MR. E. A. POE AND I IN THE
OXFAM BOOKSHOP GUILDFORD.
( to the glorious Mr. S. )
One has only to
enter the shop and
the books start
talking to one
in the voice
of their author.
"Death looks
gigantically down..."
Ahhh Mr. E.A. Poe
is it your self so it is.
Jeremiah something something
or other
whispers to me
in its Biblical way:
"Because of the ground
which is dismayed..."
All the books eager
for the good home
of a mind
like mine
jumping up and down
like puppies in a pet shop
how can I
leave one behind.
"For the poor benefit of
a bewildering minute?"
Even as I depart
with all the treasures I have found
tucked under my arm
a voice calls to me:
"Com to a mountayne and
found therein
nobody . .."
but I
am back on the street with
"My City in the Sea."
Thomas Heywood's words still
ringing in my ears:
"O God! O God! that it were possible
To undo things undone: to call back
yesterday. . ."
Dec 21, 2018
Dec 21, 2018 at 10:21 AM UTC
MR. E. A. POE AND I IN THE
OXFAM BOOKSHOP GUILDFORD.
( to the glorious Mr. S. )
One has only to
enter the shop and
the books start
talking to one
in the voice
of their author.
"Death looks
gigantically down..."
Ahhh Mr. E.A. Poe
is it your self so it is.
Jeremiah something something
or other
whispers to me
in its Biblical way:
"Because of the ground
which is dismayed..."
All the books eager
for the good home
of a mind
like mine
jumping up and down
like puppies in a pet shop
how can I
leave one behind.
"For the poor benefit of
a bewildering minute?"
Even as I depart
with all the treasures I have found
tucked under my arm
a voice calls to me:
"Com to a mountayne and
found therein
nobody . .."
but I
am back on the street with
"My City in the Sea."
Thomas Heywood's words still
ringing in my ears:
"O God! O God! that it were possible
To undo things undone: to call back
yesterday. . ."
The Heywood can be heard from A WOMAN KILLED WITH KINDNESS. IV v.
The Poe emerges from MY CITY IN THE SEA.
The "Mountayne" comes from Morte d'Arthur X111 xiv. where there is "...harde a voyce..."
The "...ground which is dismayed..." spouts forth from Jeremiah 14: 3-4
The "bewildering minute" comes thanks to Tourneur's The Revenger's Tragedy III iv
All these quotes for some reason or other could "shake the veil of time" for me as Mr. Elliot would put it.
The warmth and friendliness of the people who man the shop is the other vital element that conspires to make a visit to the shop a pleasure to be treasured.
