The Everlasting Circle by James Reeves

The Everlasting Circle by James Reeves

My one man, my two men shall mow me down my meadows,
My three men, my four men shall carry my grass away,
My four, my three, my two, my one, nay not mo,
For to mow my hay and carry it away
On a beautiful midsummer's day.

In The Idiom of the People (1958), James Reeves revisited the manuscripts of the folklorist Cecil Sharp to produce a selection of traditional English verse undiluted by early twentieth-century propriety. The Everlasting Circle (1960), his successor volume, takes a similarly faithful approach to the folk-verse collections of Sabine Baring-Gould, H. E. D. Hammond and George B. Gardiner.

Restored to their original vitality, the lyrics assembled here sing out joyfully and strong. Songs familiar to us still - 'The Cuckoo', 'The Carpenter's Wife - sit alongside lesser-known verse in a vibrant collection of England's folk heritage.

James Reeves (1909-78) was a poet, educationalist and folklorist. He read English at Cambridge University, where he co-founded the influential literary magazine Experiment with Jacob Bronowski. After university, he forged a successful career in teaching, but failing eyesight forced him to retire in 1952, whereupon he became a full-time writer and editor. His other publications include Collected Poems, 1929-1974, Complete Poems for Children (1973), and, with Martin Seymour-Smith, Inside Poetry (1970).

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780571245710
ISBN 10	0571245714
Title	The Everlasting Circle
Author	James Reeves
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Faber and Faber
Year published	2008-09-18
Number of pages	322
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.