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Littlestone 5386 posts |
Edited Aug 31, 2010, 10:04
Aug 31, 2010, 09:01
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Haven't found a written version of this yet but it's worth listening to here - Norn But Not Forgotten: Sounds of Shetland. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00thpw1/Norn_But_Not_Forgotten_Sounds_of_Shetland/
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Littlestone 5386 posts |
Sep 07, 2010, 15:40
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Though thought by some to be about Stonehenge, The Ruin is now generally believe to be a poem describing the ruins of Roman Bath; and was perhaps composed by an Anglo-Saxon poet standing there amidst the ruins looking at the work of, "...the mighty builders, perished and fallen..." While still, "...a stream threw up heat in wide surge; the wall enclosed all in its bright bosom, where the baths were, hot in the heart. That was convenient. Then they let pour... hot streams over grey stone." It is, "One of the most beautiful elegies in Old English. Written 1,000 years ago..." and the video below is worth a ganders. The ruin shown is neither that of Bath nor of Stonehenge but works well in the context of, "...courtyard pavements were smashed; the work of giants is decaying. Roofs are fallen, ruinous towers, the frosty gate with frost on cement is ravaged, chipped roofs are torn, fallen, undermined by old age." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcIZrlid5UE
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Resonox 604 posts |
Sep 07, 2010, 17:14
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John Denham's epic poem Cooper's Hill speaks of a long lost era...whilst not exactly being "megalithic"....but worth a trudge through none-the-less!
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Littlestone 5386 posts |
Sep 07, 2010, 19:31
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Resonox wrote: John Denham's epic poem Cooper's Hill speaks of a long lost era...whilst not exactly being "megalithic"....but worth a trudge through none-the-less! Thanks for that Mr R. Found the poem here - http://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/poem/629.html This bit in the commentary may also be of interest - "The speaker stands on the top of Cooper’s Hill, which, like the nearby St. Anne’s Hill, overlooks the extensive water-meadows known as Egham Mead, through which the river Thames flows on its way to London and the sea."
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Resonox 604 posts |
Sep 08, 2010, 15:22
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Littlestone wrote: Resonox wrote: John Denham's epic poem Cooper's Hill speaks of a long lost era...whilst not exactly being "megalithic"....but worth a trudge through none-the-less! Thanks for that Mr R. Found the poem here - http://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/poem/629.html This bit in the commentary may also be of interest - "The speaker stands on the top of Cooper’s Hill, which, like the nearby St. Anne’s Hill, overlooks the extensive water-meadows known as Egham Mead, through which the river Thames flows on its way to London and the sea." Strangely enough there is another Cooper's Hill in Surrey probably also the same distance from London....this other one is close to Bletchingley, quite an impressive mound too...has a "man-made" look about it when viewed from the M23...but not so unnatural looking from atop it....(yes I've climbed it,there is a public footway...before anyone asks!!) and you can see Bletchingley castle and Cissbury Ring quite clearly from it.
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nigelswift 8112 posts |
Sep 13, 2010, 15:23
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"THERE is a village amongst the Wiltshire Downs lying in a hollow below broad green pastures and chalky hills. It has but one long street and a few straggling cottages and grey farmhouses amongst gardens and trees--happy and homelike as an oasis in the desert to the traveller who first looks upon them from the heights; and near it and within it stand smooth stones, giant in size, and deep and mysterious in their meaning, the relics of a heathen worship; and high grassy banks, upon which children play, and along which labourers plod, without a thought of the history pictured before their eyes, mark the precincts of those ancient temples. In the centre of the village is the Rectory (Vicarage), not looking towards the street, but fronting a pleasant garden and green fields, across which was a path leading to a vast mound said to be the work of human hands. Marvellous it is even as the mystic stones that tell of the creed of the generations gone by; and solemn and peaceful are the blue mists that rest upon it in the early morning, veiling its outlines as the shadows of the past. I have lingered at the garden gate day after day, gazing upon the old circular hill, and hearing no sound to break the stillness of the air, until I could have fancied that peace--the peace of a world which has never echoed to the sound of a human voice--the peace of the spirits who rest in hope, was lingering amidst that quiet village."
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VBB 558 posts |
Sep 13, 2010, 18:50
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nigelswift wrote: "THERE is a village amongst the Wiltshire Downs lying in a hollow below broad green pastures and chalky hills. It has but one long street and a few straggling cottages and grey farmhouses amongst gardens and trees--happy and homelike as an oasis in the desert to the traveller who first looks upon them from the heights; and near it and within it stand smooth stones, giant in size, and deep and mysterious in their meaning, the relics of a heathen worship; and high grassy banks, upon which children play, and along which labourers plod, without a thought of the history pictured before their eyes, mark the precincts of those ancient temples. In the centre of the village is the Rectory (Vicarage), not looking towards the street, but fronting a pleasant garden and green fields, across which was a path leading to a vast mound said to be the work of human hands. Marvellous it is even as the mystic stones that tell of the creed of the generations gone by; and solemn and peaceful are the blue mists that rest upon it in the early morning, veiling its outlines as the shadows of the past. I have lingered at the garden gate day after day, gazing upon the old circular hill, and hearing no sound to break the stillness of the air, until I could have fancied that peace--the peace of a world which has never echoed to the sound of a human voice--the peace of the spirits who rest in hope, was lingering amidst that quiet village." Elizabeth Missing Sewell's (1815–1906) autobiographical novel The Experience of Life (1853) as you can see deploys Avebury as the fictional setting of ‘Leigh’ where the subject resides for the last sixteen years of the period covered in the novel. Eleanor L Sewell (ed) The Autobiography of Elizabeth Missing Sewell (1907) reveals … only it’s not on the net so you will have to find it in a library!
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Littlestone 5386 posts |
Edited Sep 15, 2010, 11:15
Sep 14, 2010, 14:28
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VBB wrote: nigelswift wrote: "THERE is a village amongst the Wiltshire Downs lying in a hollow below broad green pastures and chalky hills. It has but one long street and a few straggling cottages and grey farmhouses amongst gardens and trees--happy and homelike as an oasis in the desert to the traveller who first looks upon them from the heights; and near it and within it stand smooth stones, giant in size, and deep and mysterious in their meaning, the relics of a heathen worship; and high grassy banks, upon which children play, and along which labourers plod, without a thought of the history pictured before their eyes, mark the precincts of those ancient temples. In the centre of the village is the Rectory (Vicarage), not looking towards the street, but fronting a pleasant garden and green fields, across which was a path leading to a vast mound said to be the work of human hands. Marvellous it is even as the mystic stones that tell of the creed of the generations gone by; and solemn and peaceful are the blue mists that rest upon it in the early morning, veiling its outlines as the shadows of the past. I have lingered at the garden gate day after day, gazing upon the old circular hill, and hearing no sound to break the stillness of the air, until I could have fancied that peace--the peace of a world which has never echoed to the sound of a human voice--the peace of the spirits who rest in hope, was lingering amidst that quiet village." Elizabeth Missing Sewell's (1815–1906) autobiographical novel The Experience of Life (1853) as you can see deploys Avebury as the fictional setting of ‘Leigh’ where the subject resides for the last sixteen years of the period covered in the novel. Eleanor L Sewell (ed) The Autobiography of Elizabeth Missing Sewell (1907) reveals … only it’s not on the net so you will have to find it in a library! Interesting. I wonder if there's a connection between Elizabeth Sewell and Mary Cope's (1852-1888) poem From western lands on Avebury... there are similarities... Mary - Which 'neath the quiet English skies, far from all busy haunts it lies The wide chalk downs among. Elizabeth - THERE is a village amongst the Wiltshire Downs lying in a hollow below broad green pastures and chalky hills. Mary - Huge druid stones surround the spot, Which else had almost been forgot By the great world without. The mystic ring now scarcely traced Is by a grassy dike embraced, Circling the whole about. Elizabeth - ...and within it stand smooth stones, giant in size, and deep and mysterious in their meaning, the relics of a heathen worship; and high grassy banks... Mary - And happy children come and go With rosy cheek and rustic walk, Elizabeth - ...banks, upon which children play, and along which labourers plod, without a thought of the history pictured before their eyes... Mary - Soft fall the evening dews. Wild winds perchance may sweep the wold But age, untouched by storm or cold, In memory's sight thou standest there, Encircled by serenest air, In changeless summer hue. Elizabeth - Marvellous it is even as the mystic stones that tell of the creed of the generations gone by; and solemn and peaceful are the blue mists that rest upon it in the early morning, veiling its outlines as the shadows of the past. ...the peace of a world which has never echoed to the sound of a human voice--the peace of the spirits who rest in hope, was lingering amidst that quiet village.
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nigelswift 8112 posts |
Sep 14, 2010, 18:44
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Ahaaa! Looks like it doesn't it. Warn't Mary great?!
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Littlestone 5386 posts |
Edited Sep 15, 2010, 11:18
Sep 14, 2010, 19:39
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nigelswift wrote: Ahaaa! Looks like it doesn't it. Warn't Mary great?! Yes, but perhaps there's a sad story here. I'm not sure if the following dates are spot on but Mary lived from 1852-1888 and was only 36 when she died. Elizabeth lived from 1815-1906 and died at the ripe old age of 91. Elizabeth's book was published in 1853 (or 1858?) and would have been in circulation for 20 years by the time Mary was 21? (plenty of time for it to have reached Pennsylvania). Given that the Copes were an extremely religious family, and their ancestors originally hailed from Avebury, it seems likely that Mary would have read Elizabeth's book and that this had, perhaps, inspired Mary to write her poem. The question is, did Mary ever actually visit Avebury? Parts of her poem seem based on firsthand observation while other parts seem a little fanciful. Her father undertook a religious journey to England and Europe two years after Mary's death; was this journey undertaken in memory of his daughter, and the origins of the Cope family in Avebury?
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