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Tuesday 21 September 2010

Tom Raworth/William Shakespeare: The wind and the rain


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photo

Hove Dawn Squall #900, 20 July 2010
: photo by Tom Raworth



.. When that I was and a little tiny boy,
...With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
A foolish thing was but a toy,
...For the rain it raineth every day.

But when I came to man’s estate,
...With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
’Gainst knaves and thieves men shut their gate,
...For the rain it raineth every day.

But when I came, alas! to wive,
...With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
By swaggering could I never thrive,
...For the rain it raineth every day.

But when I came unto my beds,
...With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
With toss-pots still had drunken heads,
...For the rain it raineth every day.

A great while ago the world begun,
...With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
But that’s all one, our play is done,
...And we’ll strive to please you every day.




photo

Hove Dawn Squall #903, 20 July 2010: photo by Tom Raworth



Book page scan:


William Shakespeare: When that I was and a little tiny boy, from Twelfe Night, or, What you will (1601-1602), V. i. (facsimile of First Folio, 1623, Brandeis University Library)

8 comments:

STEPHEN RATCLIFFE said...

Tom(s),

Beautiful. What else to do but go back to the beginning --

If music be the food of love, play on,
Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken, and so die. . . .


9.21

light coming into sky above still black
ridge, red-tailed hawk calling in right
foreground, no sound of wave in channel

relation to light, something
different in such a way

about it, dimension of going
back, part of its frame

grey-white fog against invisible ridge,
wingspan of cormorant flapping into it

TC said...

Steve,

What a beauty that is.

We feel unworthy, like those who have greatness thrown upon them.

STEPHEN RATCLIFFE said...

Tom,

Thanks and yes, and how many ways to read that next line, "That strain again, it had a dying fall. . . ."


9.22

light coming into sky above black plane
of ridge, silver of planet above branch
in foreground, sound of wave in channel

inertial system, relative to
two events in continuum

place measured, ray of light
which is, and therefore

blue-white of sky reflected in channel,
wingspan of gull flapping toward point

Unknown said...

A lovely blog, just found. Now to find time to rummage your back pages.
Thanks

jon jost
www.jonjost.wordpress.com
www.cinemaelectronica.wordpress.com

STEPHEN RATCLIFFE said...

Or these two --

"What country friends, is this?
This is Illyria. . . ."


9.23

grey whiteness of fog against invisible
ridge, green motion of leaves on branch
in foreground, sound of wave in channel

in order to see, as it seems
what they saw and heard

moving toward elements, more
than color, of “surface”

cloudless blue sky reflected in channel,
cormorant flapping to the left above it

Anonymous said...

I have been so knocked out by Tom Raworth's two Hove Dawn Squall photos I can't get over it. They're both incredibly beautiful.

billymills said...

I did the play at school and remember that this was the first time I wondered what it would be like to be old. Tom R's photos are, as always, a delight, like the man himself.

Oddly, the visual id word for this comment is miedo, pero nunca tengo miedo aqui, Tom.

TC said...

Billy, eres un hombre valiente ... pero yo, tengo miedo por todas partes ...

(inertial system, moving toward elements)