tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4638619958588096610.comments2023-11-22T09:11:01.567+00:00George SzirtesGeorge Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08889600788146987089noreply@blogger.comBlogger6325125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4638619958588096610.post-63976188508069350252020-12-29T13:30:02.835+00:002020-12-29T13:30:02.835+00:00Thank you and thank youThank you and thank youKurtnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4638619958588096610.post-66529135909185185432019-12-20T15:53:44.110+00:002019-12-20T15:53:44.110+00:00I loved this poem so much I sent a copy of it to m...I loved this poem so much I sent a copy of it to my son when he went off to university (2008).Stephanie Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15407799411075936058noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4638619958588096610.post-15889645518341690072019-12-19T13:20:45.191+00:002019-12-19T13:20:45.191+00:00Lovely reading. Lovely reading. Rudi Konrathnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4638619958588096610.post-29623434159575018062019-12-19T12:42:33.649+00:002019-12-19T12:42:33.649+00:00Helen is blessed to have a father write that for h...Helen is blessed to have a father write that for her - and I suspect you are blessed to have a daughter like Helen.Airport Taxi Transfershttps://www.jewels-airport-transfers.co.uk/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4638619958588096610.post-82776020240196279852019-12-18T18:31:36.769+00:002019-12-18T18:31:36.769+00:00That is so beautiful George. Helen is blessed to ...That is so beautiful George. Helen is blessed to have a father write that for her - and I suspect you are blessed to have a daughter like Helen.Paul Hhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13042347499548245711noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4638619958588096610.post-60117151491448695962019-12-13T18:38:51.853+00:002019-12-13T18:38:51.853+00:00Thank you so much for the generous comments, John ...Thank you so much for the generous comments, John and Richard. The Eliot typo is corrected. It is possible to know some things so well that a typo slips right pass you because you don't bother checking. And Richard, I quite see what you mean. Nothing Johnson says should be believed until he has done it.George Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08889600788146987089noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4638619958588096610.post-72511648117048088462019-12-13T18:28:12.639+00:002019-12-13T18:28:12.639+00:00I didn't particularly intend that comment to b...I didn't particularly intend that comment to be anonymous; it was posted by Richard ApleyAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18115719966637739868noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4638619958588096610.post-3984780735939498962019-12-13T18:25:38.508+00:002019-12-13T18:25:38.508+00:00... and in this morning's speech he joked abou...... and in this morning's speech he joked about the numbers of policemen and hospitals he had promised, a promise that no-one serious believes as you say. And the the same speech, even more unpleasantly he twice made a remark about looking forward to breakfast, a remark designed for the well-heeled and well-fed which entirely ignored (and as so often trampled on) those who had no breakfast to look forward to because under his party's rule for the last years they have become poor and been left further and further behind.<br />You are right to be angry George; your essay is a remarkable concentration of thought and force. Thank you.<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18115719966637739868noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4638619958588096610.post-5729254912918827872019-12-13T14:37:38.148+00:002019-12-13T14:37:38.148+00:00the quote from t.s. eliot that i find on the inter...the quote from t.s. eliot that i find on the internet has it 'where the dead men LOST their bones'<br /><br />the phrase was discussed by someone - i commented:<br /><br />my grandfather was in world war i which at the time of the writing of the poem was called ‘the great war’<br /><br />trench warfare resulted in rats eating the dead bodies of soldiers leaving the bones behind – maybe this is the image eliot is referring to<br /><br />here is an example<br /><br />“I saw some rats running from under the dead men’s greatcoats, enormous rats, fat with human flesh. My heart pounded as we edged towards one of the bodies. His helmet had rolled off. The man displayed a grimacing face, stripped of flesh; the skull bare, the eyes devoured and from the yawning mouth leapt a rat.”<br /><br />https://militarymachine.com/chilling-quotes-trenches-wwi/mistah charley, sb, ma, phd, jspshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14786934467640941804noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4638619958588096610.post-77069819859598308512019-12-13T14:29:40.384+00:002019-12-13T14:29:40.384+00:00“ The river's tent is broken: the last fingers...“ The river's tent is broken: the last fingers of leaf <br />Clutch and sink into the wet bank. The wind <br />Crosses the brown land, unheard. ”<br /><br />In other words, I share your mood – and your analysis too (which has far more coherence than I could achieve). John Lookerhttp://johnlooker.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4638619958588096610.post-87302413463135076922019-01-16T13:20:29.117+00:002019-01-16T13:20:29.117+00:00Well put and I share your mixed feelings about a s...Well put and I share your mixed feelings about a second referendum. <br />J.https://www.blogger.com/profile/11255738249952600590noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4638619958588096610.post-72782133316399891182018-10-24T15:51:48.771+01:002018-10-24T15:51:48.771+01:00What I love about Thomas Browne is that he is simp...What I love about Thomas Browne is that he is simply going to take as it takes to say exactly what he means. Which is what, for all of the complexity and longwindedness, delivers that impression of spaciousness. There *is* world enough and time.Dalehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14523194846272870013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4638619958588096610.post-44810992961308870282018-07-10T19:08:05.246+01:002018-07-10T19:08:05.246+01:00Thank you for posting your lecture - I very much e...Thank you for posting your lecture - I very much enjoyed listening to it on Sunday. Your image of poetry as a vibration, like a rumbling underground train, has caught my imagination.Susan Watersnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4638619958588096610.post-52278286148263954792018-06-26T12:51:33.976+01:002018-06-26T12:51:33.976+01:00I have been having some difficulty with your comme...I have been having some difficulty with your comment, "The aesthetic motive is very feeble in a lot of writers". Diane DeBellnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4638619958588096610.post-12933854727497081542018-06-26T12:48:32.281+01:002018-06-26T12:48:32.281+01:00George Orwell is one of my favourite authors, Geor...George Orwell is one of my favourite authors, George! <br /><br />I'm pleased you are writing about him. His Road to Wigan Pier, Burmese Days, Keep the Aspidistra Flying, and 1984 are my Orwell favourites. Gwil Whttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03305768121713053837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4638619958588096610.post-1461548966309778252018-02-10T21:01:57.093+00:002018-02-10T21:01:57.093+00:00Thanks George. I wasn't expecting a reply. It&...Thanks George. I wasn't expecting a reply. It's very kind of you. I hope you are keeping well. Unfortunately I don't tweet or do Facebook etc. <br />so I feel a bit on the side these days. My poetry blog started disappearing relentlessly bit by bit and I had to salvage what I could, but that was a while ago. At the moment I'm trying to learn Italian with the aid of an Italian dual language Ezra Pound Poesie and a few other books that come my way. I find Italian very interesting now I'm getting into it. They have some amazingly good short story writers. I'm looking forward to reading them in the original . . . when I'm old and gray :-). Many good wishes, GwilymGwil Whttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03305768121713053837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4638619958588096610.post-61613028503275984662018-02-10T10:58:38.369+00:002018-02-10T10:58:38.369+00:00Apologies for neglecting the comments on the blog,...Apologies for neglecting the comments on the blog, Gwilym. I am trying to get back into it for longer pieces but don't expect comments now because of frequent and long absences.<br /><br />The wealth of the wealthy has many potential sources which you will know as well as I do. They include inheritance, speculation and crime on the one hand and a spectacularly successful invention, a highly valued (and priced) talent - think entertainers and sports people - and a genius for business management on the other. And luck, of course. Nothing without luck.<br /><br />Different rich people have different agendas. Bill Gates seems to have one, George Soros has a slightly different one but neither need to be making more money for the sheer hell of it (and some do make it for the sheer hell of it, ever raising the stakes. I think both their agendas are different from, say Trump's or other property moguls. Some, like the former, like a good number of their antecedents turn to various forms of what they see as philanthropy. <br /><br />My handle on this is that simply being rich does not entitle you to any more respect than anyone else. Wealth and fame are nothing to be overawed by. Genius, outright goodness, etc are different. I can be overawed by that, and a little humility does not come amiss in such cases. <br />George Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08889600788146987089noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4638619958588096610.post-9296759448991935292018-02-10T10:45:57.666+00:002018-02-10T10:45:57.666+00:00A girl with a barely a c appeared topless at the ...A girl with a barely a c appeared topless at the Vienna State Opera Ball to protest at the presence there of the Ukrainian leader. She was dragged away by a bevy of local polizei, one of whom appeared to fall to the ground. Today she gave an interview in the most popular paper - the Kronen Zeitung. There were no protests about the presence of the Irish prime minister. <br /><br />George, I'm always wanting to know where the rich and powerful get there lucre from and who their friends are, for it helps me to understand their agenda. Gwil Whttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03305768121713053837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4638619958588096610.post-77990979861275593272018-02-01T16:32:40.050+00:002018-02-01T16:32:40.050+00:00Indeed, Rudi. The two major exhibitions of Hungari...Indeed, Rudi. The two major exhibitions of Hungarian photography in this country - both curated by Colin Ford - confirmed that for me. But I have a special love for Escher. Apart from him there is not much to choose between an excellent crop of photographers.George Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08889600788146987089noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4638619958588096610.post-91548672615124438802018-02-01T16:30:24.959+00:002018-02-01T16:30:24.959+00:00Lovely to see these pictures again. Just wanted to...Lovely to see these pictures again. Just wanted to say, there are so many Hungarian photographers, all of whom would qualify for the “best”! Difficult to pick out one, for me at least! <br />Bless you.Rudi Konrathnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4638619958588096610.post-43739721611410383462018-01-26T05:08:14.045+00:002018-01-26T05:08:14.045+00:00Thanks for sharing this impressive photo. It's...Thanks for sharing this impressive photo. It's a black horse even if it isn't. And the man is dressed in black. Even if he isn't. The power of the black and white photo recalls the impact of iconic black and white photos such as the naked girl fleeing down the road from the war in Vietnam, the single tree amid the devastation of Hiroshima, the dome of St Pauls above the ruins, the hollow eyed people behind the barbed wire, Apocalypse indeed. Gwil Whttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03305768121713053837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4638619958588096610.post-91189017583921488032018-01-13T03:54:33.734+00:002018-01-13T03:54:33.734+00:00Fantastico! Even reading it. Performance another ...Fantastico! Even reading it. Performance another thing. Wonderful must be. I read somewhere long ago of a person who was going about in the Himalayas. It went something like this, that he was directed to a cave he was seeking where there lived a holy man, let's say a monk, who had visions. The person went into the cave with the monk and right in the very back where there wasn't even the faintest hope of of light and sat with the monk in absolute darkness such as he'd never experienced and waited, and sure enough before long he witnessed what the monk was seeing for himself. Ciao! Gwil Whttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03305768121713053837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4638619958588096610.post-86576865359448160832017-07-18T04:17:21.174+01:002017-07-18T04:17:21.174+01:00Marvellous moving and relevant speech, George. I l...Marvellous moving and relevant speech, George. I love the salt, literal and metaphorical.Natalie d'Arbeloffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07757081405040926647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4638619958588096610.post-38777686737115281752017-07-17T22:24:17.019+01:002017-07-17T22:24:17.019+01:00Wonderful George. A very moving, speech full of wi...Wonderful George. A very moving, speech full of wisdom and humanity. And congratulations Dr Szirtes! Can we call you that now?Paul Hhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13042347499548245711noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4638619958588096610.post-91706033980610598162017-04-17T08:39:03.301+01:002017-04-17T08:39:03.301+01:00Please add my name - Pat Winslow, poet, Oxfordshir...Please add my name - Pat Winslow, poet, Oxfordshire<br />Pat Winslowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07212845987390338857noreply@blogger.com