Tag: John Skelton
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The Parrot in the Ring of Chaos
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This stanza was written just one day after the event it describes – the Labour Conference vote on campaigning for Remain. That event seemed significant for at least a few hours. But the following day’s judgement by the Supreme Court was so much more significant and – still finishing this stanza – I felt that…
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The Parrot Joins the Circus
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Prime Minister Johnson and his gang had lost a succession of important votes the day before this stanza was written. Several prominent and moderate Tories who had voted against the government and against the possibility of a “No Deal” Brexit, had simply been sacked. Ken Clarke was one of those and had much to say…
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Jez, the Phantom Striker
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Jeremy Corbyn is apparently an Arsenal supporter. Yesterday’s “Independent” editorial came up with the image of the open goal and Corbyn’s failure to shoot. Thanks for that. The piece ended by taking the image a stage further : if the Arsenal manager had a striker who repeatedly failed to shoot in times of need as…
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The Parrot Speaks of Fre-dom
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In the fourteenth century, Geoffrey Chaucer introduced Rhyme Royal to English poetry and all these stanzas of mine about Brexit share that long established rhyme scheme. And Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales and one of those is “The Franklin’s Tale” which I love. And that’s where this medieval word “fre” keeps appearing, later to become…
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Cage Alight
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We in Britain are groping about in a strange country, which just happens to be our own. What next ? Where next ? And what has just occured ? Two days ago, May’s deal was voted down by an enormous margin. Yesterday, she survived (not by that much) a vote of no confidence. Has anything…
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The Gods at War, Following a Murder
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May’s “deal” was voted down last night after the heaviest governmental defeat in history. Released from the ghastly, grinding and disgraceful progress of her inadequate deal, are we freer now to resolve things a reparative way, or will the hopeless nonsense of this poisonous issue merely change its shape, and muliply its warring elements ?……
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Westminster is empty
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It is thought that the poet John Skelton wrote his satirical poem “Speak, Parrot” while living in the sanctuary of Westminster. For the medieval laws of sanctuary still operated in England at that time, leaving certain delegated areas under church jurisdiction. It meant that a significant number of people were able to live beyond the…