tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post3563183749166709499..comments2024-03-23T20:37:37.891-07:00Comments on First Known When Lost: "Before Their Death Trees Have Their Full Delight"Stephen Pentzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-83221220157023796732012-09-16T18:46:41.045-07:002012-09-16T18:46:41.045-07:00Mr Lancaster: I greatly appreciate hearing your vi...Mr Lancaster: I greatly appreciate hearing your views on Gurney, given your expertise on his work. Thank you for stating the case much more articulately than I can. <br /><br />I'm glad that you mentioned his "occasional knottiness" and its relationship to an unfortunate tendency to ascribe his style to his "madness." I made this mistake when I first encountered Gurney. I read his poems in anthologies and committed the error that you refer to: I attributed his "difficulty" to his mental state. But I was wrong. To me, this became evident when I began to read him chronologically: I realized that the "knottiness" is simply (maybe not so simply!) a part of Gurney, and not evidence of "madness."<br /><br />And thank you very much for the background information on "Quiet Talk." I particularly appreciate learning of the alternate title (I was only guessing that it was a late summer/early autumn poem) and seeing the alternate version of the first two lines (which are lovely). And thank you as well for the information that there is not necessarily any "subtext" to the poem: I wasn't certain whether there was something happening in his life at the time that prompted the poem.<br /><br />As I have said before, I wish you well on your continued (and greatly appreciated!) work in the Gurney archives. Receiving your comment once again makes me look forward to your and Tim Kendall's future edition of the poems.<br /><br />[For interested readers, I highly recommend a visit to Mr Lancaster's blog relating to his work in the Gurney archives: http://ivorgurney.blogspot.com.]Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-4083030343592029702012-09-16T14:53:24.233-07:002012-09-16T14:53:24.233-07:00Stephen: You are very right that we should not by-...Stephen: You are very right that we should not by-and-large read Gurney's poetry through the lens of any apparent 'madness'. Such reception has in my view done much to limit the reception of Gurney's poetic voice, his occasional knottiness being at times excused and attributed to 'madness' rather than endeavouring to accept and understand his mode of expression as a valid and unique style which has nothing to do with his sad fate. <br /><br />This poem dates from September 1920, which was a time of stability and great productivity for Gurney, including - by chance - the writing of the setting of W.B. Yeats to which another has drawn attention, 'Down by the Salley Gardens', which song was composed in September-October 1920. <br /><br />In other sources the poem bears the title 'Late September', with (amongst other differences) the first lines more plainly given as 'The trees are breathing quietly today / Of coming autumn and the summer over'. <br /><br />I don't believe there to be any subtext to the poem, merely (if such a thing can be said to be merely anything) telling - as you say - of the arrival of the autumn winds and the swift effect of those winds on the summer landscape. Philip Lancasterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17457417552041307923noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-18845836866720183752012-09-13T20:47:20.965-07:002012-09-13T20:47:20.965-07:00Bob: thank you very much for the link. That is on...Bob: thank you very much for the link. That is one of my favorite Yeats poems. I hadn't heard Gurney's setting of it before: unfortunately, I haven't explored Gurney's musical side as much as I have his poetry. It is a deficiency that I need to rectify!<br /><br />I greatly appreciate your thoughtfulness in providing the link. Thank you for stopping by.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-33862395199504920702012-09-13T16:47:49.779-07:002012-09-13T16:47:49.779-07:00As an Ivor Gurney admirer, you probably know his b...As an Ivor Gurney admirer, you probably know <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbweovGlJeY" rel="nofollow">his beautiful musical setting of Yeats' poem "Down by the salley gardens."</a>Robert J.https://www.blogger.com/profile/12937384579138400443noreply@blogger.com