Wednesday 15 April 2009

Oh to be in England Now That April's There

April in the Botanical Gardens, Durham

It's glorious weather here. Think we should make the most of it, this might be our summer!

Seems like this poem expresses how I feel about spring here in England. It just suddenly appears from nowhere and to be truthful although I love going on holiday, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else at the moment.


Home Thoughts, From Abroad

Oh, to be in England,
Now that April's there,
And whoever wakes in England
Sees, some morning, unaware,
That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf
Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf,
While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough

In England--now!

And after April, when May follows,

And the whitethroat builds, and all the swallows!
Hark, where my blossomed pear-tree in the hedge
Leans to the field and scatters on the clover
Blossoms and dewdrops--at the bent spray's edge--
That's the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over,
Lest you should think he never could recapture
The first fine careless rapture!
And though the fields look rough with hoary dew,
All will be gay when noontide wakes anew
The buttercups, the little children's dower--
Far brighter than this gaudy melon-flower.

Robert Browning


When I read the poem this morning I remembered this song. It's another of my favourites, written and sung by Clifford T Ward.

He wrote it for his wife in 1973 when he was touring the American Army bases in France and based it on the Browning poem, Home Thoughts From Abroad.

He was a wonderful singer songwriter but suffered from multiple sclerosis and sadly he died in 2001.


Nice one Clifford!

Home Thoughts from Abroad - Clifford T Ward

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