Tear 41A Monkey and a Peep-Seat 42Rose-Petals and a Madonna Lily 43Fluid on the Knee 43Tarts and Burnt Letters 44A Cuckoo in Casa Pupos 45A Game and a Piece of Silver 46Love Like Sennapods 46Stool in a Bare Bar 46Fire on the Water 47Like the Sea at Low Tide 48

The Marquess and the Tram Standard 48A Light in the Canteen 49The Museum of the Revolution 50The Man Who Wasn’t There 51Crocodiles and Armadillos 52Paraffin Paper and Steam 53Lumps Under Snow 53Flies and a Bedridden Wife 54Blood and New Potatoes 55Bleating Sheep 55The Registrar and the Shrimp 57A Camera Against a Dream 57Far-Out Eyes in a Dream 58Jewels of a Ruling Class 58A Knuckleduster Mind 60Is There a Rebel at the Lunch Table? 62Sour Ground and Ashes 63A Villa on Cap Ferrat 64A Liar in Paris 64A Barbiturate For a Bad Liver 65A Sun Red and Orange 65Monument to a Phoney 66A Screw-Manufacturer in Business 72Blue Movies and Skim Milk 72’Appiness for a Lady 74Chickens Like Judges, and Goats 75Goatbeard in a Calm Sea 75Sweet Peas Along the Fence 76A Sun Setting in Blood 77Michelangelo and a Wheelchair Cross 78A Palace in Orange and Blue 79Bruegel and a Tibetan Hoopoe 79Wet Rope on a Rubbish Dump 80Yawns Under a Sepulchral Sky 80Pipe-Clay Breeches and Geese 82A Carafe and Magnified Eyes 82The Man Who Liked Ugly Women 83Veins and a Resurrected Body 84Dignity Like Enamel 84A Snake Round a Staff 85Skewered Pheasants Under a Scarlet Knife 85A Virgin and Burning Etna 86Black Armband for a Teddy Bear 87Death in the Spring 87

Part 2A Roman in Barbary

A Roman in Barbary 90A Scarlet-Robed Bedouin and a Colossus 9190A Wife Back on Campus 91The Age and an Open Window 91

An Actor and a Plague Graveyard 92A Buzzing Fly 92A Town Like a Sullen Frown 94A Dictator and a Hubbub 95Libyans Are Very Strong on Morality 96Walnut Over the Punjab 97Strangers at the Pool 97A Small Thing 98A Spilt Drink and a Broom Trick 99The Lawyers’ Room 100A Character Like a Yacht 100A Flat Like Twenty-Nine Parachute Jumps 101Cactus Walls 102Black Jack 102Decadence Like Hitler 103

Part 3The Portmellon Water Splash

The Portmellon Water Splash 105A Cloud of Snow and Arpège 105A Rune-Man and a Heart 106China Clay and a Plough 106Crabs Like Tanks 107A Sandbag Frog 107A Pony Ride in the Films 108A Ring and a Tidal Wave 108Speakeasy 109At the Gate 109A Talent Like Diarrhoea 110Bookshop Wine and a Piper 111Freedom Over the Canal 112Apricot Brandy 112A Banger and a Black Eyepatch 113Dynamite in the Clinic 113A Green Light and a Carving Knife 114Priests Like Veterans 114Nemesis for a Lord 115Rays in Brass Reeds 116Spinney and a Roulette Pistol 117Chinese Flies on a Mountain 117A Knight at the Kiosk 118Amaryllis and a Rainbow 119Old Bill 119A Programme on Zanzibar 120A World of Cops and Robbers 121The Little One 123Uganda Crocodiles and a Parachute Drop 123A Dream Like a Fishing-Lamp 124A Has-Been in the Colony 125A Standard in Cicero’s Club 126A Shout From the Water 127

A Sulk Like a Blackened Sheet 128A Thistle in the Cloverfield 128Spun into Shape 129A Bottlestopper for Mum 129A Lake at Knole Park 131Tea and Knickers for the Mob 131A Beginning 132An Ending 133Wine-Tea and a Cap 133Two Worlds in St Paul’s 134A Sprig of Holly and Horse-Radish 135A Friend Between Jobs 136The Man Who Hated Commuting 136Capitalism and Mr Bluett 137The Headmaster (1) 137The Headmaster (2) 138The Headmaster (3) 138Dust on the Pipes 138Bantams Lay Eggs 139Everlasting Flowers From Table Mountain 139Disillusion 140Tiles on the Bathroom Wall 140Freedom Like a Broken Knot 141Oak Like a Goldflake Mat 142Essex People 142Soft and Barmy 142Advice to a Daughter (1) and (2) 143Tree and Leaf 144Idea Like Orange Soil 144Laid Waste 144Prawns in a Green Sea 145The Cane and a Leather Chair 145A Girl Like a Chest of Drawers 146A Dream Like a Long Petalled Dress 147Breasts Like Wine-Skins 147Lights on the Christmas Trees 148The American Girl and the Thief 148A Delinquent (1) 149A Delinquent (2) 150A Pianist and his Flask 150Napoleon and a Star of David 151“I’m a Woman, I’m Liberated” 152A Tartlet Among the Blacks 153Composure 154A Nightingale’s Song on a Plate 155You’re So Vain 155A Future Like a Mouse 156A Vampire in the Coven 157A Rate-Assessor and a Guillemot’s Egg 157Underground Stream 158Fire in an Inglenook Hearth 159

A Logbook and Blinking Auden 159Ash in the Blood 160A Hill-Woman Under the Stars 160Cognacs and Mountain Air 160Electricians Who Advertise 161Exhibitionist on the Platform 161Saltbeef Sandwiches and a Crouch 162Brass Lamp and a West Indian 162Veranda Better Than a Palace 163Monty’s Butter and a Rosy Apple 163The Sun 164Pillar of the Community 164A Shadow of the Man 165White Hot Light and a Calm 165Saké and the Meaning of Life 166Oracle and a Dancing Moon 166Froth Like a Pepsi 167Petered Out 167A Splash in the Water 168

A SMELL OF LEAVES AND SUMMERPart 1

A Smell of Leaves and SummerA Smell of Leaves and Summer 174Castles in the Air 176Radiator in the Snow 177An Alternative Girl 178This Is the Way the Term Ends 180A Ring and Horizontal Bars 181Horses Like Elves and Goblins 181Waves Across the Hedge 182As Spanish as Lasagne 183A Duchess in the Sun 184Decca and Blue Flowers 184The Manageress and the Pigeons 185Woodcutter’s Hut and Dolphin Square 185Clubbing with Donald 186Heart and Burning Night 188A Vision in Winsor and Newton 189Beehive and a Dahlia Horn 190Cardboard Instead of Bread 190A Partridge in a Pear Tree 192Folks Stoned 193A Gasman Conned 194A Blind Will and a Blunder 196A Feathered Witch-Doctor and a Stranded Crab 198Twinkling Hubert and a Hypocrite 201A Castle Like a Dazzling Girl 201A Boutique Behind a Mask 202Of the Cannibalism of Mice and Shrews and Voles 204Tyranny and Bad Luck 205

Nemesis at the Extraordinary General Meeting 207Crabbe Under Shingle 208A Windmill and the Real Things 20908.15 Horas and Fresh Fish 211Flicking Fingers and Frayed Cloth 212The Director Is an Idiot 213A Mother in Action 215The Buses Was Late 217Friendship Like a Potato Crisp 217Breaths Like Waves 218Hoi Mate and the Water Music 218Baby Belling 219A Cherry-Blossomed Hell 220Like a Burst Water-Main 221A Standard Like a Fluttering Pound 221Politeness Like a Split Canvas Chair 222A Late Boy in the Sea 223An Old Lady and a £40 Sack 223Edward Thomas and the Swimming Gala 225A Deck-Chair in the Sea 227A Chanted Introduction and a Dig 228Mean Time 230Solitaire and a Nudge 231A Harbour Creek and a Tiger Cowrie 233Stone Cottages and a Teeming Sea 234A Bonfire and a Village 234Marinated Pilchards and Silver Lead 234A Ladder and Quarrels at Church 235A Christ in Hell 236Like a Fish in a Storm-Tossed Sea 240A Twelve-Year Dream and an Unsailed Boat 240Lost Glasses and Clanging Seats 243Shout to the Lord 243A Nice Day for the Match and a Bottle of Optrex 245Crying Eyes and a Nearly Perfect Rose 245A Situation Like Nerve Gas 247Three Cowherd Angels and a Cattle-Branding 249Three Pure Chrysanthemums, or Faded Petals 253Earth in the Way 257April Fools and the Thirteenth Stream 258Tattered Walls and a Gorgon’s Scream 259A Wag in Lyonesse 261A Deathly White Boy and a Pact 263

Part 2The Clear, Shining Sunlight of Eternity

The Clear, Shining Sunlight of Eternity 265Bonhomie Like an Oxbridge Smile 266Eternity Beside the Traffic Jam 268A Bafflement Like a Netted Fish 268A Mouse Under the Counter 269

A Body Fooled into Milk 270A Zoo of Buffers 270A Shemozzle and a Freudian Slip 271An Orgy in the Churchyard 272Two Smiling Buddhas and He Who Speaks 272Spirits Up the Spine and a Bucketful of Stones 276A Hanged Man’s Gift and a Mongol’s Eyes 278A Cobweb Christ and a Feather Duster 280An Eagle and a Basking Shark 281A Sandcastle and a Sun-Kite 282The Waters of the Ocean, the Upper Reaches of the Air 283Caravan People and a Fun-Hat 284A Buzzing Bluebottle and a Frozen Fish 285Toy Planes and Doggies, and a Merry-Go-Round 286The Little Life and a Mirroring High Self 287Lad’s Love 288A Grandfather Among Rastafarian Hats 289Like Bricks on Sand 290Soda Water and a Scallop Shell 292People Like Us and a Sash-Cord 293An Archangel and Personal Responsibility 294A Clown and a Volcanic Eruption 295Chairman’s Action and a Red-Eyed Comedy 295A Spoon-Feeding Bully and a Pacifist 297A Dotty Bard and a Cotton-Wool Ear 297An Imperious Neo-Platonist, and a Genius’s Volume of Verse 298Laughter in the Dark 299A Stumble and a Slammed Phone 300A Flash in the Chemistry Lab 302Irish Fishing and a Hurried Grave 305Anarchic Laughter in the System 306An Exile in Noyna Road 306Yes Please to a Peeling House 307A Chile Badge and a Lanced Boil 308White Cars, Black Hands 309A Boast and a Provoked Fate 310A Bleary-Eyed Look and a Belly-Laugh 311A Bird’s Song and a Spreading Yew 312A Poker Fork and a Bursting Bubble 313One of God’s Chosen 313French Howlers and Spilt Wine 314The Ordinary in Pearly-King Clothes 315A Piggy-Eyed Broker and a Conniving Smile 316Alison Bush, Eighteen, Wants Proof 318A Rolls Royce Day-Dream and a Naiad’s Chipped Nose 319Subtle Bodies 321The Mystery of the Great Pyramid 322Across the Frontier 323A Causeway of Light 325Pinned Butterflies and African Carvings 326Doorhandle for a Slammed Door 327

A Destiny in Hebrew Letters 328Shahites in our Road 329The Sweet Smell of Decay 330Roles Like Fancy Dress 332Providence Like a Retribution 332Mixed Metaphors and a Diamond Light 333Like the Smell of Fresh Beans 334Loyalty Like a Company Label 335White Globes and a Blood-Red Sun 337Stagnant Eyes and a Vein 338A Smile and Violent Streets 339A Colonel in Civvy Street 340Christmas-Tree Patterns on the Lunatic Fringe 341Two Burps and Three Cheers 342A Light on Dead Anemones 343Stone Lions and Marble Veins 343The Cold Heat of Alpha 345Mulled Empire and a Hymn-Singing Flag-Planter 346A Chauffeur for an Inspector 347First Mate in the Coliseum 348A Speaker Like a Hurricane 348An Imperial Egoist and a Car Wallah 350Afternoons Like Cinders 353A Tide in the Cellar 353A Run-Away’s Stone and a Four-Knight Door 354Loud Voices and the Long Silence of Christendom 356A Pompous Fool and River Jordan Water 357Mr Rubin’s Fortune 358A Red in the Surgery 359Governors Like Bowlers 360Another Place 361A Canon in his Dream House 361Silk Apple-Blossom and Dried Greengages 362Frothy Weirs and a Rising Sun 364The Curtain Pulled Aside and Gamma Rays 366

WHEELING BATS AND A HARVEST MOONPart 1

Wheeling Bats and a Harvest MoonWheeling Bats and a Harvest Moon 372Angry Old Man 372A Garden Like Paradise 373Long Decline 374Newts and Hooting Owls 374Gas ’Em 375A Police Horse and Ball-Bearings 375A Fat Devil Punctured 376A Pope with Unseeing Eyes 377An Imperious Voice in Casualty 377A Lift Home on Ice 378A Roman Coin and a Chipped Vase 378

A Rationalist and Wrinkled Boobs 379A Sick Wife and a Spanking Drive 380Two Boys and a Heaving Sea 381A Yellow Trail and Fixed Stars 381Set Books Like Trees 382Pushy Humphrey 382Rich Girls Deprived of Cuddles 383A Plaster Leg and Changed Clothes 383Smashed Windows and a Smashed Soul 384Opposites Reconciled 385An Area Like a Score 385Boopity-Boo 386Arabian Nights and Unruly Boys 387Eighteen Americans and the Coffee Envelope 387Chaplain at a Distasteful School 388Red Arrows and a Clowning Band 388Rainbow Spray and Drenched Cheeks 389A Monkfish with Pennies 390Like a Donkey Refusing to Go 390MPs Off Stage 391As Daft as a Brain of Britain 391Sinful Violet and a Pussy Death 392Disloyalty in the Hutch 392Crumbling Walls and a Cracked Mansion 393A Celebration and Black Eyes 393Red-Faced Mr Murdstone 394An Angel and James the First 394A Dying Order 395The Boiling and the Cool Calm 396A Camp of Branches and Twigs 396Chains of Light 396A Meeting Like a Dancing Display 397A Cane Up Your Sleeve 398Trust House and Listed Buildings 398Kick From a Live Wire 399A Summery Childhood and Skimming Hosannahs 399Breakwaters Against the Rising Tide 400State Schools Day at Cambridge 400King of Marbles 401Hello Sweetheart 402Dried Flowers and a Lonely Flat 402Starting Work Dead on Time 403A White Fur and a Screaming Motorbike 403A Swashbuckling Bully and a Clown’s Umbrella 404Red Nose and White Face 405A Witch and a Snake 406Diarrhoea and a Decorating Daddy 406A Far-Away Kiss and a Struck-Off’s Fallen Woman 406Bleeding Eyes and Mountain Air 407Vagueness Like a Wall 407A Liar at the Greengrocer’s 408

The Host and a Cracked Jug 409A Pleasant Sin Bin, All Right? 409 409Apple-Warmth and Lonely Stars 411Sun Spots and a Black Hole 411A Bearded Trot and a Blind Eye 412The Able Child 413Frizer’s Reckoning and a Gay Eavesdropper 414Elizabeth’s Clock and an Empty Place 414A Buckinghamshire Mill and a Sleeping Partner 415A Cottage and a Treadmill 416A Torn Off Toe-Nail and an Unmoved Car 416A Second Helping and a Raincoat 417Two Widows and Bald Boyfriends 417A Honeymoon and an Echo 418A Traffic Warden in Church 419Lost Keys and a Bosomy Girl 419A Prussian Head and a Saved Ovary 420Miss Hochberg in Auschwitz 421A Redhead on Drugs 421A Dancer and Belief 422Sculptured Poses and the Noes Door 422Elderberry and Rose-Hip Wine 423A Councillor and Ephemeral Catcalls 424A Damned Angel 424Revelation 425“Well, Actually Betty’s Dead” 425I am a Liberal 426Champagne and Flat Beer 426Past Like a Blood-Scarlet Coat 428Three Hundred a Week and a Soft Touch 428A Major-Domo in Church 429A Mind Like Junk City 430V-Sign and an Emptiness 430Cargo Boat and All-Heal 431A Superhuman Height and a Grazed Ankle 431A Castle Away From Hordes 432Reality Like Scudding Clouds 433Floral Dance 433A Chalice Well and Phallic Tor 433Eyes Under Brambles 434A Scallop and a Nipple 435A Small Ego and the Rent Act 435An Idol and his Grandchildren 436Day-Dream 437Women’s Lib and a Dame 438Fête and a Record Token 438Advent and a Magnifying Glass 439A Temple-Maiden and Ramesses the Second 439A Boat of Jesuit Priests and a Mist 440Landscaped Rock and a Splashing Waterfall 441

Part 2The Sweet, Fresh Mountain Air

The Sweet, Fresh Mountain Air 444A Forest Celebration and a Broken-Down Motor 444An Eighteenth-Century Silence and a Hard-Headed Vicar 445Like a Hand Gripping a Broom Held From a Lifeboat 446Sporting in the Wind 446Persecuting Planes and a Presidential Decree 447Sandfly Fever and a Crescent Moon 447A Superior Lady in the Corridor 448A Wasp on the Window 448The Head Has Sind 449Church Plaques and a Feudal Mask 449Temple Bar and Michaelmas Daisies 450A Bridge on a Tongue 451A Marxist and Powder Paint 451A Rose in a Jar 452A Patriot in Trinidad 453Hell: Pronouns with 1W5 453A Fire in the Waste-Paper Basket 454A Fire in the Boiler-House 455Like a Sun Behind a Cloud 455A Snapped Leg and Caritas 456Shoes in Bed and a Grotto 457Sorrel Under the Greenhouse 457A Yob in the Boardroom 458Brotherhood in Horseferry Road 459A Free Lift and a Punishing Kiss 460A Cigarette-Girl Smoking in Class 461A Stick Over the Privet Hedge 461Southampton and a Figgy Curse 462A Tattooed Sisyphus and a Regal Sofa 462An Ink-Stained Finger with Gold Earrings 463Like a Beached Shark 463Corinthian Columns and a Gold Chain 464A Crown of Polished Moments 465An ‘I’-Hood and a Eurhythmic Angel 466The Petit Mal and Singabel 467A Head at Home 468Bandaged Legs and a Jute Skipping-Rope 468An Audience with Eric 469A Toast and a Conga-ing Housemistress 470The Flooring of the Hierarchy 471A Federalist Vision and Bile 472The Virgin Islands and Closed Eyes 473Like Natterjack Toadspawn 474Diving for a Ball 474A Dream Like a Paradisal Garden 475Starving Beggars and a Knuckle Touch 476When I Spit in Your Face 477 477A Tie in His Tea 477

Amphitheatre and Lost Keys 478Seething with Ideas 479A Fish-Hook and an Anchor 479The Fisherman and the Restaurant Heiress 481Like a Bent Lamppost 482Nightingales in a Stone Forest 483The Bride and a Forgotten Joint 484The Major and the Concert Pianist 487A Flat Like Territory 489A Contraction and Drumming Fingers 490Yobbos and a Mechanical Digger 491Tin-Mine Chimney at Land’s End 492The Ad Hoc Man 492A Lover in the Labyrinth 493The Silver Age 494A Widow and Leather Regalia 494The Shooting of Miss Long Multiplication 494A Pony and a Husband 495An Engagement Like Lemon Parfait 495A Wedding Like a Performance 496A Boiling Kettle and 40 lbs of Sugar 498A Death Like a New Start 499Prayer Like Drill 499Wedding and a Karl-Marx Badge 500A Green MG for a Nymphomaniac 500A Rattling Bucket and Crouching Brushwood 501Stillness and a Sheep’s Baa 501A Kernel in Kew Gardens 502Is There a Monster Around? 502Shetland Jumpers 503A Still Sea 504A Shell and Tiny Violets 504Hands Held in the Dark 504Calm in a Moss-Hut 505God Like a Misty Mountain 505A Hooded Falcon and Droppings 506Mrs. Humble 507The Bugging of Auntie 507Hands Off the Strawberries 508In the Harbour 509Wine and a Kiss 509An Air Stewardess on Champagne 510A Retiring Person 511Wasps and Wogs 511A Bee-Keeper and Forest Bark 512The Squire Is a Darwinian 513Coughing and an Accepted Calvary 513

THE WARM GLOW OF THE MONASTERY COURTYARDPart 1

The Warm Glow of the Monastery Courtyard

The Warm Glow of the Monastery Courtyard 518A Mournful Driver and a Busload of Idiots 521A Twitcher in Florida 522A Decorator and a Bruised Leg 523The Blind Leading the Sick 523Intercession for a Rejected Priest 524In Memoriam a Tradition 525A Stroke Victim and a Priory 526A Home Secretary and Real Leaves 526A Gardener Goes into the Fire 527A Goalie and the Soul 528A Brooding Chairman in Lent 529A Grandfather and an Au Pair 530Bats Round a Head 530A Chairman and a Shuffling Zombie 531A Mongolian Requiem 532A Professor and Washing-up 532Chimney Smoke and Red Eyes 533A Dying Lady and a Tired Daughter 534A Broken Pillar and a Spire 534A Hesychast at the Craft Fair 535The Wilderness and the Deceived 535Two Unemployed at the School Reunion 536Cannon-and-Mortar Fire and Washing 537A Megastar Without Clothes 538The President and a Bruised Leg 539A Revolutionary and a Jumping Girl 540A Belt in his Mind 540As Raw as Cut-off Fingers 541A Boat-Burner Taken Down a Peg 541Paralysed Arm and Loving Cats 542Men of Straw 543A Rat and Agoraphobia 543Ageless Stables and the Age 545An Arsehole Full of Praise 545A Late Teacher and Gas 546A Diviner Among her Crystals 546A Burning Ankh and a Temple-Dancer’s Hands 547An Orthodox Dream and a Farmhouse 548A Well-Steered Boat and the Rocks 549A Bearded Osteopath and a Wreck 550A Brig and a Nelson 551A Misplaced Person in the Hungarian Castle 552Four-leafed Clover and a Kiss 553A Shy Angel and a Fossil 554The Heart of Old Hungary 554Rock Music and an Austro-Hungarian Fob-Watch 556Attention and a Wish 557A Slovakian Hungarian and Two Ruskies 558An Organic Architect in his Work 559A Taxi-Ride and Red Lips 560

A Hostess and a Hero 561A Portrait and a Jacket 562A Shy Treasurer and her Diary 562A Life at an End 563An Unofficial Guide 563A Tree and Chipping Axes 564Cole Confused 565The Pax at Twilight 565White Hair and Black Hands 566A Chain for a Chain 566Run Aground 567Feet on the Ground 568Three Deaths and an Old Carpet 569Aladdin’s Cave and a Disgruntled Look 569A Birthmark on her Brain 570A Doctor and Frustration 571Fire-Escape 571A Soul Like a Secret Garden 572Light Among the Professionals 572A Sunburst in St Martin’s 573Tombstones and a Good-looking Explorer 574A Game Like a Flicked Marble 575A Kick and a Cuckolded Security Man 575Bones and Metal 576Spilt Yoghurt and Pilferred Cash 577A Toenail and a Censorious Inspector 577A Kneeling Old Lady at Intercessions 578Animal Fat and an Encrusted Bowl 579A Stench of Depravity 579Swag Under the Seat 580A Policeman’s Helmet on the Goalpost 580An Eclipse Within the Mind 580Bleeding Feet and Shining Eyes 581A Lion and Clacking Sticks 581A Headless Statue in Nettles 582Love Like a Cheek-Warming Log-Burner 583A Soul Like Ripe Grain 583

Part 2A Sea with Potted Crabs

A Sea with Potted Crabs 586Emmet-Hunters 588A Beautiful Harbour and an Unennobling Mess 589A Nightingale in an Indifferent Crowd 590Condemned Cell 591Leaves From a Horse-Chestnut 592A Chunk of Rock with a Fossil in It 594Grey-Haired Masters and Roots 595Principles Like Medals 596Bacon, Eggs, Sausage and Tomato 597Italiano 597

An Engineer and a Chancellor 599A Browning in Belsen 599D-Day and a Missed Reveille 600Mulberries Like Meccano 600A Tasmanian in Normandy 601A Retreat and a Grave 601A Quicklime Commandant and No Interview 602The Night’s a Pup 602Shouted Drinks and a French Barmaid 603A Closed Ladies and Shredded Cigarettes 604A Graveside Speech and Fallen Comrades 604One Coin in the Fountain 605A Smoker and a Hospital 605A Skater at the Bar 606Bottled Water 606The NAAFI and Small Bowls 607A Philosopher’s Words and a Perfect Rose 608Knowledge 608Blue Tits and a Still Post 608Like Twisted Balloons 609A Beast in Chambers 609A Canon’s Image and a Bushel 609Plenty 610Melancholia in the Fort 611A Prussian in Potsdam 612A Stamp-Seller and a Broken Willow 613Grubs in the Amber 613A Polish Girl in Luck 614A Bullfinch in the Roses 614No, No and a Crucifix-Paradise 615Providence and a Balloon 616A Police Car Across the Road 617A Chipped Grand Piano 618Exquisite Design and a Maker 618Ry-bald Comments and a Lost Cheque 618An Important Star and a Fossil-Lady 620A Storm and Waving Arms 622Sea Men in a Hurricane 622A Dream-Boat and Too Much Red Wine 623Cloudy Wine and a Mafia Bride 624Des-ie and a Broken Glass 624An Irishman on Tour 625Uniformity Like a Dinner-Jacket 626Carp-Fishing and Skewered Kebab 628Hide and Seek 628A Total-Immersion Font and a White Hart 630A Country Cousin Surprised 631An Internee and Dribbled Chocolate 631The Lady Who Sat Upstairs 632A Tower and Cobwebs Like Fishermen’s Nets 634A Conductor and a Methodist Choir 634

Twenty-Five Years Like a Banquet 636Ten Thousand Visitors and Quality of Life 637A Bar-Mitzvah and a Sword 638A Caged Spiffler on Crag Path 640A Golden Touch and Bad Luck 641Wooden Carvings and Stunning Women 643Hand Up in Church 643A Ghost at Lord’s 644A Drowning and Tugged Apron-Strings 646A Jumping Darts Champion and an Exploding Camera 647A Tumoured Fit at Finishing-School 648A Ten-Year-Old Horror and Chloroform 649A Clothes-Line and Tea 650A Wrong Date and a Grrrrr 650Tudor Carvings and a Water-Trough 652A Broken Arm and Flickering Lights 653Prancing Truth-Tellers at the Globe 654Ancestors and a Mizmaze 656Emptiness and a Pure Spirit 657Darling Geese and a Painful Lung 658A Cock-a-Doodle-Doo Watch and an Emptied Safe 659A Misographer and a Cheese Scone 659Nutty Among the Tarrers 660A Silver Goblet and Anorexia 661Grey Geese and Primroses 663Wedding Guests and a Photograph 663Morphine and Tears 664A Still Orange-looking Sea and Blue Sky 666Past for the Best 668

IN THE BRILLIANT AUTUMN SUNSHINEPart 1

In the Brilliant Autumn SunshineIn the Brilliant Autumn Sunshine, Among a Thousand Islands 674A Medieval Quay and a Broken-down Helicopter 678A Fisherman and a Jacaranda Spray 680A Shipping-Clerk in the Media 681Pavilion Door and Home Dressing-Room 681A Stable Block and a Barn Owl 682Black Squirrels and a Water-Pistol 683A Packer in Trouble 684A Beauty in Bed 685An Irishman Saved by the Lord 685Moon-Craters and Trotting Horses 687An Indian and Mauritius 689A Cabbie and Retirement 689A Yellow Waistcoat and a Mistress 690A Wedding and a Burial 691Two Metres Down Inside a Male Imperialist 693Living for Ever 694Riches and an Ejected Husband 694

A Swagger Destroyed 695A Russian Girl and a Credit Card 696Confiscated Passports and High Noon 697A Magisterial Sixty-Five-Year-Old and Leap Year 699A Wedding in Barbados 700Silly Work and Important People 701A Stonking Cancan and a Strutting Jagger 701Tootleloo, Mr Tootleloo 702An Idealist in Paradise 702A Sharp Businessman and the Kray Twins 703American Might and Little Englanders 704A Still Statue and a Begging Bowl 706Walking on From the Harbour 707A Crowd and a Photo-Shoot 709A Dead Pipistrelle and Blown-Up Skyscrapers 710A Shuffling Colonel Amid Ghosts 711A Shawl and Scooped Water 713An Old Lady Hit by the Side of a Stationary Car 714A Bentley as a Statement 716An Apology Like a Minuet 716A Paradise and Crowds 717A Firelit Family and Sailing Snow 719A Peeved Lord Lieutenant and His Sword 719A Spectre at the Old Boys’ Feast 721A Cattle Barn and a Nice Politician 722A Charter and a Letter 724A Jarred Piano and a Daubed Atmosphere 724Pain Behind a Glass Barrier 725Day-Dream on Stone Stairs 726A Laid-Back Driving Instructor and a Fiery Sicilian 726A Topsy-Turvy Mayor and Upside-Down Badges 727Miss Clean in the News 728A Hairdresser’s Philosophy 729A Philosopher and the Wheel of Fortune 730Aquitaine Wine and Retreating English 731A Sombre Cherry Tree and Sunflowers 732Capering Morris Dancers and a Galliard 733Colonial Dames and a Colonial Letter 734Morning Post 735Timebound by the Timeless Black Forest 735Disappointment Like a Climber’s Eye 736A Soaring Eagle and Trout-Fishing 737Spiralling Up to Truth 738Six Splashes on a Sleeve 739In the American Ambassador’s Back Garden 740A Blood Test and Paralysed Lungs 741Red Roses and Marigolds’ Nectar 742A Pulled Face and a Magpie 743A Cornishman and Two Dead Sons 745A Sallow Octogenarian and a Slow Ambulance 746Family Photos and a Home-Made Car 747

Snail Shells and Rat Runs 749Rainbow Trout and Crown Jewels 750An Abervan Boy and Mud-Brick Floors 750A Boat Race and a Puffed Pipe 751A Red Guard and his Red Clipboard 751A Tyrant and a Lie 752A Dragon on the Hill 753Yellow 123 and a Vanishing Coin 754A Tearaway and his Head 755A Punjabi and Tax Returns 756A Magdalene and her Mission 757A Retirement Package for a Carer 757A Happy Head and Hell 758A Corporate Man and a Toe-Poke 759Party Hats and a Stroke 760An Albatross Round an Ex-Seaman’s Neck 761Eerie Presences and an Eroding Force 762A Burial and White Gloves 762A Rose and a Divorce 763Petals Like Snowflakes 764A Manageress Up all Night 765Kicked-Over Flowers and a Poodle 766An Illusionist in his Transparent Box 767A Loose Screw and Autographs 769Torchless Dark and Doodle-bugs 769Closed Eyes and a Bright Light 771A Basket and a Pill 772Two Tie-Pins in Chapel 774White Socks and a Night-Light 776Crushed Fingers and Burnt Scones 777A Red-Robed Mayor and an Ad-libbed Speech 777Fish Round Two Wrecks 778Like a Scratched Freshwater Pearl 780Thick Brown Sand Round the Toes 781A Mud-Bath and Cleopatra’s Milk 782A Cab-Driver and a Killing 783A Boyhood Hero Among Handbags 784A Honeymoon in the Sun 785Pots Out of the East 786A Foxglove and Cellotaped Brown Paper 787A Mouse in the Mower 789A Christmas Card and a Last Post 790A Rabbit and Four Prunes 791Iron Bells and Steam Engines 792A Cockroach Among the Palms 793Steam-Cleaning the Patio 793A Gold Heart and Five Pounds 794Ovens in Use 795A Bread Basket on Fire 796A Vanished Mother and a Broken Gate 797Love Like a Well-Ironed Shirt 798

Bluebells Between Souls 798

Part 2New-Mown Grass

New-Mown Grass 802A Question and a Cremation 803Glasgow Knee and a Wrench 804Tablets and Alcohol 804Everest and Whoo-Whoo-Whoos 805Soldier in the Wild 806Two Kilns and a Sung Bowl 807Coincidence 808Like Curls of Planed Wood 809An Estonian in Dagenham 810A Working-Class Shopkeeper and a Privileged Patrician 811Huge Buildings for a New Renaissance 813A Guest of Her Friend 814An Old Soldier and Mandalay 815A Secret Place and a Chambered Cabinet 815Thirty Pounds for a Gypsy 816Like a Stone Blocking a Pipe 817Snot Like Ribbons and a Neurotic 819Cargo Boats and Stars 819Fortitude Like a Navy Pullover 820A Rift and a Spiral Stair 821A Skeleton Under a Church Floor 822Stuck in a Ditch 824A Balcony and a Reconciliation 824Bracken Round the Bell 825Quails’ Eggs and Celery 825A Dishwasher and Red-Hot Words 826A Gaunt Face and an Auction Catalogue 826Black Bags and a Stoat 827Christmas Lights and a Shower Room 828A Coffin and a Ladybird 829A Toasting and a Roasting 830Blown-Off Hands and a Finger at Twelve O’Clock 832Cocaine and High Fences 833A Quiz and Rubber Gloves 834Rice-Paper and Rommel’s Mind 835A Treaty and Anti-Germans 836Stones and Tanks 837A Dyslexic and a Falcon 838Caicos and a Window-Ledge 839A Wheelchair and Cleaned Windows 839A Lighthouse and a Surprise 840A Simnel Cake and Judas 841A Bed Surrounded by Papers 841A Folding Board and Rent 842A Shrill “Shut Up” and Shambles 843Clouded Ways and a Green Prospect 845

A Painter and a Dream House 846A Glassed Eye and Nothing 846A Model and Scowls 847An Etching and the Old World 848A Collage and Iced Cake 848A House-Move and Venetian Blinds 849An Old Lady’s Rings and a Window-cleaner’s Boy 850Hadrian’s Wall and a Muslim State 851A Speech and Twin Haircuts 852Black Lion and a Cellar 853Three Mitres and Three Papal Tiaras 854An Indian Potentate and a Closed-Down Club 856Horror After the Rave 857Bible Readings and a Sacked Guide 858A Baronial Hall and an Overlooked House 859Flawless Stones and Flawed Taste 860A Lighthouse and Deceit 861An Unanswered Name and Bowing Parents 861An Awesome Queen and Umbrella-ed Flunkeys 862A Carer and a Career 865A Turban and Two-Hour Poppyfields 866Scallops and Limoncello 866Culture Bearing and War 867A Quarrel and a Prime Minister 868A Carer and a Birth 869A Puzzle Ring and Gerontius’s Soul 870Rescue of a Screaming Girl 871A Calm Cottage and Carnage 872Grasshoppers and Blown Sand 872A Bull’s Eye and a Shadow 873A Ladder and a Tumour 875Notice and a Wheel 875A Carnival and Reality 876Fireworks and the One 877Seven Riding on the Mare 878Stone Rows and the One 880A Shell House and Plunging Gorges 882Daubenton’s Bats and the One 883Brain Tumours and a Portuguese House 885A Changed Ball and Western Rules 885A Study Like a Bittern-Hide 888A Splashing Sea and a Rodded Drain 889Noisy Youths in a Seaside Village 889Like Crabs and Shrimps 890Sea, Land and the One 891A Trident or a Turnip 892Jafaican and Esperanto 893Eternal Silence and Ticking Time 894Fossilised Chivalry and Unknightly Yobbery 894Shadow and Sun 896New Bungalows and Oak Trees 897

A Bat Like a Soul 899The Moon and Butterfly Sandwiches 900Kingfishers, Crassula and the One 901A Fountain of Light 903Exhausted 904Paralysed Bodies and the One 906A Dance of Death and the Dance of Life 907A Thousand Selves and the One 908Arabian Nights and Rosicrucian Invisibility 908A Footprint and Universal Light 909The Secret of the Desert 911

EpilogueThe Thousand-and-First Kannon and a Dance of Death 913

The First Dazzling Chill of WinterList of short stories in Contents

Part OneThe First Dazzling Chill of Winter

The First Dazzling Chill of Winter 3A Dapper Man 8A Corpulent Barber and an Angry Son 10A Roundabout and a Crashed Life 11A Rickety Stepladder and a Dreamer’s Chaise Longue 14A Leaving Party at the Osteopath’s 15Wild Boar 17A Plane on the House 19A Nurse and a Bleeding Consultant 20The Moors’ Paradise and a Sigh 22A 1399 Home and Dolphins 24An Angry Old Man in a Passing Order 25As Unyielding as a Slab of Granite 27A Black-Out and Table Tennis 29Nemesis in Naples 32A College and Cowboys 34Noah’s Pageant 35A Chapel on the Bend 35Two Silver Jugs on a Tray 37A Backward Boy and Mining 39Grouted Boulders and Encroaching Waves 40A Turkish Palace and a Smirk 42The Landlord and the Pie 44A Brother at the Window 47Maestros and Managers 49Fromages pour les enfants 51A Parakeet in our Garden 52Cranes and a Natterjack Toad 58A Hospice Donor and a ‘Pompous Twit’ 60

A Candle and a Squashed Mince Pie 63Gold and a Grumbling Undertaker 64A Tray and an Offhand Vicar 65Lycoris Buries her Friends 67A Family Skeleton 69Treasure in Heaven 70A Coffin like a Packed-Away Christmas Tree 71A Mute Question 75Teeth and an Outside Water-Supply 77Two Backpackers and a Film 79An Owl Handler out in the Cold 80Thirty Dogs and Forty Tortoises Downstairs 83A Buzz and an Iron Axe Head 83A Last Glimpse of Childhood 84Cobwebs in a Storeroom 86Tea in the Museum 88A Suntan and Blue Jokes 89A Gutted House and Far-Away Eyes 92Spilt Wine and Mersea Island 93A Hip and a Rebuff 95Critical and Early 99Christmas Day and a Grandchild 100A Headache and a Locum 101A Broken Hand and a Thunderous Look 102A Brown Envelope and a Bach Fugue 103Two Vines and a Nonagenarian 104A Herkimer Diamond like a Milestone 106Flat Battery 107Chocolate Curls and Chunks 108A Hornets’ Nest and Folded Clothes 109A Bulgarian Kick and a Line Dance 112A Warm Log Burner and a Latch-Pinned Door 114Black Sheep Like Pets 116A Wheelchair and Bible-Reading 116A Singing and Murder 119The Maître D’ and a Submarine 122Encomiums and Imperial Purple 123A Mask and Five Plasters 124An Electioneering Widow and a Splashed Carpet 129Wisteria and Hot Stones 134A Chimney and Christmas 137Leaves and Nectar 140A Clockman and Cuba 142Strangers and Friends 144An Athlete and a Monk 146Hazelnuts on a Keyboard 148A Captain and a Baha’i 150Gentle Mr Grayling and a Blurt 153Missionaries like Wind Turbines 158A Wheelchair and Stony Hill 160A Working Harbour and a Dream 164

Veiling Cheeks and a Wimple 166An Elagabalus Coin and a Yacht 168A Funeral and an Isolated Mourner 173Fines and Spills 175Glittering Gold off the Black Head 176A Sore Point 179Missionaries like Zealous Carol Singers 181Caviare and a Rat 184Like Four Spikes after a Storm 187A Berber in Civilization 189A Turk and Shariah 191A Trolley and Stress 192A Grab-Rail and Birdsong 193A Silence and a Bulging Stomach 196Fits and a Bath 199A Swimmer and a Medal 203A Stiff Upper Lip 205Wounds like Carrots 205A Peregrine like a Chained Soul 207Paper Boats and Kettles 208

Part TwoIn the Early Evening Sunshine

In the Early Evening Sunshine 213“Huh, huh” and a Waved Sole 216Bluster and Bluff 217Leather Gloves and Bat Bags 220A Ninety-Year-Old Cricketer and Rows 222Twinning and a Rodeo 225A Ruin and a Boudoir 228A Hedge, Green and Brown 229Partridge and a Tomb 232Bruises and Pickle 237A Lost Ruby and a God 240Galaxies and God 241Champagne and Order 242A Tooth and Cholesterol 247A Heart and a Blind Eye 249A Bandage and Narghiles 252Strokes and a Dying Order 254The One Like a Hidden Sun 256Blood Clots and Nylons 257A Tray in her Lap 260A Russian Invasion and a Defiant Estonian 262A Colonel in Tears 264A Chapel and a Bath 271An Ache and a Beach 272A Message from God 273A Providential Sale 275Truth Like a Clattering Crash 277A Foot in the Door 281

An Evangelical Tone and a Trick 284Fortune’s Wheel 286A Wheel and an Allotment 288A Pancreas and a Quiz 290Roots and a Shock 291An Afghan and Refugees 293A Minute and Eternity 295A Fall and a Physio 296Of Mice and Muscles 297A Disguise like a Stove-Pipe Hat 298Prosecco in Artillery Lane 301An X-ray and Chaos 305Pilgrims and Lorries 306Horror amid the Camaraderie 308Limp Mode and Full Power 312Cramp and a Dazzling Christmas Tree 314A Slip and Empty Days 316A Travel Plan and a Helicopter 317Box-Leaf Caterpillars and Nature’s Plan 318Histrionics and Mould 320A Chauffeur and the Death Seat 326Earth Floors by the Loire 328A Queue and a Lord 329A Crossword and Alaska 330Window-Dressing and Make-Believe 331Stabbings and Mushrooms 333A Walk and a Shut-Down 335Double Vision and Strokes 335A Fox and Bites 336Incas and Doodlebugs 338A Wrench and Dignity 338Scarlet Blood and Lost Letters 339The Sun and Icarus 340A Vicar and a Nephew 341A Vicar and Autism 343A Stark Reality and Three Hundred Dreams 344A Sandblaster and Beautifying Tracery 345Lake Garda and Chaos 346A Blank and a Back 347A Transplant and a Claw 350A Fall in a Home 351Shopping Bags and Tragedy 351A Wedding and a Fall 352Stunted Toes and a Joined-Up Head 353A Chef and a Backhand Cut 354A Toenail and Torture 355Four Bereavements and a Tortured Life 357Collapsed Veins and a Deer 357Disarmament and a KGB Man 360Menelaos and Ancient Stones 362A Church and a Pension 363

A Scheme and a Petard 364A Red Universe like the One 367Angels in Gloom 367A Room and a Deed 370Pasties by the Lighthouse 371Ninety like a Buddha 373Boxes into Store 374Quality like Blueberry Cheesecake 377A Funeral like a Dress Rehearsal 378Slumped Passengers and a Dark Tunnel 382A Twitch like a Wink 383A Widow and Ashes 385Shadow on the Cliff 387A Swept Desk and Green Grass 388Sheep and Screens 391Myriad Splashes and Stars 392An Uneven Path and a Clock Tower 393A Coffee and a Cosmic Plan 394Haunting Images and an Exorcism 396A Stag and Wire-Cutters 398A Wildlife Garden and the One 399Silence and a Green Curtain 401

Indexes:Dates of Stories 403Index of Titles 411

The Last Tourist in IranList of chapters in Contents

1. Behind the Negative Image 12. In Early Iranian and Revolutionary Tehran 103. Among Pilgrims and Sufis in Shiraz 354. Back with the Achaemenians, our Source 505. In Desert Yazd, Among Zoroastrians 856. Isfahan’s Safavid Beauty 1127. In Husaynieh and Nuclear Natanz 1378. With the Qajars in Desert Kashan 1559. The Holy Imams of Qom 16410. Among the Medes and Persians of Hamadan 18611. With the Shah and Khomeini in Tehran 20012. The Pattern in the Persian Carpet 218

Appendix: Iranian Dynasties 240Map of Iran showing Nicholas Hagger’s Route 258Map of Shia Populations 259Bibliography 260

The Libyan RevolutionList of chapters in Contents

Preface ix

Part OneThe End of the Old Regime

1. Pro-Western Tripoli 32. The Decadence of a Dying Order 21

Part TwoThe Revolution and its Aims

3. The 1969 Coup 434. Gaddafi’s Anti-Western Measures: Growing Extremism 59

Part ThreeThe Achievements of the Revolution

5. Growing Terror and Isolation: 1971–1980 936. Terrorism and Nuclear Weapons, 1981–2001 1117. Returning to the International Fold and Disarmament, 2002–2009 127

Timeline 142

AppendixPortrait of Western LibyaCatching the Libyan Atmosphere and Western Links 155

Tripoli Castle: Two Caramanlis 157Suk Al-Jum’a: Camels and Volkswagen Nomads 160Our Lady of Garian and the Troglodyte Wife 165Tripoli’s Old City: The Old British Consulate and the Baker 171Leptis: Septimius Severus and the Medallioned Groom 176Sabratha: Flavius Tullus and the Mosaic-Maker 183Two Amphitheatres: Beasts and a Thracian Gladiator 191Tripoli’s Old City: A Tarbooshed Merchant, a Sandalled Plague-Bearer 200New Tripoli: A Ghaffir with Italian Medals, 45s in an Oilman’s Car 206Miss Tully’s Story of Yusef Caramanli 211The Shar’a Shatt Fort: Battleships and a Rope Sling 219The Intrepid: Decatur’s Fireship, a Seaman with a Knotted Scarf 223Djerba: Lotus and Skewered Lamb 228Viper’s Valley: A Legend which Came True? The James Halifax Story 232Casino: Wheel and a Rippling Jaw 237Focus on the Amphitheatres of Leptis and Sabratha:

The Whereabouts of the Beast-Pens and the Gladiator Prison 240Tripoli: Old and New under a Blue Sky 244London: Merrie Dandies and a Blind Piper 247Palestine: The Arab Case in Britain 251London: Traditional, Modern, Underground, Pop, the Cultural Scene 256Libyan-British Relations 261Provincial France: Grey Blinds, Baroque Statues, Frenchness 268Libyans Show Solidarity with the Revolutionary Command Council 273

Old Regimes 275Libya’s Young Puritans 279Libya under its Colonel from the Desert 283Dates of Articles 287

Notes and References to Sources 289

Bibliography 295