Poem
Steve Ely
JOHN BALL
JOHN BALL
JOHN BALL
Wycliffe’s words and Langland’s gave the Engliscback their tongue. Manor french and church latin,
cut-off in the throat, battening behind
the buttresses of keeps and cathedrals,
parsing and declining. Johon Schepe
proclaims his hedgerow gospel, singing
from the furze like a yellowhammer:
Johan the Mullere hath ygrounde smal, smal, smal.
The Kynges sone of hevene schal pay for al.
Be war or ye be wo; Knoweth your freend
fro your foo. Haveth ynow, and seith ‘Hoo!’
There were no lords in Eden’s commune.
Scythes sharpened on whetstones, gente non sancta.
War will follow the Word.
© 2014, Steve Ely
From: Oswald\'s Book of Hours
Publisher: Smokestack Books, Middlesbrough
From: Oswald\'s Book of Hours
Publisher: Smokestack Books, Middlesbrough
Steve Ely
(United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, 1965)
Steve Ely is one of the most exhilarating poets currently working in the UK and is just, at the time of writing, becoming well-known. Oswald’s Book of Hours deals with a sense of Englishness – specifically, northernness – exemplified by the events of a thousand years. Written in rich, textured, idiosyncratic English, the book was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection (2013...
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JOHN BALL
Wycliffe’s words and Langland’s gave the Engliscback their tongue. Manor french and church latin,
cut-off in the throat, battening behind
the buttresses of keeps and cathedrals,
parsing and declining. Johon Schepe
proclaims his hedgerow gospel, singing
from the furze like a yellowhammer:
Johan the Mullere hath ygrounde smal, smal, smal.
The Kynges sone of hevene schal pay for al.
Be war or ye be wo; Knoweth your freend
fro your foo. Haveth ynow, and seith ‘Hoo!’
There were no lords in Eden’s commune.
Scythes sharpened on whetstones, gente non sancta.
War will follow the Word.
From: Oswald\'s Book of Hours
JOHN BALL
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