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:

  1. 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

    ReplyDelete
  2. Steve,

    What a beauty that is.

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

    ReplyDelete
  3. 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

    ReplyDelete
  4. 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

    ReplyDelete
  5. 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

    ReplyDelete
  6. 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.

    ReplyDelete
  7. 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.

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

    (inertial system, moving toward elements)

    ReplyDelete