From England to the muddy Nile
Where sunbeams greet the Sphinx's smile
...
Lawrence was born on June 23rd 1918, the son of Lawrence Fearby (b.1888) and Minnie (nee Frankpitt) (b.1888) . When Lawrence Frankpitt Fearby was 1 year, his paternal grandfather, a railway worker became Mayor of Castle Morpeth. Lawrence was a voracious reader and musician. He was especially keen on classical music and had been acquainted with Sir Thomas Beecham. Another major interest was Poetry and he was a great fan of Robert Burns especially. Lawrence Frankpitt Fearby married Ruth Eugenie Dryden (3 years his junior) on 16th August 1941 at St. Peter’s Church in Huddersfield. The couple had 5 sons between 1941 and 1954, the first of which became my grandfather. Using photographs in the war scrapbook of Lawrence and the dates given at the foot of his poems, I have been able to construct a timeline of his wartime career: 16-07-1942: Cairo (Signal Corps,8th Army) 7-10-1942: Cairo Hospital 23-10-1942: Mount of Olives 24-10-1942: Old Jerusalem 24-10-1942: Bethlehem 08-12-1942: Alexandria 20-12-1942: Port Said 02-01-1943: Nicosia (Cyprus) (Signals: 8th Hussars) 06-02-1943: Augusta (Cyprus) (Signals: 8th Hussars) 20-02-1943: Larnaca (Cyprus) (8th Hussars) 01-06-1943: Kyrenia (Cyprus) 01-09-1943: Nazareth 27-11-1943: Damascus 14-12-1943: Baalbeck (Lebanon) (Signal Corps,3rd Regt RA) 29-06-1944: Assisi 02-01-1945: Florence / Turin (3rd Medium Regt) 23-05-1945: Weiringen (Netherlands) (RHQ 3rd Medium Regt) 10-06-1945: Den Oever (Netherlands) 07-07-1945: Oldenburg (Germany) Lawrence survived WWII and thankfully returned home with an amazing photograph album and many new books, the most impressive of which is a dictionary bound in Egyptian camel hair. Lawrence died in 1998 and his widow outlived him, dying in 2010. Visit sites.google.com/site/fearbypoems for more information)
The Great Unknown
Opinions of the ultimate
Of death th'eternal second state
Are varied as the colours fair
In rainbows and just so much air!
Some say of earth's delights drink deep
For death precedes eternal sleep
Will Omar Khayyam hold the view,
‘Tis immaterial what we do?
Can man who laid in wooden frame
‘Neath stoney slab that bears his name
Reap benefits from worldly gain
Know aught of earthly bliss or pain?
I've heard it said we but adjourn
That deaths prelude a further turn
This finite shell they thus decree
Mere passing residence for me
The Christian says but serve the Lord
And spent in death beneath the sword
The unknown part we call the soul
Will reach at last the promised goal
However, as they don't quite know
As no-one ever shall below
The many think they'll have a care
Perhaps there is a place up there?
Oh! you who would behold the trial
That lies beyond this earthly pale
Let conscience tell you what's fear
‘Tis writ' upon it wondrous clear
May those who hold to virtue's path
For fear of hellish aftermath
Or hope of tenfold retribution
Find in death just distribution
Oh! poor mankind your main concern
Is o'er with things you shall not learn
These scholard men of pious thought
Fill hopeful minds with beauteous naught.
The secret seek it where you can
If best you serve your fellow man
You'll find that paradise you chose
On earth beneath your very nose!
LAWRENCE FRANKPITT FEARBY
1942