I found this book very cheaply in the local Shelter second hand shop. Its made up of two parts, the first section contains wonderful poems that Scammell had decided were to go into a collection, the second section contains poems that were found amongst his notes when he died. I really enjoyed the first section, the poems here are beautiful and well observed with a wonderful feel for the sounds of language as in this quote from The Mountain:
the becks flashing scuts as they leap
and fall, the mountain ash's homely touch,
straight from the rock, conjuring
leaves out of hard hearted geology.
There's humour in this collection as well as a connection to the land and the farming life, family, science and literature. Well worth a read.
Black and White by William Scammell, published by Flambard
4 comments:
What a find!!! That is a lovely poem.
sounds like a worthy find
Liked this post a lot because it followed my watching a tv programme last night by Neil Oliver which I enjoyed about Scotland's history, seemed to fit for me anyway! Will look up Scammell. Looking forward to your posts this new year, which I hope's going to be a good one for you. liZZie
" . . . . conjuring leaves out of hard hearted geology" -- oh my. I can see why you are recommending William Scammell to us. Thank you, Juliet.
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