Dear reader...

Hilary Scott Editor

IAM NOT GOOD at remembering poetry, despite having spent years learning many verses by rote at school. Sadly, only snippets come to mind when I want to impress with my knowledge. One line is never far away at this time of year: the first line of Keats’ ‘To Autumn’. Those words – Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness – never fail to evoke memories of childhood walks through crisp fallen leaves, of harvest festivals with their baskets of fruit and vegetables, and of morning chills requiring a coat to be worn again. It is amazing how some words have the ability to transport you to different times and places. Often these can be the most trivial of things. No one could say that having to wear a gabardine to school instead of a blazer is an important memory, for example. But they can be much more important, such as a family or even a national event. Usually, the poems that affect me most are ones that capture the seasons and the countryside. For me, Edward Thomas’ ‘Aldelstrop’ has always been one of the most powerful. Written in 1914, its beautiful imagery of the British countryside seems almost prophetic as it conjures up the calm before the storm that followed shortly afterwards. We take great care at LandScape when we look for quotations to enhance our features. We hope you enjoy them and find one or two that bring back memories for you too.