The Terry Clarke Poem

From:         Sharon Clarke
Subject:     General Memories

Dear webmaster.

My husband, Terry Clarke (pupil 1960-1967) has written this poem.

Regards Sharon Clarke

The Liverpool Collegiate

Once a cathedral of learning,
Fashioned from bold Liverpool stone,
With the face of a medieval castle,
That age blackened from amber to coal.

A school steeped in tradition,
Classless in its many parts,
Proud of both the mathematicians,
And the performers of the arts.

Where behind its high latticed windows,
Uniformly they'd sat in their rows,
Dissecting the laws of science,
Or chanting their old Latin prose,

While digesting the wars of nations,
And reciting Shakespearean verse,
Balancing their quadratic equations,
To clamber up 1ife's leaden stairs,

Daydreaming of football or rugby,
Or maybe summer camp in the Isle of Man,
Clipping a ball to the cricket boundary,
Growing: in stature from the boy to the man.

All waiting for a final bell to call them,
Up to the grand assembly hall, three floors high,
With its mighty organ roaring out the anthem,

"Viva t haec sodalitas decus esmedunae."

Hi Sharon,

Thank you for your letter.  This is breaking new ground for us.  Maybe some other wives may feel an urge to get their husband's literary output into print.  Who knows?

Also, poetry is another example of a COB's activities.  We do wonder what the verdict on this poem would have been, from (say) Mr Woodward, as far as literary excellence is concerned.  Such thoughts are just something to dream of!

Regards - Webmaster