Aldeburgh Poetry Festival:

                                       Singing in the Dark: links to poetry and folk music

 I recently gave a talk on poetry and folk songs at the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival.

Below, you will find all the poetry and prose quotes I use, with links to their sources. These include quotations from Edward Thomas’ daughter. There are also links to all the singers and songs praised in the talk. The music links include some marvellous performances. Worth seeking out!

because I faced the sun for them

and cast the dark shapes down

still they will sing me, warm and free,

though I am locked in ground

From ‘Breaking Ground’, by Alison Brackenbury.  Published by Carcanet in Selected Poems, 1991

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Selected-Poems-Alison-Brackenbury/dp/0856359246

‘I’ve nothing left but the skin on my bones.’

‘I’ll play for the bloom off your skin,’ he said.

[…]

   Now elder stems grow

  Through a broken chair

 …