Westminster Memorials, Volume 1

Westminster Abbey has seen much during its long, rich history; the coronations of Kings and Queens, the burials of Prime ministers. However it is also a church that remembers the men and women of the arts. Dedicated writers and poets who spoke so eloquently that the Nation wished to remember them with plaques upon its walls so that all who travelled here could remember too.

Their works are worth remembering and here, in these volumes, their wise words speak too and for us all. In Volume 1 we collect together Matthew Arnold to Lewis Carroll.

Words. The building blocks of literature. The ammunition to wrench emotion from brain to lip to life. All languages of the world have a unique capacity to convey information in many forms. Among them; as concise instructions, as many sided conversations and as great literature. And within literature these same words can be used in different ways to capture our hearts, our souls, our desires with simple yet unexpected phrasing. The ear has no problem being captivated by their use.

Whether Shakespeare requests ‘If music be the food of love, play on’ or Tennyson in heart breaking desire ‘Tis better to have loved and lost/Than never to have loved at all’ or the simple statement of Pope ‘To err is human; to forgive, divine’ or the rage of Dylan Thomas ‘Do not go gentle into that good night’ or the delicious question of Elizabeth Barrett Browning ‘How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.’

We are moved by them all because they are both eloquent and emotional. They speak of us and directly to us. Poetry does what no other use of words can do; they explore, nourish and reflect the many facets of the human condition.