Richard Burton A Personal Anthology

Richard Burton reading poetry & prose from his favourite writers...

[@doloresgiusto1659]

The Leaden Echo and the Golden Echo (Maidens’ song from St. Winefred’s Well) The Leaden Echo How to keep-is there ány any, is there none such, nowhere known some, bow or brooch or braid or brace, láce, latch or catch or key to keep Back beauty, keep it, beauty, beauty, beauty, . . . from vanishing away? Ó is there no frowning of these wrinkles, rankèd wrinkles deep, Dówn? no waving off of these most mournful messengers, still messengers, sad and stealing messengers of grey? No there’s none, there’s none, O no there’s none, Nor can you long be, what you now are, called fair, Do what you may do, what, do what you may, And wisdom is early to despair: Be beginning; since, no, nothing can be done To keep at bay Age and age’s evils, hoar hair, Ruck and wrinkle, drooping, dying, death’s worst, winding sheets, tombs and worms and tumbling to decay; So be beginning, be beginning to despair. O there’s none; no no no there’s none: Be beginning to despair, to despair, Despair, despair, despair, despair. The Golden Echo Spare! There is one, yes I have one (Hush there!); Only not within seeing of the sun, Not within the singeing of the strong sun, Tall sun’s tingeing, or treacherous the tainting of the earth’s air. Somewhere elsewhere there is ah well where! one, Óne. Yes I can tell such a key, I do know such a place, Where whatever’s prized and passes of us, everything that’s fresh and fast flying of us, seems to us sweet of us and swiftly away with, done away with, undone, Undone, done with, soon done with, and yet dearly and dangerously sweet Of us, the wimpled-water-dimpled, not-by-morning-matchèd face, The flower of beauty, fleece of beauty, too too apt to, ah! to fleet, Never fleets more, fastened with the tenderest truth To its own best being and its loveliness of youth: it is an ever- lastingness of, O it is an all youth! Come then, your ways and airs and looks, locks, maiden gear, gallantry and gaiety and grace, Winning ways, airs innocent, maiden manners, sweet looks, loose locks, long locks, lovelocks, gaygear, going gallant, girlgrace- Resign them, sign them, seal them, send them, motion them with breath, And with sighs soaring, soaring síghs deliver Them; beauty-in-the-ghost, deliver it, early now, long before death Give beauty back, beauty, beauty, beauty, back to God, beauty’s self and beauty’s giver. See; not a hair is, not an eyelash, not the least lash lost; every hair Is, hair of the head, numbered. Nay, what we had lighthanded left in surly the mere mould Will have waked and have waxed and have walked with the wind what while we slept, This side, that side hurling a heavyheaded hundredfold What while we, while we slumbered. O then, weary then whý should we tread? O why are we so haggard at the heart, so care-coiled, care-killed, so fagged, so fashed, so cogged, so cumbered, When the thing we freely fórfeit is kept with fonder a care, Fonder a care kept than we could have kept it, kept Far with fonder a care (and we, we should have lost it) finer, fonder A care kept. Where kept? Do but tell us where kept, where.- Yonder.-What high as that! We follow, now we follow.- Yonder, yes yonder, yonder, Yonder. Lines From 'The Boy With A Cart' / The Good Morrow / The Passionate Shepherd To His Love / Go Catch A Falling Star / Non Sum Qualis Eram Bonae Sub Regno Cynarae / Yasmin, A Ghazel / Poem From 'Under Milk Wood' / Welsh Incident / Exequy On His Wife / Lament For The Makers / The Passionate Wife's Pilgrimage / Desiderata / Adelstrop / Autumn / Priest And Peasant / The Lonely Farmer / Lines From 'Richard II' / In Memoriam Walter Ramsden / Hunter Trials / To Christ / At The Round Earth's Imagined Corners / Elegy For His Father / Death Be Not Proud / The Hound Of Heaven / Lines From William Shakespeare's 'The Tempest'.

[@elizabethcsicsery-ronay1633]

What a beautiful gentle voice! Hypnotic.

[@freebornjohn2687]

Richard Burton readings are sublime. Few can match him.

[@larsrunkvist6230]

Our greatest actor!

[@James-pq7nf]

one of the greatest actors who ever lived

[@culturehorse]

Well done Bonati & thanks!

[@Markmywords803]

Absolutely sublime!

[@doloresgiusto1659]

Death made desirable by a supreme chantor. Céligny August 5, 1984.

[@lauramarello7998]

Richard Burton Personal Anthology Table of Contents *= from a play (otherwise they are poems) **- in a Welsh accent Gerard Manley Hopkns: The Leaden Echo & The Golden Echo *Christopher Fry - Lines From: The Boy with A Cart - a play John Donne -The Good-Morrow Christopher Marlowe - The Passionate Shepherd to His Love Walter Raleigh - The Nymphs Reply to The Shepherd John Donne -- Song: Go Catch a Falling Star Ernest Christopher Dowson - Cynara Phrase from Horace - Non Sum Qualis Eram Bonae Sub Regno Cynarae translation - I am not as I was in the reign of good Cynara *James Elroy Flecker - a ghazal - or Yasmin; A Gazelle (1918, London) from Flecker's play Hassan, sometimes called Hassan's Serenade. a ghazal - is short lyric poem 7th C Islam - Sufi expression of religious longing expression of pain of loss and separation, beauty of that love despite the pain Hafiz (d.1338 CE), the undisputed master of the ghazal. Divan of Hafiz, surviving love poems **Dylan Thomas: The Rev. Eli Jenkins - Poem From Under Milk Wood **Robert Graves: Welsh Incident Henry King: Lines From: Exequy On His Wife exequy= obscenities William Dunbar -- Lines From: Lament For The Makaris Sir Walter Raleigh -- The Passionate Man's Pilgrimage Max Ehrmann - Lines from Desiderata. Found In Old St. Pauls Church, Baltimore adhere is another by Jorge Lavat - Edward Thomas - Adlestrop John Keats - to Autumn- part of Keats' 1918 Odes RS Thomas - Priest and Peasant RS Thomas - The Lonely Farmer *Shakespeare - Lines From: Richard II John Betjeman - In Memoriam Walter Ramsden (Ramsden an Oxford prof. 1868-19470 biochemist and physiologist John Betjeman -- Hunter Trials John Donne? (A Hymn) To Christ John Donne - At The Round Earth's Imagined Corners John Donne? Elegy 4? (For His Father) John Donne - Holy Sonnet 10 - Death Be Not Proud Francis Thompson The Hound of Heaven - 1890 *Shakespeare - Lines From: The Tempest

[@liziarmstrong7596]

Thank you I have LP record of Under Milkwood from the film.💖from Australia

[@8nansky528]

I ADORE READING

[@julianciahaconsulting8663]

I heard Burton gave a reading of John Lennon's lyrics for " I am the Walrus" - is this available anywhere?

[@giancarlobonati2344]

HI Julian, i have no clue unfortuantely, but would be nice if you could find, and link here :)

[@Johnconno]

I am the walrus The dark walrus The black walrus Ravens wing of the deep Solitary, ever deeper Into my own walrus thoughts No companion for me Except the freedom of the limitless rain drenched sea I am the monk walrus The drunk walrus

[@nensi1972]

...❤🙏🏻🌹

[@ExxylcrothEagle]