Poets’ Corner

Idoget numerous letters asking if I can trace half-remembered poetry, and it’s always a great pleasure when I can help. However, I usually have to pass the request on to readers in the hope they can identify the poem. And they often do! In the last issue a poem about a dog called Spot was being sought and Mary French from Chelmsford, Essex, was quick to respond. She found this poem by Rodney Bennett and wonders if it is the right one.

Although he couldn’t find a poem about a dog called Spot, James Carswell from Manchester sent me one of his favourite dog poems. It was written by Thomas Hardy (1840–1928) about his much-loved wirehaired terrier Wessex who was a terror as well as a terrier! He had a habit of jumping onto the dining table when guests were trying to enjoy their dinner, and he was known to take a bite or two at passing ankles. However, his character and devotion far outweighed these minor blemishes and Hardy adored him. When Wessex died on 27th December 1926 Hardy wrote in his diary: “Wx sleeps outside the house for the first time for 13 years.” Hardy wrote this poem about Wessex in 1924. I am a dog known rather well: I guard the house but how that came To be my whim I cannot tell.

With a leap and a heart elate I go At the end of an hour’s expectancy To take a walk of a mile or so With the folk I let live here with me.

Along the path, amid the grass I sniff, and find out rarest smells For rolling over as I pass The open fields toward the dells.

No doubt I shall always cross this sill, And turn the corner, and stand steady, Gazing back for my Mistress till She reaches where I have run already,

And that this meadow with its brook And bulrush, even as it appears As I plunge by with hasty look, Will stay the same a thousand years.

Thus “Wessex”. But a dubious ray At times informs his steadfast eye, Just for a trice, as though to say, “Yet, will this pass, and pass shall I?”

MargaretHilton of Alveston, Gloucestershire, was searching for a poem that began “Give me a good digestion Lord”. This was quickly recognised as the start of an anonymous ancient prayer that was reputed to have been found in Chester Cathedral. Give me a good digestion, Lord, and also

something to digest; Give me a healthy body, Lord, with sense

to keep it at its best.

TOM WESTON Tongue lolling in the heat, this golden retriever appears lost in thought — just like the dog Spot described in the poem on this page.

Are you haunted by a few lines from a poem and want help in finding the rest of the words? Do you have a favourite verse you’d like to share with us? Or have you been writing poetry for years and would like others to read your work? If the answer is...