Prayer Before Birth - Louis Macneice

A poem that has stayed with me for over 30 years. I first heard this being recited by an older girl, Joy, shortly after I went away to boarding school. I can still hear her speaking these words as I read it, thank you Joy.

Prayer Before Birth
I am not yet born; O hear me.
Let not the bloodsucking bat or the rat or the stoat or the
club-footed ghoul come near me.

I am not yet born, console me.
I fear that the human race may with tall walls wall me,
with strong drugs dope me, with wise lies lure me,
on black racks rack me, in blood-baths roll me.

I am not yet born; provide me
With water to dandle me, grass to grow for me, trees to talk
to me, sky to sing to me, birds and a white light
in the back of my mind to guide me.

I am not yet born; forgive me
For the sins that in me the world shall commit, my words
when they speak me, my thoughts when they think me,
my treason engendered by traitors beyond me,
my life when they murder by means of my
hands, my death when they live me.

I am not yet born; rehearse me
In the parts I must play and the cues I must take when
old men lecture me, bureaucrats hector me, mountains
frown at me, lovers laugh at me, the white
waves call me to folly and the desert calls
me to doom and the beggar refuses
my gift and my children curse me.

I am not yet born; O hear me,
Let not the man who is beast or who thinks he is God
come near me.

I am not yet born; O fill me
With strength against those who would freeze my
humanity, would dragoon me into a lethal automaton,
would make me a cog in a machine, a thing with
one face, a thing, and against all those
who would dissipate my entirety, would
blow me like thistledown hither and
thither or hither and thither
like water held in the
hands would spill me.

Let them not make me a stone and let them not spill me.
Otherwise kill me.

by Louis Macneice

Life drawing and animation come together beautifully, all by Robyn.

I love these short animations that Robyn has produced as part of her A Level Art, they are simply wonderful. All posted on Robyn's YouTube channel.
(Proud Mum!)

A wonderful lunch at The Belsfield Hotel, Bowness-on-Windermere

Having wandered around Bowness-on-Windermere for a while enjoying being tourists but not finding anywhere we were inspired to eat we found ourselves back at the boat pier where we had arrived on the steamer 'Tern' in the morning; overlooking the pier is the The Belsfield Hotel. We crossed the road and found the brasserie menu displayed by the gate and it sounded very interesting, so a short walk up through the gardens and we found our way in through the terrace doors. Very quiet, empty in fact, and I was afraid that they were not serving food, but the moment we spoke to staff we were looked after attentively and yet utterly unobtrusively. The service really was second to none and the food was delicious. The hotel itself is out of our price range, to stay at, but for a lunch overlooking the lake from a fantastic vantage point I think The Belsfield is impossible to beat. They are in the process of major renovation to move from a 3* to a 4* rating but this was in no way detrimental to the service or the food.

I don't sit taking photographs of my food so you will just have to make do with a picture of Lake Windermere from the terrace of The Belsfield Hotel.