Pages: ON THIS DAY 2020 I wrote 'One might believe that National Misery'

Thursday, March 25, 2021

ON THIS DAY 2020 I wrote 'One might believe that National Misery'

ON THIS DAY 2020, as coronavirus raged, I wrote ‘Great men have been among us; hands that penned’ which was later published on the Poetry and Covid website, here: Six Poems (poetryandcovid.com)

Here’s the poem again, in case you missed it. It is a transposition of a poem by Wordsworth. Here's a new video. Most of the vids in this On This Day strand are those made on the day the poem was written. This one, which caught me on the hop, was made on 17th March THIS year!

One might believe that natural miseries

One might well believe that national misery
only blasted Britain, made it a void land
unfit for labour: rural workers dwell on
sofas, ordinary businessmen tap online.
Bright sun and breeze herd them to the weekend parks,
for their sensual pleasures, soothing flesh, no cares.
Myriads must work – against themselves. ‘No more
Brexit frenzy, no more drunken mirth!’ cries Bo.
The Great Libertarian has switched off the
lights!... This sonnet has been interrupted to
deliver the latest lockdown laughter to
your doorstep. Watch this spot while the Cum spumes: ‘Herd
immunity, protect the economy,
and if that means some pensioners die, too bad.’

25th March 2020

The Cum

This poem comes from British Standards, which you can read about here: Pages: The final sonnet transposition from John Clare (robertsheppard.blogspot.com)

British Standards is the third book of the ‘English Strain’ project. You may read about the first book and second book here. Indeed, you may now buy them.