England In My Heart

Like any culture, the British drip-drip themselves into the blood of children.  

From the vast number of the shades of green which are peculiar to them and with which I have greened my house

to the large area their culture assigns to anarchy, eccentricty, idiosyncracy, whimsy verging on lunacy

to balance all that where we are watching a Fitzalan-Howard, the Premier Earl, a Roman Catholic no less, accompany the Queen when she opens Parliament and the Lord Great Chamberlain walks backwards in front of her.

 

To their words.  So many. Shading meanings; and their opposite. Shading in more meanings.

 

Long ago I swore fealty to their language. 

And a good thing too because it is these words loaded with the long history of a free people which preserve psychological autonomy in a world of much madness.

Without which verging always on lunacy. 

 

Vivat!

 

 

Self-Portrait_Adelaide-Road_1939_RT-web

Self-portrait, Adelaide Road, 1939, oil on canvas. Private collection. Sir Stanley Spencer, 1891-1959, British. Image from the web.

 

 

christ-in-the-wilderness-consider-the-lilies

Christ in the Wilderness:  Consider the Lilies of the Field, 1939, oil on canvas.  Gallery of Western Australia, Perth.  Sir Stanley Spencer, 1891-1959. Image from the web.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2 thoughts on “England In My Heart”

  1. Ah, Stanley Spenser – one of my all time English pin ups. Yes -wonderfully full of green thoughts in green shades, eccentric, iconoclastic, deeply spiritual and filled with visions of the imagination.
    Thank you for this post.
    Susannah

    1. Waiting for an exhibition of his work here. I recall one only in DC more than 30 years ago where I visited with my late friend, Judy Brow and her British husband who was chuffed to see this exhibition.

      Thanks for reading! Sarah

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