A small matter
whether I hope
To be blessed, or despair
With the lost, on the last
Or any day.
Enough to be
Part and particle
Of the whole
Wonder and scope
Of this glory.
Cannot even
The condemned rejoice
That the presence
Is, and is just?
Kathleen Raine
Notes:
i. Kathleen Raine wrote the poem ‘Ring of Bright Water’ – a title that was later used by Gavin Maxwell for his book about raising Otters at Camusfearna on the West Coast of Scotland. From as much as I can tell Raine and Maxwell did have a relationship – Raine was later to say Maxwell was the love of her life. The first of the Otters actually came from Iraq – where Maxwell had been travelling with the hard-as-nails English gentlemen traveller - Wilfred Thesiger - and the death of this Otter has been cited as the reason for the breakup of Maxwell and Raine’s relationship.
[ Before The Otters and Tex Geddes' shark fishing days, Maxwell had actually started the shark fishing station on the Island of Soay - just off the South of Skye. ]
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