I have enjoyed reading Carol Ann Duffy's Jubilee Lines anthology of poetry of the last sixty years. The Royal Visit by Fleur Adcock and Carol Ann Duffy's own The Thames seemed particularly powerful. Adcock's poem because of the personal significance of a royal moment and the interesting juxtapositions emphasised as a result, and Duffy's personification of the river to evoke all its rich and varied history. Both seem to see the respective royal celebrations as something simultaneously significant and not.
I was eventually inspired by a photograph over at http://uptotheskiesanddownagain.blogspot.co.uk/ which showed a Union flag filtered by sunlight with trees behind. The picture seemed to be somehow nostalgic. It resonated with me and brought back memories of earlier royal celebrations: the Silver Jubilee in 1977 and the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana in 1981. The result is the poem below. I have deliberately played with rhyme. I wonder if readers can see how, and why.
The Queen’s Diamond
Jubilee, June 2012
Sunlight strains through the trees above
(A welcome break from this endless rain)
And makes a Union Jack translucent
And I see right through it, child again,
(A welcome break from this endless rain)
And makes a Union Jack translucent
And I see right through it, child again,
To ’77 and a flurry of flags
A blurry bustle of colour and crowd
Coke with a straw and a bag of crisps
The picture is vague, the memory half-formed.
A blurry bustle of colour and crowd
Coke with a straw and a bag of crisps
The picture is vague, the memory half-formed.
In ’81 the edges are sharper
More flags and waving for a new princess:
In an enchanted fairy-tale golden carriage
And miles and miles of wedding dress.
More flags and waving for a new princess:
In an enchanted fairy-tale golden carriage
And miles and miles of wedding dress.
Now my daughter is five years old.
I engineer for her some memories too.
So we string the bunting across the house
And dress in red and white and blue.
I engineer for her some memories too.
So we string the bunting across the house
And dress in red and white and blue.
There’s face-painting and parties galore
A commemorative mug given out at school;
The Thames flotilla on the television, and singing
God Save the Queen in our living room.
A commemorative mug given out at school;
The Thames flotilla on the television, and singing
God Save the Queen in our living room.
Why is it that I want her to remember
This jubilant moment of history in the making?
To own her own heritage, perhaps, and to be
A part of something bigger than ourselves.
This jubilant moment of history in the making?
To own her own heritage, perhaps, and to be
A part of something bigger than ourselves.
I don't think that by reading this poem you could tell that you found it hard at all. The rhyme is good as it is not obvious but once you know it is there it is really hard to not see.
ReplyDeleteDeadra
Thanks, Deadra!
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