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I love poetry. 'O, Western Wind' is one of my favourite poems. Thought to originate in Tudor times, it has been variously interpreted. Some claim it is aboutan awareness of death, others think it is a poem of passionate yearning.
Let's read it together.
O Western Wind
'O, Western wind, when wilt thou blow
That the small rain down can rain?
Christ, that my love was in my arms
And I in my bed again'.
The poem is brief, occupying no more than four lines on the page, yet it is powerful. Why?
Let's take a glance at how it works, how it is structured.
The alliterative 'w' sounds occur four times at the start of words in the first line, echoed by the 'w'ending the word 'blow'. Now, we've identified the sounds but what effect do they have? Why are they there?
I hear a keening sound in them, a whine, almost a sense of despair.
After a time of drought, there is a need for 'small rain', soft and nourishing to the soul.
The use of the word 'Christ'in the third line revealsadeep need,not only for a real lover but a universal one, to satisfy unfulfilled longings, to bring redemption and healing.
The poem endswith the desire to be in one's own bed, a place of love and security, but also of birth and death.
The 'speaking voice' of the poet creates a timeless dimenson. Read 'O Western Wind' andlet it lingerin your mind untilyou findyour own conclusion.
There's notmuch on television that I like, not eventhe news.
I look outfor gardening programmes, which featurewildish gardens, like mine. Iwatch 'Dechrau Canu, Dechrau Canmol' now and thenand home makeovers.
Tonight there was an enjoyable programme called'Restoration Home', coming from Landshipping, Pembroke.
A brave soul called Alun Lewis bought the shell of what was once a grand home, 'Ty Mawr', or 'Big House', for275,000 tenyears ago. It hasfour acres of grounds and some derelict cottages. Across the estuary, stands Picton Castle, the design of whichinspired Ty Mawr.
Two historians, carrying out resesarch at the Pembrokeshire Record Office, discovered Ty Mawr had been built in the early nineteenth centuryby MP Sir John Owen. Sir John owned coal mines but he was reckless with money, borrowing more than he could afford to repay comfortably.The fight to win a seat in Parliament in 1831 was bitterly fought and he spent thousands of pounds on drinks in the 'Mariners' Hotel' Haverfordwest, courting voters.
Tragedy struck on Valentine's Day, 1842, when a mine under the River Cleddau flooded, killing forty people, including women and children as young as ten.Financial ruin ensued and Ty Mawr was auctioned in London. By 1907 records show the 'Big House' was crumbling away.
Alun Lewisworks in the port of Milford Haven to finance his dream. Window sills have been installed from slabs of slatebought for 160. There'sa stove consistingof metal drums welded together, 20,000 worth of windows, and floor boardsthat camefrom a village hall.
When the programme ended, part of the house was habitable and Alun has taken up residence.
He's following his dream and I wish him luck.
No...we are not talking laundry. Some of our members may have noticed a great deal of discussion in the online tech press recently about 'real' identities on social networks.
Recently G+ has announced that it will not accept 'sock puppet' id's and Facebook appears set to follow suit.
This is an opportune moment to clarify AmeriCymru's position on this burning non-issue.
Of course we will accept fake id's from established members who wish to create a character on the site for the purpose of amusing other members. In fact we encourage people to be creative in this respect. Please be aware though that we will know your real identity ( probably ) and will not tolerate 'socks' that are created for malicious purposes. Such accounts will be deleted without debate or explanation.
If you decide to 'create' a character please have fun with it and try not to get too carried away
If you have any questions....please add them in comments below.
Diolch
With all this talk about the money markets being shaky, I've just read an article about women and money.
Yes, we expect men to take care of us. Time to grow up, girls and fill our own piggy bank, it seems.
Married women let their husbands do the financial thinking for them and 'Cinderella Singletons' don't think much further than their next pair of shoes, either. (I'm not being nasty, it's based on a survey).
Seventy per cent of women will end up providing for themselves. Only forty seven per cent of women are saving enough for retirement, compared to fifty nine per cent of men.
Women are not lessresponsible.Manytake part-time workto fit in with their children'sschool time-tables and holidays.These jobs tend to be less well paid than jobs carrying good pensions.
Part-time work means not only a smaller cheque butless to save as well as spend. In times of cut-backs, the part-timers are the first to face redundancy.
Manywomen with children maynotbe able to save until the children are independent. Perhaps then they should work full-time put all their earnings into some form of investment.
I've been writing about the fisherwomen of Llangwm for a book I'm working on. Llangwm is a small village eight miles away from Haverfordwest. These women were the feminists of their day, the men being knownby the wife's name.
On market day, the women sold mussels, herring, shrimp and oysters and other sea-foods outside St Mary's Church, Haverfordwest.
After the day's trading, they stopped fora jug of porter and a pipe of 'baccy in 'The Lamb' in Dew Street, before setting off for home. Idon't think they'd allow the men to sort their pensions out, somehow.
My novel, 'Salt Blue', was published when I was sixty seven. Someone askedif I was I surprised thatI'd had a novel published at my age. I was surprised that she wassurprised. As far as I know, I amnot actually ga-ga.
Recently, I read of a seventy seven year old having a first novel published.That's young.Someone elsehad hisnovel published when he was a hundred. Now, I'm sure he had lots to write about.
Perhaps we need to revise our attitudes to ageing.The population as a whole is living longer, resulting in a pension crisis. When I went to Disney, in Florida, it wasn't the rides and parades that I remembered afterwards, but the old people in shorts and Hawiian shirts who wereworking there.
Parts of Wales have the least qualified people in the country, butjobs in Wales are hard to come by, qualified or not.
A while ago, Iain Duncan Smith told people to get ona 'bus tofind a job. This week, the youth of Merthyr marched to Cardiff todemonstrate that even if they do make it to the city, the workisn't there.
People in Wales relyheavily on public sector jobs, somore entrepreneurs are needed, which is easy to say, difficult to bring about.
Our politicians need to do some hard thinking to work this one out. If older people retire later, they are job-blocking the youngsters. I suggest that students have access to courses that will lead toactual jobs. University degrees are not needed for many jobs and shouldn't be asked for by employers, if not essential.
Some areas are desperately in need of dentists, so why not train more? Likewise, good plumbers and carpenters would see off the 'cowboys'.
Add blog posts, discussions, photos, videos and music directly from the front page. Just click the appropriate link above the status update box and go to work. Saves a bit of navigation
May be a few bugs with this initially but it should be working ok soon.
Thundery weather is coming ourway over the weekend butit won't affectme.I have an urgent writing project soI'm not going out.
I'm working on a bookabout food, not in a 'Domestic Goddess in an evening gown' type of way, flashing myteeth at the TV camerasand licking my lips and fingers. No, I'm talking about food in a historical context.I'm reading recipes, hand written by the lady of the house and kept in her, usually, calf bound book.
It was the mistress whowrote the recipes down because the servants, until the 1870 Education Act, wereunschooled.With few magazines available,recipes were passed by word of mouth, correctlyusually.
Peter and Iwere in an 'olde worlde teashoppe' one day, which displayed knick knacky gifts. Waiting for our order, I remarked, 'Look, there's beeswax polish'.
To which Peter replied, 'What? Laxative porridge? Where?'People turned to look at us.
Ata meeting for a voluntary project not so long ago, coffee andbiscuits were passed around mid morning.We were all strangers butsoongot chatting.
A man and woman were sitting opposite me andthe man leaned closelyto the woman and said something quietly.Shepicked upthe plate of biscuits, offering him one.
'No, thank you,' he responded.'I said"I'm skint", not 'Pass a biscuit'".
I don't know if I'll findremedies for the hard of hearing but I've a receipt 'To comfort ye heart and against Melancholy yt arifeth from the spleen'. Thenthere's'Brimstone and Treacle' for 'Healthy Youth'. Should the latter produce sickness, there is a counter remedy, involving Rochelle salts.
Some of these recipes go back to the 17th century, the time of Cavaliers andRoundheadsand sweet Lucy Walter, of Roch Castle, Haverfordwest.
One of the best ever ! Could have been any one from four. The winner was compared to Dafydd ap Gwilym