Gruach and Britain's Daughter: Two Plays

by Gordon Bottomley

Excerpt:

"And my yet steady flame gathers its force More to aspire before the vague, last flare That lightens nothing) gutters in the night-wind, Upon the midway ridge of my short days I turn; I would not know what is to come Down the far slope of the withdrawing wave; I would remain at this conspiring height. Whose upward motion seemed my own, and keep. Keep mine the swift discoveries of life. The passionate, the unexpected moments That now, as I look back, are all I have. All I have longed for, all 1 have to lose. All, all I shall regret when I must leave them. And first, after the daily use of love That is not to be told, the com7non joy Of life shared with the natural, earth-born forces, I think of him who from Italian seed Was born a7i English man, him who reviewed By moody English ways, at English tension, For English unillumined hearts like mine. The lost Italian vision the passionate Vitality of art more rich than life. More real than the daft reality. Before I knew his name and his great acts Of true creatio7i done on Gods behalf, Within himself the assurance of a God, I lived in the stale darkness of my kind; And it was his sole deed that I have known The power of loveliness, the power of truth. And of imagination that concentres Life into more than one life ever gave. By nameless lovers, lovers with great names. By fabulous ladies dreamed and almost seen."

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1921

About the author

Gordon Bottomley was an English poet, known particularly for his verse dramas. He was partly disabled by tubercular illness. His main influences were the later Victorian Romantic poets, the Pre-Raphaelites and William Morris.

Reviews

[JoAnn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shocking insight into the future Lady Macbeth's character. I really enjoyed it.