Little Gidding; the place and the poem

[@robertweber5122]

I can humbly echo sentiments already stated here: these videos have greatly enriched my life. They have re-ignited (pun intended) my love of pipes, and unveiled my love of poetry. My shelves, thanks to you, are now graced with Spenser and Coleridge, Yeats and Keats, Auden and Eliot, and you. You have even inspired me to take up my own pen, and scribble a few poor sonnets myself. Much thanks to you! God bless you and your words!

[@Englishfitness2025]

I second this sir!

[@simplewelshman]

Auden, Larkin, Ted Hughes and Heaney are my current favourites.

[@mSchwippy]

I cant get enough of the audible version of "After Prayer"

[@Jan-wt6hx]

@@mSchwippy can you link to this?

[@lucki2550]

I have been watching you for quite some time Malcom, and I do fully believe that you have changed my life for the better. You remind me of my father. Thank you for being someone to share a bowl with on quiet rainy nights.

[@MalcolmGuitespell]

thanks so good to know these little films have been so helpful

[@stonylawncottagepipe4429]

😁

[@beckyramos5952]

Dear Malcolm, You have made my life richer with your readings and your poetry. I’m in my 6th decade and I just found out I love poetry!! I’ve missed so much. Please keep up your readings. You bring the poetry to life and the history around the poem!

[@gcgopro6912]

I am now 63 and I can still remember one summer in 1978 aged 18, when I travelled from London to Little Gidding, nr Huntingdon on the train, carrying the kit bag I had acquired from the Army/Navy Store. I remember hitching the last part of the journey. I was visiting my friend who was living in the LG community. I now live in Massachusetts and the same friend is crossing the Atlantic on the Queen Mary with his partner to come and visit myself and my wife this next Autumn. How the years have flown!.

[@magnoliabird]

I feel like such a fool when I listen to you about things about basically everything really. Thank you for teaching me even a little

[@erickregel6188]

"Distracted by distraction from distraction." I first read this when I was an English Major at Biola University and it set my brain on fire (to match Little Gidding). Still, everytime I hear about fire and smoke, I think of this poem. Garsh, thank you so much Malcolm for reading this; it gave me wind after spending the day apple gathering.

[@slashbash1347]

I'm glad I discovered this channel. You're like a cross between a hobbit and Santa Claus, and I mean that in the most charming way possible.

[@martymartin7962]

What a rich time to hear you reading it in person. Thank you Malcolm!

[@eirik9551]

Love that poem. Wrote my master's thesis on it and I know it by heart. Very best, Eirik

[@RyanAshley419]

I marvel at how you have been able to make poetry something I actually want to read. I always had such dreadful literature teachers in my youth, which made me never want to voluntarily read another poem my entire adult life until I discovered your channel. Thank you for that.

[@rogerheeleybarnes309]

Excellent Malcolm, thankyou x x Behind before the incandescent is the luminescent...x

[@chriscarter1731]

That line "But heard, half-heard, in the stillness between two waves of the sea," always gives me chills. I live next to the beach in Los Angeles, so I know exactly what that stillness sounds like.

[@stonylawncottagepipe4429]

Glad that you are "back'...always good to find vidas😂

[@yusufsayed1583]

Good Morning 😊 Glad you back from your visit 💯 Always a pleasure to watch your channel 👍🏼 Appreciate your content and time to share with me 👏🏼👏🏼 God Bless you and your family 🙏🏽 Greetings From South Africa 🇿🇦

[@dereknorrington4676]

I’ve said it before on other videos, but it’s worth repeating; Malcolm you’re the best. Keep up the great videos. They’re a breath of fresh, wonderful air.

[@hardusdeklerk8993]

Always great to see you, Sir! Thank you for nice video.

[@JohnJSteinbeck]

What mesmerising insights, enchanting. Thank you Malcolm …

[@user-rt1ui1dq4v]

Thank you so much for the blessing you have been to my weary soul. You have no idea the legacy your words will have in my heart always.🙏🏻❤

[@blackpowderpiper5711]

Thank you Malcolm for another fine video. They evoke a sense of calm within me. If it's any consolation, my study looks much like your own, complete with books and pipes lying around, lol. All the best sir.

[@elcprof]

Brilliant! Takes my breath away, as it should. The Hope! Thank-you for sharing this brilliant poem with all the glory of the space you read it in. I am certainly transported back to the Herbert pilgrimage of 2022, which I can still hardly believe happened. A lifetime mountaintop experience, so full of grace and joy and Love. All shall indeed be well.

[@anthonyvictor3034]

Love Eliot, love Four Quartets. Thank you for reading and reflecting on Little Gidding with us. You know, you could have read the whole text for us. We would have listened to it no matter the length.

[@MalcolmGuitespell]

I'd love to read the whole text but I fear I might get a 'cease and desist' from Faber and Faber!

[@DaBigArmyDude]

Wonderful video. I always take a break from my seminary readings to enjoy a pipe and pint with your uploads. I recently received an Easton collection Yeats, Keats and Browning. But my education has failed in the poetry appreciation. Would you ever consider doing a crash course video on poetry?

[@TerryC69]

The passion of your reading truly inspires. Many thanks!

[@theendofeverything6356]

Thanks you for your enlightenment and erudition. This has made me want to read the poem again with a renewed interest and informed insight.

[@canadasue]

Thank you, Maggie, for making these visits happen in such lovely ways.

[@MalcolmGuitespell]

I'll pass on your thanks!

[@Pastaface]

Thank you so much. I guess we all would have o loved to be in that Little Cambridgeshire Church to hear the recital. Hearing you fresh back from the reading takes us there.

[@glorisyoung9696]

I have no idea what you're talking about most the time! But I feel am learning the language of poetry as I listen in. ❤ Thank you.

[@GIBLETTS]

Often used to go to little Gidding doing plumbing jobs , always had a few minuets to pop into the little church and sit quietly, all ways had the place to myself , precious moments

[@MalcolmGuitespell]

wonderful

[@mattmorris5001]

my fav letterman bit

[@avrilconacher]

Really enjoyed your insights into this masterpiece.

[@S.JReads]

absolutely thrilling

[@TheBoozerCruiser]

I think you made that so much warmer and more engaging by clearly being a bit “tired and emotional” as we used to say in newspapers. A full gamut of recharging oneself! I’ve always felt there’s so much to be said for witnessing a performance that the performer enjoyed. This is a classic! Thanks for doing it!

[@MalcolmGuitespell]

thanks

[@davidknox5929]

Great to see u in Belfast Malcolm.

[@shari6063]

I haven’t read Four Quartets…….yet. But I have heard snippets of Little Gidding from friends of late and then to my surprise this arrives today! Thank you so much. As a lover of George MacDonald I wonder if there is any connection to Macdonald’s rose fire, so often featured in his stories?

[@MalcolmGuitespell]

yes, I think Eliot must have read MacDonald

[@reaganwiles_art]

Mr. Guite (or Dr.?), I saw your piece on 700 Club, I found it very touching, very dear. I am not a Christian and I'm not sure I could ever be, but watching that piece made me wish I were; as also, often, reading Eliot's Four Quartets has made me wish the same.

[@MalcolmGuitespell]

Many thanks. I pray that one day, in God's good time and yours, your wish will come true!

[@Bigchurchmusic]

Amen.

[@11Bravo84]

Love❤

[@dianesellepedrosa1876]

Beautiful! Thank you Is there a biography of TS Eliot you could recommend?

[@michaelmartinserafin2029]

There is a 2-volume bio by Robert Crawford you may want to examine.

[@MalcolmGuitespell]

yes the Robert Crawford one

[@dianesellepedrosa1876]

Thank you

[@TortugaLuv]

Do you read william morris malcolm?

[@MalcolmGuitespell]

yes, especially his poetry

[@kirklazenby1]

The Eternal Present The universal wave function describes the position of every particle in the Universe at a particular moment in time. But it also describes every possible location of those particles at that instant. “All space and time is present” - Lawrence Krauss “Time present and time past Are both perhaps present in time future, And time future contained in time past. If all time is eternally present All time is unredeemable. What might have been is an abstraction Remaining a perpetual possibility Only in a world of speculation.” - T. S. Eliot Four Quartets

[@dakotanelson5722]

I’m from Randolph county and there really isn’t that much

[@barb4645]

Good stuff but the pipe is distracting!