Showing results by author "Robert Bridges" in All Categories

The turn of the 20th century saw radical developments in all art forms and particularly in poetry. The first volume of this series features the work of nine significant poets whose careers cover the period from the late 19th century to the early 20th century.

Today one could perhaps be forgiven for not noticing the small village of Bodelwyddan situated on the North Wales coast, but back in the year 1919, just after the war to end all wars, some 400 men of the Canadian expeditionary force stationed in the camp adjacent to the village, in 1919 the camp, and indeed Bodelwyddan, were on the front page of almost every tabloid in the country. In 1990, author Robert (Bob) Bridge and his wife, Lilian, decided to retire from their jobs and move closer to their aged parents in Abergele, another village not far from Bodelwyddan.

Robert Bridges, who was English Poet Laureate between 1913 and 1930, published three versions of his sonnet sequence, The Growth of Love: 1876 - 24 sonnets, 1889 - 79 sonnets, 1898 - 69 sonnets. This recording is of the 1889 edition. The poems are essentially meditations on the elusive subject of love, and display the poet's reverence for his great poetic forebears, particularly Milton and Shakespeare.

In "Wake up England", published in 1914 at the start of the Great War, Poet Laureate Robert Bridges urges the British citizenry to support the war by appealing to their sense of patriotism and duty, mindful that God is on their side.

Night. The day has gone. Departed. And the dark embrace, the inky shadows of night descend. For many a time to unwind and slumber. For some a nagging doubt that all is not well. That some primeval and primordial happening may yet go bump in the night. But for our poets the night is a time of wonder and imagination as well as many other emotions and feelings. Among our ranks of gloried talents are Keats, Coleridge, William Morris, DH Lawrence, Whitman, Longfellow and many more besides. Their descriptions capture what they see and feel as perhaps only a poet can.