Oswald Couldrey was an Abingdon artist and writer. Jackie lent me a book of his poems called Triolets and Epigrams , published in 1948. A triolet is a verse form with eight short lines. The first line is repeated three times (hence the name), and the second line is repeated twice.
Here are two which mention Abingdon or an Abingdon place. I have put back the date for selection of the Abingdon poems collection to the end of January 2022 in the hope of finding more. The picture shows five trees, in Rye Farm, felled in the last fortnight, after storm damage.
Rye Farm Elms
(felled 1940)
The summer we shall find again,
But not the elms of Andersea,
That could so proudly entertain
The summer. We shall find again
Elsewhere the turtle’s crooned refrain.
Bowers, that drench with melody
The summer, we shall find again –
But not the elms of Andersea.
The Burden of Abingdon
In fifteen years, or less,
You’ll find us in the maw
Of Oxford. What a mess
In fifteen years or less !
Already our skirts caress
That foul and ravening jaw;
In fifteen years or less,
You’ll find us in the maw !
