But my British friend continued looking at me rather incredulously. Quite an awkward position, but he is a huge fan of everything Italian…
However, all of the above considerations were intended to introduce a poem by Rudyard Kipling
I came across today. And if this piece of poetry has little to do with myself, it nonetheless has much to do with Britain. The Roman Centurion’s Song
(Roman Occupation of Britain, A.D. 300)
LEGATE, I had the news last night - my cohort ordered home
By ships to Portus Itius and thence by road to Rome.
I've marched the companies aboard, the arms are stowed below:
Now let another take my sword. Command me not to go!
I've served in Britain forty years, from Vectis to the Wall,
I have none other home than this, nor any life at all.
Last night I did not understand, but, now the hour draws near
That calls me to my native land, I feel that land is here.
Here where men say my name was made, here where my work was done;
Here where my dearest dead are laid - my wife - my wife and son;
Here where time, custom, grief and toil, age, memory, service, love,
Have rooted me in British soil. Ah, how can I remove?
For me this land, that sea, these airs, those folk and fields suffice.
What purple Southern pomp can match our changeful Northern skies,
Black with December snows unshed or pearled with August haze -
The clanging arch of steel-grey March, or June's long-lighted days?
You'll follow widening Rhodanus till vine an olive lean
Aslant before the sunny breeze that sweeps Nemausus clean
To Arelate's triple gate; but let me linger on,
Here where our stiff-necked British oaks confront Euroclydon!
You'll take the old Aurelian Road through shore-descending pines
Where, blue as any peacock's neck, the Tyrrhene Ocean shines.
You'll go where laurel crowns are won, but -will you e'er forget
The scent of hawthorn in the sun, or bracken in the wet?
Let me work here for Britain's sake - at any task you will -
A marsh to drain, a road to make or native troops to drill.
Some Western camp (I know the Pict) or granite Border keep,
Mid seas of heather derelict, where our old messmates sleep.
Legate, I come to you in tears - My cohort ordered home!
I've served in Britain forty years. What should I do in Rome?
Here is my heart, my soul, my mind - the only life I know.
I cannot leave it all behind. Command me not to go!
How right you (and Rudyard Kipling) are!
ReplyDeleteA minor problem is that one can be so spoilt, weather wise, by living relatively near the Mediterranean coast, that one becomes less prone to tolerating wet, winter weather in the 'old sod'.
But the Lake District and Scotland in May, are a delight for the eyes, and the spirit.
Arisag (where the last sunset photograph was taken on Viewfinder) and the surrounding countryside on the West coast of Scotland are a fabulous, visual feast. And once there I recommend visitors to take the boat to the Isle of Eigg for the day. Amongst other wonderful sights, there's a particular beach with white, 'singing sand'. When damp it squeaks when walked upon, hence the name. They say it's the only beach of its kind in the world...
The beauty of the UK is also in its variety. Each county has its own character in all respects. Somerset is another special county, also for its superb, home brewed beer. They even have serious, beer tasting events there. There are of course many 'special places' in Great Britain.
Born in Bombay, Kipling must also have been to some extent a 'déraciné' but he was a great lover of England where he lived in various places in the south-east and south-west. Incredibly (if not a question of influence and 'establishment') academic authorities considered that he lacked the qualifications to go to Oxford University, so instead, he returned to India where he worked in Lahore (now Pakistan). At one time he also lived and worked in the USA, Vermont. It was there that he started writing 'The Jungle Books'. Later in England once more (Devon) he and his family would spend their winters in South Africa. (He also supported the British cause in the Boer War).
http://www.hiddentrails.com/outdoor/tour.aspx?id=outdoor_kayaking_scotland_arisag&tourtype=kayaking
http://www.isleofeigg.net/
True poetry. Creates the vision, is lyrical, touches the heart. Every once in a while I'll pick up a new poet and gaaaaarh! What is this?? I remember a literary critic posted side by side two poems on the same subject, one by Maya Angelou and the other by Robert Frost. Like comparing an ant hill to an Alpine mountain. Give me Frost, Rupert Brooke, Walt Whitman, James Dickey, Carl Sandburg any day. Thanks for awakening Kipling, a true master.
ReplyDeleteSo lovely!
ReplyDelete