Selected Poems

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Poem of the day with Lesley Duncan 'The Beech-Wood': 'There is a touch of the vaguely sinister ... but the zest of the salmon leap banishes any dark thoughts.'

(Selected Poems, Paperback, 1e) Poem Of The Day

A delightful nature cameo from the cleric-poet Andrew Young. Elgin-born Young journeyed theologically from Presbyterian minister to Church of England cannon in Sussex. His terse style and sophisticated use of simple language may invite comparisons with Thomas Hardy. As with the latter's poetry, there is often a dark undertow to his verse, though not in this joyful little piece. Was the squirrel a red one? (Young's Selected Poems are published by Carcanet at GBP9.95) - Lesley Duncan



Wood and Hill

Nowhere is one aloneAnd in the closest covert least,But to small eye of bird or beastHe will be known;Today it was for meA squirrel that embraced a treeTurning a small head round;A hare too that ran up the hill,To his short forelegs level ground,And with tall ears stood still.But it was birds I could not seeAnd larks that tried to stand on airThat made of wood and hill a market-square. Poem of the Day

More Mare hares.This time the observer is Andrew Young, the Scots cleric poet.Typically, some of his sharp perception is turned on himself.His deft rhyming adds to the charm of the piece, which comes from his Selected Poems - Lesley Duncan

March Hares



I made myself as a tree,

No withered leaf twirling on me;

No, not a bird that stirred my boughs,

As looking out from wizard brows

I watched those lithe and lovely forms

That raised the leaves in storms.

I watched them leap and run,

Their bodies hollowed in the sun

To thin transparency,

That I could clearly see

The shallow colour of their blood

Joyous in love's full flood.

I was content enough,

Watching that serious game of love,

That happy hunting in the wood

Where the pursuer was the more

Pursued,

To stand in breathless hush

With no more life myself than tree or

Bush.