16. The Island By A.A. Milne - A Friend To Liis

In this episode you will hear Liis talking about the poem that has been a friend to her - 'The Island' by A.A. Milne.

Liis visited us at Wise Words Festival in Canterbury. For the first time, we held The Poetry Exchange in an open, public setting, amongst the poetry books at Waterstones, Rose Lane, Canterbury. We are very grateful to both Waterstones and to Wise Words for hosting The Poetry Exchange so warmly.

Liis is in conversation with The Poetry Exchange team members Sarah Salway and John Prebble.

*****

The Island

by A.A. Milne

If I had a ship,

I'd sail my ship

I'd sail my ship

Through Eastern seas;

Down to the beach where the slow waves thunder -

The green curls over and the white falls under -

Boom! Boom! Boom!

On the sun-bright sand.

Then I'd leave my ship and I'd land,

And climb the steep white sand,

And climb to the trees

The six dark trees,

The coco-nut trees on the cliff's green crown -

Hands and knees

To the coco-nut trees,

Face to the cliff as the stones patter down,

Up, up, up, staggering, stumbling,

Round the corner where the rock is crumbling,

Round this shoulder,

Over this boulder,

Up to the top where the six trees stand....

And there would I rest, and lie,

My chin in my hands, and gaze

At the dazzle of sand below,

And the green waves curling slow

And the grey-blue distant haze

Where the sea goes up to the sky....

And I'd say to myself as I looked so lazily down at the sea:

"There's nobody else in the world, and the world was made for me."

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