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To Lady Asquith
“In the corner of the churchyard nearest to the house, directly beneath a darkly presiding yew tree, was a worn, flat stone. Here nothing implored the passing tribute of a sigh. There was only the bare inscription:
Here
And beneath in different lettering the words:
God grante that she lye stille.“ - Lady Cynthia Asquith, 'God Grante That She Lye Stille'
I chanced across you in a book of ghost
fiction selected by Roald Dahl.
He talked of meeting you when you
were of advancing years
and confined largely to your bed.
He also spoke of women in the dead
beloving field of ghost stories,
describing in his patriarchal way
how painting and great novels are
a mostly male art, a distant star
untouched by women’s hands,
but still the fairer sex outstrips
its rougher counterpart
in exorcising household ghosts.
The domesticity of pain
and secrets conjured in the living room,
so that a pale shade disturbs
an afternoon and makes midnight
visits a playhouse for phantoms.
Children’s tales, ghost stories,
these are what Roald Dahl
ascribed to women’s unique gifts,
and though we live in more enlightened times
I pray that you lie still.
Here
And beneath in different lettering the words:
God grante that she lye stille.“ - Lady Cynthia Asquith, 'God Grante That She Lye Stille'
I chanced across you in a book of ghost
fiction selected by Roald Dahl.
He talked of meeting you when you
were of advancing years
and confined largely to your bed.
He also spoke of women in the dead
beloving field of ghost stories,
describing in his patriarchal way
how painting and great novels are
a mostly male art, a distant star
untouched by women’s hands,
but still the fairer sex outstrips
its rougher counterpart
in exorcising household ghosts.
The domesticity of pain
and secrets conjured in the living room,
so that a pale shade disturbs
an afternoon and makes midnight
visits a playhouse for phantoms.
Children’s tales, ghost stories,
these are what Roald Dahl
ascribed to women’s unique gifts,
and though we live in more enlightened times
I pray that you lie still.
Published 16th Jun 2020
Author's Note
Asquith’s quoted short story can be read in full here: https://talesofmytery.blogspot.com/2013/10/cynthia-asquith-god-grant-that-she-lye.html?m=1
The book referred to is Roald Dahl’s Book of Ghost Stories.
The book referred to is Roald Dahl’s Book of Ghost Stories.
All writing remains the property of the author. Don't use it for any purpose without their permission.
likes 4
reading list entries 1
comments 6
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Commenting Preference:
The author encourages honest critique.
16th Jun 2020 11:28am
I knew from the title what this was because I love Roald Dahl! I got my grandson hooked on his books when he was very young, and I believe Ron held a competition about him not too long ago, and I chose Danny, the Champion of the World. to write on. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is also another of my grandson's favorites.
Anyway, sorry. . .got excited about the Dahl! Your ghost poetry is always so reflective, and contains the depth of a short story itself. I think one reason I am so drawn to this is because I love discovering old graves; and I particularly like the inscription on this one because it implies so much, and yet nothing. The reference that art and writing were men-things accentuated the inscription for me, though I'm not sure why. I am brought to mind of women's "duties" back in those times, which rarely included something they'd actually like to do, such as painting or writing because it was a man's place.
I cannot imagine having lived back then, but I'm sure I did in some form. It was such a stringent life for women that they became the ghosts drifting about in their own homes, exorcising their own desires to expectation.
Anyway, sorry. . .got excited about the Dahl! Your ghost poetry is always so reflective, and contains the depth of a short story itself. I think one reason I am so drawn to this is because I love discovering old graves; and I particularly like the inscription on this one because it implies so much, and yet nothing. The reference that art and writing were men-things accentuated the inscription for me, though I'm not sure why. I am brought to mind of women's "duties" back in those times, which rarely included something they'd actually like to do, such as painting or writing because it was a man's place.
I cannot imagine having lived back then, but I'm sure I did in some form. It was such a stringent life for women that they became the ghosts drifting about in their own homes, exorcising their own desires to expectation.
16th Jun 2020 12:49pm
I adore Roald Dahl as well, and Danny, the Champion of the World gave a me a great deal of pleasure as a kid. Also, a fond memory I have is of reading The BFG as a child at night and bursting out laughing when the bad giants escape, and one of them says “I’m going to Baghdad! I’m going to bag dad and mum and their three kids, too!” The dark humour in Dahl’s work shaped my reading taste!
16th Jun 2020 1:08pm
I really hate you missed this competition!
https://deepundergroundpoetry.com/forum/competitions/read/11063/#458051
https://deepundergroundpoetry.com/forum/competitions/read/11063/#458051
16th Jun 2020 6:15pm
i have long held the belief that men like Dahl (who i love), who believe/d that art and music and poetry and writing are 'the work of men folk' could only do such because a woman in their life actually made the poetry of life for them. maybe i'm wrong. but it's the mothers (generally) that make things memorable. it's the women who tell stories at bedtime and around the kitchen tables. it's women who make christmas magical. it's the mothers who meticulously planned easter dinners and decorated the easter eggs with their children.
mothers can also be the ones to cause the most damage. can cause writers to write about terrible things with great conviction because they know the abuse first hand.
and now i will step down off my soap box and get on with comments about the actual poem. ha!
you have a knack for putting words beside each other that just....sound fantastic. like this stanza:
The domesticity of pain
and secrets conjured in the living room,
so that a pale shade disturbs
an afternoon and makes midnight
visits a playhouse for phantoms.
it is a glorious image, but the words also just sound nice when read together.
i also very much appreciate your melancholy tone. though, i guess if you're going to write about ghost stories and times when women were not given the opportunities of their opposites, the poem would fall flat if a joyful tone was used. anyway, all that to say....i very much enjoyed this. thanks for sharing.
mothers can also be the ones to cause the most damage. can cause writers to write about terrible things with great conviction because they know the abuse first hand.
and now i will step down off my soap box and get on with comments about the actual poem. ha!
you have a knack for putting words beside each other that just....sound fantastic. like this stanza:
The domesticity of pain
and secrets conjured in the living room,
so that a pale shade disturbs
an afternoon and makes midnight
visits a playhouse for phantoms.
it is a glorious image, but the words also just sound nice when read together.
i also very much appreciate your melancholy tone. though, i guess if you're going to write about ghost stories and times when women were not given the opportunities of their opposites, the poem would fall flat if a joyful tone was used. anyway, all that to say....i very much enjoyed this. thanks for sharing.
16th Jun 2020 10:14pm
Thank you for your thoughtful reply, Ms Grace. Ghost stories are a favourite art form of mine, and women’s work in it a subject I’m fascinated by. When Dahl was compiling his anthology he noted in the introduction that after sorting through hundreds in the British library most weren’t very good, but the ones that were were largely by women. Your comment about mothers is interesting as a recurring theme in women’s ghost fiction is the grief, rage, and cruelty that goes on in families and bubbles up from the past to haunt the present. The woman in black wandering the marshes which swallowed up her child, the witch in the Asquith story linked to in my Author’s Note, trying to come back to reclaim her estate...
16th Jun 2020 11:13pm
I so loved this piece, and almost as much reading the responses from daisy and Tammy... I agree on all accounts (wise women surely) and your piece was so well written... I do love his works... creates a nostalgic yearning in me reading this. I certainly agree with Ahavati about your storytelling abilities.. this short form prose was masterful. What daisy said about a woman’s existence in her own home hit... my mind went to E Dickinson ... Other unacknowledged talents in their own time. Living ghosts in captivity.. even though the piece did not ring sad to me... but honest and quite beautiful. Well done poet
