George Musgrave died in November 2012, aged 97. He was a poet, an artist, a clergyman working among the deprived of London and British Guiana, a politician, a family man, an inspirer.
Taking over 100 of his poems (both secular and religious) from his youth up to his dying day, this book contemplates a lifetime of joy and love, reflects on the loneliness of rejection and of dying in old age, and the value he placed on prayer and faith.
"As we delve into the mystery of his verses, we open a Pandora's Box of intrigue and controversy concerning the romance of youthful days, of daydreams, of schoolboy pranks, of feelings of failure, as well as exhortations and resolve to succeed."
Includes poems featured on the BBC. To My Father.... London 1940.... Memories.... The Fields of Joy.... The Home Straight.... The Men of Aberfan.... The Old Greek Goblet.... Barbed Wire Beside the Sea.... Alone.... Lovesick.... Heartache.... Rejection.... A Sick Man's Meditation.... Reborn.... and of course, Press On Brave Hearts.
George Musgrave became a young man during World War Two while training for the clergy, and with a father killed on the battlefield of northern France, he had more reason than many to contemplate on the inadequacy of war as a solution to the problems of mankind. This is reflected in this compilation of all his poetic works, from the secular to the supernal, from rantings against the injustice of war, to the romance and confusion of an idealistic young man.
Some of his religious poems have been sung as hymns in various churches across the United Kingdom.
- acutely moving, - edifyingly inspirational, - deeply devotional.
