Now Norfolk ... after London it's Snorfolk!

Quite a change of pace this. We leave London, and the busy world of business, to resettle on the North Norfolk coast and establish a Bookshop and Art Gallery. Everyone's dream, and for a while it was.

 

We were welcomed by the locals, loved by the visitors and, eventually, became a tourist landmark in Cley.

 

For me, I could indulge my joint passions of buying books and pictures. Specifically I topped-up my Ezra Pound and Wyndham Lewis collections and even got to buy Julian Symons's library with many Lewis first editions, reviews of same and related ephemera. I got to talk through my interests with book people and soon became a bit of a scholar on the subject of Pound (more of that later).

 

Perhaps, at this stage, it would be a good idea to give a few lines from Pound so that you can get a taste of my obsession. Let's start with a few lines from Lustra, one of his early books:

 

And the days are not full enough

And the nights are not full enough

And life slips by like a field mouse

          Not shaking the grass.

 

Now let's look at some lines of his that I, at one time, wanted on my gravestone:

 

What thou lovest well remains,

             the rest is dross

What thou lovest well shall not be reft from thee

What thou lovest well is thy true heritage.

 

And a description of his that grips the meaning & understanding in a way that few writers have been able to equal:

 

When a creative personality falls into their clutches

... like chickens in the shadow of the hawk's wing. 

 

That gives you a feel for what in Pound interests me ... the use of language in a way that cannot, in my opinion, be equaled. Forget the politics of Pound. Forget the prejudices of Pound. Appreciate the man as he always wanted to be: a Poet.

 

For me, my writing was beginning to blossom. It was, at this time, that I started my 10 year Pound epic poem (more of that later) and other works, like plays and another novel. It would be difficult to follow the work of Pound with mine, so, at this stage, I will rest on Pound's laurels. But next time, I will show you my diversity, and tell you how Gilbert & George happened by the bookshop.