An English Lawn, July 1871

I wrote this poem in 2008, to mark the retirement of a colleague and friend. It is based on the memorable opening chapter of The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James, which you can read here. It is set on the lawn of a beautiful English country house, and the central character, the young Isabel Archer, is about to appear. Everyone’s lives are about to change.

An English Lawn, July 1871

Three shadows stretch across the perfect lawn.

Words drop into the softened light.

Five o’clock tea on a summer afternoon,

The ceremony slow and deliberate as the Thames.

This is their drawing room, the tea-table’s feet

Sunk into the luscious grass, the old man’s

Embroidered slippers powder-blue against its sheen,

The collie curled beside his wicker-chair.

The young men stroll and smoke, and admire the house,

Its russet bricks lit by the weakening sun, laughing

As they walk back to the chair at his admonition:

‘Now, you mustn’t fall in love with my niece!’

The dog barks and dashes, and they turn

To catch her shape picked out by the doorway,

As she moves, bright-eyed, into the story,

As she steps, bare-headed, into the future.