Don't Run, Gentlefolk. Walk. Poem by Tom Billsborough

Hi Susan. Wow that was some comment! The caesura is a bit like a comma. in fact I tend to split the line into two lines of three beats each. A perfect example is to me the greatest line ever written by Virgil in his 10th Eclogue. The Latin is Omnia Vincit Amor, et nos cedamus Amori, English translation Love conquers all. and we must yield to love.. The pause or caesura coming after all giving the line a perfect balance. Whilst the twelve syllable line is traditional and used by French playwrights such as Racine, in modern French the syllabic count is often ignored but the six beat pattern is still favoured. The Greatest of French modern poets, St Jean Perse writes it as though prose, but the beat is still there. If you break up his lines, some contain as little as eleven syllables and some as many as seventeen! Ts Eliot's brilliant translation of Perse's Anabasis uses the same format. It brings a greater flexibilty to the verse. To be honest, though, I usually call mine Alexandrines because it's is at the top of the list! Having said that I think most of what I write does follow the French pattern. I wrote Latin and French verse at school before I attempted English verse, so maybe the habit has influenced my style. Quite a lot of my work comes out very quickly. I make notes before writing but once I start there's not usually a pause.

I try to avoid walking with my brother. He thinks nothing of striding out over the fells with a back pack for twenty miles or so. I don't reckon much to that either. I think my love of walking is tied up with my natural curiousity. I'm a very early riser and when on holiday (whilst my sleepy-headed family were in dreamland) I would go out and explore. If in Scotland, I used this as a excuse to buy those delicious Scottish rolls and gobble up more than my fair share before they got up! How come they make them so good, whilst ours are generally lousy.

No, people don't mind if you use German, especially in the border areas. Yes, you cross the Vltava River by ferry to go to the zoo. It's just a regular boat, but further downstream from Roztoky the ferry is attached to an overhead cable. Good thing too becuase the engine usually packs up and at least the ferry doesn't drift downstream!

Yes, the latter. We started learning Russian as a voluntary subject at school but sadly our teacher, aptyly named Mr Swallow, flew off with someone else's wife. I did find Russian difficult to pronounce, so my pathetic attempt at Czeck was prob no better. I wondered if I was being a bit insensitive using German, but she didn't seem to mind. I seem to remember having to cross over a rapid stream on a sort of Ferry. I think it was pulled across on chains. Probably no longer there?

Ha ha, naughty Gracie! Zoo in Czech is just zoo, pronounced zor. Or were you trying to say zoologická zahrada? Yes, German often works with the older folks.

Had to send Gracie back to the Zoo for retraining. Tried to swipe my Ice creams. Talking of Zoos. Was going to Zoo in Prague. Lost way. Asked old lady in what I thought was Czech. She looked blank. I finally said tiergarten She understood and pointed the way! Sad reflection on my linguistic skills!