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Denny Bradbury Books

Denny Bradbury Books

Tag Archives: Poetry

William Blake

22 Saturday Feb 2020

Posted by dennybradburybooks in Denny's Diary, Poetry

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Denny Bradbury Poems, Oxford Centre for Spiritual Growth, Poetry, William Blake

Recently I attended a day course on the work of William Blake. In many ways a difficult but visionary man. When are those blest with great gifts ever easy to live with or understand. A fascinating day and well worth the trip to Oxford. Thank you to the Oxford Centre for Spiritual Growth, they run very interesting courses. Below a snippet of Blake’s genius.

Extract from Auguries of Innocence:

To see a World in a Grain of Sand
and a Heaven in a Wild Flower
Hold Infinity in the Palm of your hand
and Eternity in an hour
a Robin Redbreast in a Cage
puts all Heaven in a Rage
a Dove house filled with Doves and Pigeons
Shudders Hell thr’ all its regions
a dog starved at his Master’s Gate
predicts the ruin of the State
a Horse misused upon the Road
calls to Heaven for Human Blood
each outcry of the Hunted Hare
a fibre from the Brain does tear…

His passion for kindness and justice shines through. the poem is a very long one and keeps the theme of abhorrence at cruelty.
I only hope my poor attempts at poetry live after me and people say ‘she had compassion too…”

with grace and kindness – Denny Bradbury

Night

10 Sunday Jan 2016

Posted by dennybradburybooks in Denny's Diary, Poetry

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De-versify, Poetry, Stars Tonight, William Blake Night

From William Blake’s Night – it is a longish poem so I won’t repeat it all here but the first verse is charmingly descriptive :

The sun descending in the west,
The evening star does shine;
The birds are silent in their nest.
And I must seek for mine.
The moon, like a flower
In heaven’s high bower,
with silent delight
Sits and smiles at the night.

How lucky was he to anticipate the night with such equanimity. The nightly tortures of the insomniac would have a very different take on the coming of darkness with the inevitable restlessness.

Once when I couldn’t sleep I wandered around and looked up at the clear starry night and wrote :

I looked up and saw stars tonight; they were so bright and clear.
What is up there, I don’t know, but this I hold quite dear:
That all is well as long as they are shining in the sky.
The velvet cloak of night enfolds and all I ask is why –
Why does humankind not follow the zigzag paths of youth
To find the answers to our quest for some forgotten truth?

I looked up and saw stars tonight as sleep eluded me.
On distant stars, I pondered on what elements might be.
What don’t we yet know? How we yearn to fill in all the blanks,
But it is how we deal with these that keeps me coming back
To why we are and how the wise just offer up their love
With constancy and honesty – how much our lives improve.

I looked up and saw stars tonight, then one fell through the sky,
What power I can only guess, sends light to feast the eye.
To sit and ponder in the night, to think to hope to pray,
So that we might be happier at the opening of each day.
We are so small against this web of infinite space and time.
Some look and note the fact of it while others make a rhyme!

Very best wishes  – Denny Bradbury

Thomas Traherne

24 Tuesday Nov 2015

Posted by dennybradburybooks in Denny's Diary, Poetry

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On Leaping Over the Moon, Poetry, Thomas Traherne

Recently discovered this wonderful 17th century poet. Just exploring his poems and his writing. This is the first verse of his poem:

On Leaping Over the Moon

I saw new Worlds beneath the water ly,
New Peeple; and another Sky,
And Sun, which seen by Day
Might things more clear display.
Just such another
Of my late Brother
Did in his Travel see, and saw by Night
A much more strange and wondrous Sight:
Nor could the World exhibit such another,
So Great a Sight, but in a Brother.

Best wishes and enjoy all the wonderful poetry, both old and new.

Denny Bradbury

Watcher on the Ground

10 Wednesday Jun 2015

Posted by dennybradburybooks in Denny's Diary, Poetry

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nature, Poetry

I am daily reminded of how small we are compared to Nature’s ability to survive and amaze. This was my inspiration from yesterday walking my lovely labrador in quiet fields:

Brilliant white of the blackthorn is gone
delicate pink of green hawthorn clings on

timothy sways in the breeze as it grows
groundsel so sturdy it is one of those
commonplace plants that nobody knows

blackbird is calling his mate to the tree
his peers answer loudly with deep rivalry
dunnocks chirrup in hideouts secure
while swallows sweep silently over the moor

walker sees all by not making a sound
standing and staring she is to be found
watching as deer leaps high above ground

brilliant white of the blackthorn is gone
delicate pink of green hawthorn clings on

Denny Bradbury©

Poets in and out of fashion

06 Friday Feb 2015

Posted by dennybradburybooks in Denny's Diary, Poetry

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Poetry, Walter de la Mare

Dipping into one of my poetry book collection I re-discovered Walter de la Mare. I love this extract, which leaves me with a wonderful feeling of belonging to something old and precious.

Very old are the brooks;
And the hills that rise
Where snow sleeps cold beneath
The azure skies
Sing such a history
Of come and gone,
Their every drop is as wise
As Solomon.

This is from his poem – All That’s Past

Vey best wishes – Denny Bradbury

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