Round the Herne

  My reading of the seventh of the children's stories in Oscar Wilde's collection, "The Birthday of the Infanta". A long tale, rich on sumptuous detail and Wilde's deep knowledge of and joy in evoking the glories of the natural realms. The tragedy turns somewhat on a revision of Caliban's bitter moment with the mirror as well as speaking to the utter vacuity of the supremely indulged. As an incidental aside, when the naïve Dwarf describes his encounter with a church procession moving through the forest the figures in yellow bearing candles are the victims of the Inquisition who have been doomed to execution after being paraded in robes depicting the crimes of which they have been convicted.

 As previously mentioned, I gave the Annual Faith Lecture at the university campus in Ipswich, talking about animism and paganism and their involvement with environmentalism. The talk lasted an hour and the questions after were about half as much again. I made a recording of the talk, as near as I could remember it. Hopefully it might prove of interest to at least some subscribers to this blog.

 This is my reading of the last part of Lucy M Boston's "The Children of Green Knowe" (1954), in which all the loose ends are tied up and the groundwork laid for the sequels. Christmas day arrives at the isolated country estate. Wishing a Happy New Year to all my listeners (both of you) - hope it is a great improvement on the year now going for all concerned.

 This is my reading of the tenth part of Lucy M Boston's "The Children of Green Knowe" (1954), in which Tolly has an encounter with the (only mildly) menacing spectre of a cursed tree. There's also some Christmas shopping, if you can bear the prospect at this time of year and are not sick to the back teeth of shopping.

 My reading of the next part of " The Children of Green Knowe" (1954) by Lucy M Boston. In this part Tolly learns about the malevolent presence of the cursed yew tree Green Noah. Getting back into recording the story after a Christmas hiatus for family members who were staying here (the house is nowhere near big enough to accommodate quiet space for me alongside everyone else).

  My reading of the next section of Lucy Boston's "The Children of Green Knowe" (1954). Tolly finds out about Green Noah and we hear another of Granny's stories about the ghosts and the origin of the flute. The snows begin to melt. A Merry Christmas to those viewers that celebrate it.

  My reading of the 7th part of Lucy Boston's "The Children of Green Knowe" (1954). Tolly has his strongest encounter yet with the ghosts of the past and hears a tale of a little girl and a giant.

  My reading of the next part of Lucy Boston's "The Children of Green Knowe" (1954). This time Tolly gets to meet the ghosts directly and the midwinter snows begin to fall. Came back from town feeling very wheezy, but hopefully it doesn't spoil the story too much.

  My reading of the third part of Lucy Boston's children's story, "The Children of Green Knowe" (1954). Here Tolly explores the gardens of the gran house and finds all manner of strange things (oh to have a garden with such statuary and topiary in it!). The presence of the spectral children becomes more overt in this part of the tale.

 This is my reading of the second chapter of Rudyard Kipling's "Puck of Pook's Hill" in which the children are introduced to the shade of a Norman knight from the 11th century. Having made ears bleed with my attempts at singing in the first chapter, I've avoided the temptation here.  There is a musical version of Sir Richard's Song which I found that people might prefer to listen to (I didn't attempt to recreate the tune in my reading here), with Michael Kelly singing .

 This is my reading of the final chapter in Conrad's adventures with "The Quest of the White Merle" by Lilian Gask (1909). Our hero arrives back home in Blighty for his last encounter with a talking bird. A few people have enjoyed following these chapters, so I might record another out-of-copyright book for next midwinter. Hopefully one requiring fewer unconvincing accents and silly voices.

 The penultimate chapter of "The Quest of the White Merle" by Lilian Gask (1909), in which Conrad arrives in America and encounters a variety of birds.

 Here is my reading of the fourteenth chapter of "Quest of the White Merle" by Lilian Gask (1909). This time Conrad traverses Africa and has a brief encounter with a lion.

  My reading of the thirteenth chapter of Lilian Gask's "Quest of the White Merle" (1909). This time Conrad flies to India and encounters snake-eating birds.

 Here is my reading of the twelfth chapter of Lilian Gask's "Quest of the White Merle" (1909) in which Conrad meets some bower birds.

 In this reading of the eleventh chapter of "The Quest of the White Merle" by Lilian Gask (1909), young Conrad continues to meet with Birds of Paradise and runs into a stroppy cassowary.

 Here is my reading of the tenth chapter of "The Quest of the White Merle" by Lilian Gask (1909), this time with an encounter with spiders as well as Birds of Paradise. Only six more chapters to go (my tenuous grasp on sanity permitting).

 My reading of the ninth chapter of "Quest of the White Merle" by Lilian Gask (1909), in which the young hero encounters an orangutan as well as a variety of talking birds in Java and Borneo.

 The eighth chapter of "Quest of the White Merle" by Lilian Gask (1909) in which Conrad and his friendly robin arrive in Malay and encounter a pheasant with a hundred eyes.

Oscar Wilde was a man of many words, as can be seen from the length of some of his poems. The Garden of Eros is a tad lengthy, but beautiful - an invocation of both the wonders of nature (gardeners should enjoy it) but also the power of myth and legend to transport readers into a whole other realm away from the prosaic and pragmatic. Eros is the god not only of sexual and sensual desire but, in the Platonic philosophy the power of attraction in general - the force that holds atoms together and draws intellects to the the topics that uplift and inspire them. Is Wilde singing the praises of the literary Muse that inspires him, or is he thinking of some pretty young man (hopefully not the petulant Bosie) with whom he has shared his love of Greek Myth, Arthurian romances, and the all the other sagas? I'm not sure it wholly matters to whom the poem is addressed. Ultimately I see it as a love poem to the very power of storytelling itself. The photo, incidentally, is of the gardens at...