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Welcome to The Jotter, my blog on books, writing, and culture.
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Desert Island Poems: 'Loveliest of trees, the cherry now' by A. E. Housman
Upgrade to The Jotter Premium Plan here for access to this and all my other writing. A Shropshire Lad 2: Loveliest of trees, the cherry now Loveliest of trees, the cherry now Is hung with bloom along the bough, And stands about the woodland ride Wearing white for Eastertide. Now, of my threescore years and ten, Twenty will not come again, And take from seventy springs a score, It only leaves me fifty more. And since to look at things in bloom Fifty springs are little room, A
Andrew Jamison
Apr 28 min read
Desert Island Poems: 'Out, Out—' by Robert Frost
Upgrade to The Jotter Premium Plan here for full access to this and all previous Desert Island Poems. 'The buzz saw snarled and rattled in the yard...' ‘Out, Out—’ By Robert Frost The buzz saw snarled and rattled in the yard And made dust and dropped stove-length sticks of wood, Sweet-scented stuff when the breeze drew across it. And from there those that lifted eyes could count Five mountain ranges one behind the other Under the sunset far into Vermont. And the saw snarled
Andrew Jamison
Feb 288 min read
Desert Island Poems: The Garden of Love by William Blake
Subscribe to Andrew's monthly newsletter for all of his latest writing. The Garden of Love By William Blake I went to the Garden of Love, And saw what I never had seen: A Chapel was built in the midst, Where I used to play on the green. And the gates of this Chapel were shut, And 'Thou shalt not' writ over the door; So I turn'd to the Garden of Love, That so many sweet flowers bore. And I saw it was filled with graves, And tomb-stones where flowers should be: And Priests in
Andrew Jamison
Jan 225 min read
Desert Island Poems: The Oxen by Thomas Hardy
Subscribe to Andrew's blog here for a weekly update on his latest writing. 'Nativity' by Hans Baldung (1520) The Oxen By Thomas Hardy Christmas Eve, and twelve of the clock. “Now they are all on their knees,” An elder said as we sat in a flock By the embers in hearthside ease. We pictured the meek mild creatures where They dwelt in their strawy pen, Nor did it occur to one of us there To doubt they were kneeling then. So fair a fancy few would weave In these years! Yet, I fe
Andrew Jamison
Dec 10, 20256 min read
Desert Island Poems: 'Leaves' by Derek Mahon
Read the next in the series of Andrew's deep dives into classic poems. Subscribe to The Jotter Premium Plan for access. Leaves The prisoners of infinite choice Have built their house In a field below the wood And are at peace. It is autumn, and dead leaves On their way to the river Scratch like birds at the windows Or tick on the road. Somewhere there is an afterlife Of dead leaves, A stadium filled with an infinite Rustling and sighing. Somewhere in the heaven Of lost futur
Andrew Jamison
Nov 19, 20257 min read
Desert Island Poems: The Sunlight on the Garden by Louis MacNeice
Discover Andrew's thoughts on this poem by Louis MacNeice as he asks: does this poem deserve its popularity? MacNeice as Example? My relationship with poetry, in many ways, is down to Louis MacNeice. By extension, though, as I’ve come to understand more about poetry, and read more of it, and become more critical with training, I’ve also come to find deficiencies in his work, to the point where, to be honest, I’m not entirely sure if the poet whose poems I fell in love with st
Andrew Jamison
Oct 22, 202512 min read
Desert Island Poems: 'September 2' by Wendell Berry
Andrew's exploration of this classic autumnal poem by Wendell Berry. September 2 In the evening there were flocks of nighthawks passing southward over the valley. The tall sunflowers stood, burning on their stalks to cold seed, by the still river. And high up the birds rose into sight against the darkening clouds. They tossed themselves among the fading landscapes of the sky like rags, as in abandonment to the summons their blood knew. And in my mind, where had stood a gar
Andrew Jamison
Oct 6, 20255 min read
Desert Island Poems: Epic by Patrick Kavanagh
Homer Epic (1960) I have lived in important places, times When great events were decided; who owned That half a rood of rock, a no-man’s land Surrounded by our pitchfork-armed claims. I heard the Duffys shouting ‘Damn your soul!’ And old McCabe stripped to the waist, seen Step the plot defying blue cast-steel – ‘Here is the march along these iron stones’ That was the year of the Munich bother. Which Was more important? I inclined To lose my faith in Ballyrush and Gortin Til
Andrew Jamison
Sep 16, 20254 min read
Desert Island Poems: An Introduction
Subscribe to the Desert Island Poems thread of my blog here .
Andrew Jamison
Aug 26, 20251 min read
Desert Island Poems: Poem by Simon Armitage
Simon Armitage worked for a long time as a probation officer, and gave serious thought to that as a full-time career before his poetry started to take off. In a recent interview on Giles Brandreth’s Rosebud podcast, he talks for some time about his life as a probation officer and how he felt, ultimately, helpless in the face of helping some of the offenders. He even wrote his Masters dissertation exploring the connection between video nasties and how that might have influenc
Andrew Jamison
Aug 26, 20254 min read
Desert Island Poems: 'The Tyger' by William Blake
The Tyger By William Blake Tyger Tyger, burning bright In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Could frame thy fearful symmetry? In what distant deeps or skies Burnt the fire of thine eyes? On what wings dare he aspire? What the hand, dare seize the fire? And what shoulder, & what art, Could twist the sinews of thy heart? And when thy heart began to beat, What dread hand? & what dread feet? What the hammer? what the chain? In what furnace was thy brain? What th
Andrew Jamison
Aug 7, 20257 min read
Desert Island Poems: 'Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art' by John Keats
'Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art' “Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art” By John Keats Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art— Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night And watching, with eternal lids apart, Like nature's patient, sleepless Eremite, The moving waters at their priestlike task Of pure ablution round earth's human shores, Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask Of snow upon the mountains and the
Andrew Jamison
Aug 2, 20256 min read
Desert Island Poems: 'North Wind' by Derek Mahon
"Lambasting, lamentation and love poem all at once, it captures the essence of his work." My first encounter with the poetry of Derek Mahon was in my first year at university in London, at an excellent lecture on ‘A Disused Shed in Co. Wexford’, given by an English ‘Professor of Irish Literature’ who repeatedly mispronounced his surname as ‘Mahóne’ instead of ‘Máhon’. This mispronunciation, however trivial, has come to symbolise for me the ambiguity, and conflicted identity
Andrew Jamison
Jul 25, 20253 min read
Desert Island Poems: 'The Friendship of Young Poets' by Douglas Dunn
"...the oars/ drops scales of perfect river like melting glass." The Friendship of Young Poets by Douglas Dunn There must have been more than just one of us, But we never met. Each kept in his world of loss the promise of literary days, the friendship of poets, mysterious, that sharing of the books And talking in whispers in crowded bars Suspicious enough to be taken for love. We never met. My youth was as private as the bank at midnight, and in its safety No talking behind b
Andrew Jamison
Jul 10, 20256 min read
Desert Island Poems: Piano by D. H. Lawrence
"In twelve beautifully crafted lines, Lawrence presents us with melancholia writ large." Piano By D. H. Lawrence Softly, in the dusk, a woman is singing to me; Taking me back down the vista of years, till I see A child sitting under the piano, in the boom of the tingling strings And pressing the small, poised feet of a mother who smiles as she sings. In spite of myself, the insidious mastery of song Betrays me back, till the heart of me weeps to belong To the old Sunday eveni
Andrew Jamison
Jul 4, 20256 min read
Desert Island Poems: ‘The Eagle’ by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
"There is so much to be learned from this six-line poem." The Eagle By Alfred, Lord Tennyson He clasps the crag with crooked hands; Close to the sun in lonely lands, Ring'd with the azure world, he stands. The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls; He watches from his mountain walls, And like a thunderbolt he falls. I’ve written before about my love of animal poems (you can read my piece on Edward Thomas’s ‘Owl’ here ) and this one is also from the top drawer. Michael Longley once
Andrew Jamison
Jun 29, 20255 min read
Desert Island Poems: ‘Donegal’ by Robin Robertson
"I've often thought there are three themes in poetry: life, time, and their passing. Robertson's poem explores all three..." Donegal for Ellie Ardent on the beach at Rossnowlagh on the last day of summer, you ran through the shallows throwing off shoes, and shirt and towel like the seasons, the city's years, all caught in my arms as I ploughed on behind you, guardian still of dry clothes, of this little heart not quite thirteen, breasting the waves and calling back to me to j
Andrew Jamison
Jun 29, 20253 min read
Desert Island Poems: 'Ozymandias' by Percy Bysshe Shelley
"I've taught this sonnet many times, but it keeps teaching me." Poem as Lesson When I taught English in schools (and indeed when I teach English now as a private tutor) there are some poems that I look forward to teaching. It might be that they just sound good, but it’s mainly because each time I go back to them I see something new, or for the reason that even though I’ve taught them and discussed them with hundreds of students, they still hold a sense of surprise and wonder.
Andrew Jamison
Jun 22, 20253 min read
Desert Island Poems: The Lawnmower by Michael Laskey
In this post I share a poem and my thoughts on what makes it so powerful. The Lawnmower by Michael Laskey was published in his 2004 collection Permission to Breathe published by Smith/Doorstep The Lawnmower Irreproachable, the racket of the Qualcast coming and going in the cool of the evening, every so often running on the spot while he empties the grass box. This is the man we’ve given up kneeling in the window watching the gate for. So intent on his stripes that he looks st
Andrew Jamison
Jun 10, 20252 min read
Desert Island Poems: The Owl by Edward Thomas
(for paid subscribers) In this series of posts I’ll be sharing a poem I love and explaining why. I hope you enjoy the poem and my reflections on it, and if you want to make a comment at the bottom or like it, please do. Thanks, as ever, for subscribing. I’ve always loved poems about animals, and I’m not entirely sure why. Maybe it’s because we’re all a little fascinated by the resemblance to ourselves we see in animals, maybe it’s just a sense of otherness, maybe it’s just th
Andrew Jamison
May 31, 20253 min read
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