From an almost whimsical beginning, these verses on wishing to overcome mortality grow lyrical and deeply moving
From an almost whimsical beginning, these verses on wishing to overcome mortality grow lyrical and deeply moving
Dream-Pedlary
i.
If there were dreams to sell.
What would you buy?
Words of stern moral advice to a besotted young man are delivered with a brisk and even sunny touch
The moon becomes the witty image of an isolated and contemptuously neglected elderly relation
Writing towards the end of the first world war, the poet, novelist, journalist and suffragist Benson here dreams of a secure peace
A journey through a visionary landscape, exceptionally bright in icy weather, conjures a surreal semi-mythical world
A single missing word in the 1902 poem sparks a deeper look at rhythm, dialect and longing
The radical young poet’s backhanded tribute to the older writer is a stern judgment on his lapsed political idealism
