Gould read by Classic Poetry Aloud:

http://www.classicpoetryaloud.com/

Giving voice to classic poetry.

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Oxford

by Gerald Gould (1885 – 1936)

I came to Oxford in the light

Of a spring-coloured afternoon;

Some clouds were grey and some were white,

And all were blown to such a tune

Of quiet rapture in the sky,

I laughed to see them laughing by.

I had been dreaming in the train

With thoughts at random from my book;

I looked, and read, and looked again,

And suddenly to greet my look

Oxford shone up with every tower

Aspiring sweetly like a flower.

Home turn the feet of men that seek,

And home the hearts of children turn,

And none can teach the hour to speak

What every hour is free to learn;

And all discover, late or soon,

Their golden Oxford afternoon.

Comments

Although the New York Times proclaimed in 1912 that “Gerald Gould Can Now Be Called a Great Poet” (for the review see: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9B00E5DB133AE633A25753C1A9659C946396D6CF&oref=slogin), time has not favoured him.

I think this may be a mistake. Classic Poetry Aloud aims to balance famous with worthy, but less well-known poets such as Gould. It would be a pity if a man who played a part in the evolution of British 20th Century verse as a reviewer and journalist was not also remembered for his own poetry.