Thanks for reading and commenting, Bob.
The title! I would have thought that 'Agenbite of Inwit. Inwit's Agenbite.'
was the most not understood quotation in English Literature, LOL. It really
does reflect what is the kernel of the poem, which is the pangs of
conscience I felt at being so far from my mother when she was dying, pangs
that I felt when I had said goodbye to her a year before and left to go to
the Solomons. So the 'Again bite' and the 'bite of agony', pangs that were
inner and unshared with the gathered crowd, 'Inward'.' within','Inwit'. All
that is in the poem in its own way but delivered in a very restrained voice,
curtains , breezes blowing kapok,( bringing messages) the broken syntax of
the fourth strophe, the hint of childhood in the message being folded neat
as bed linen from the line, even the 'as', you refer to, was removed and
replaced by a semi-colon to hint at a catch in the voice. All too dreadfully
subtle perhaps. It is a question of trying to present a very intensely
personal moment for universal sharing without ramming it down people's
throats. I do not defend the poem, it is as it is. Thanks again for reading
Bob. Regards Arthur.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob Cooper" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, April 29, 2003 12:26 PM
Subject: Re: New Sub: Agenbite of Inwit


> Hi Arthur,
> I, too, had hazy recollections of this... but, no matter! I'm enjoying
what
> I'm reading here!
> I think you've got just the right tone, the right things said at the right
> time, and everything has significance! I feel the cultural differences,
the
> language differences (drawn out by the couplet:
> "My mother, somewhere, at home,
> home, somewhere, my mother was dying."
> which speaks to me powerfully of how they would say things differently as
> well as the way your mind was taking things in).
> The title threw me, tho! I felt it was part of their language!
> Just a thought... Could the last line start with the word "As" or "While"?

> Sometimes small words like that can add to a tenderness.
> It's a cracker!
> Bob
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> >From: arthur seeley <[log in to unmask]>
> >Reply-To: The Pennine Poetry Works <[log in to unmask]>
> >To: [log in to unmask]
> >Subject: New Sub: Agenbite of Inwit
> >Date: Sun, 27 Apr 2003 20:32:56 +0100
> >
> >      Agenbite of Inwit.
> >
> >In the murmur of voices I recognised my name,
> >laid my book aside, lifted my curtain, stepped into the glare
> >
> >of their scrutiny. They had gathered in shade
> >under the banyan where light through leaves
> >
> >flickered over the grass and tufts of kapok floated.
> >They waited as I read the message.
> >
> >My mother, somewhere, at home,
> >home, somewhere, my mother was dying.
> >
> >They searched my eyes as I folded the paper,
> >neat as a bed-sheet fresh from the line,
> >
> >and tucked it into the breast pocket
> >of my chilled, soaked shirt.
> >
> >I turned to find my long road home;
> >the curtain bulged in a wind from the west.
>
>
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