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Book Hangover
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Some time ago, valandchris posted this quote from ‘Some do not…’:
He said to Sylvia, and for him the occasion was a very joyful one:
‘I’ve worried out some of the words of that song. It runs:
“Somewhere or other there must surely be
The face not seen: the voice not heard…”Probably it’s “the voice not ever heard” to make up the metre…I don’t know the writer’s name. But I hope I’ll worry it all out during the day.’
Sylvia had gone absolutely white.
‘Don’t!’ she said. ‘Oh…don’t.’ She added coldly: ‘Don’t take the trouble,’ and wiped her tiny handkerchief across her lips as Tietjens went away.
She had heard the song at a charity concert and had cried as she heard it. She had read, afterwards, the words in the programme and had almost cried again. But she had lost the programme and had never come across the words again. The echo of them remained with her like something terrible and alluring: like a knife she would someday take out and with which she would stab herself.
The song that is quoted is from a poem by Christina Rossetti:
Somewhere or other there must surely be
The face not seen, the voice not heard,
The heart that not yet - never yet — ah me!
Made answer to my word.Somewhere or other, may be near or far;
Past land and sea, clean out of sight;
Beyond the wandering moon, beyond the star
That tracks her night by night.Somewhere or other, may be far or near;
With just a wall, a hedge, between;
With just the last leaves of the dying year
Fallen on a turf grown green.The poem, too has been here on tumblr recently, for example here, where earthtojane added more context from Parade’s End.
It seemed to be impossible to find a version of this song, and so valandchris recorded one herself and posted her version here on tumblr. I really recommend it. Such an amazing thing to do.
Together with the song, she posted another quote from ‘Some do not…’ that is tightly connected to the first quote:
For the moment he had felt temptation to stay. But it came into his discouraged mind that Mark had said that Sylvia was in love with him. It had been underneath his thoughts all the while: it had struck him at the time like a kick from the hind leg of a mule in his subliminal consciousness. It was the impossible complication. It might not be true; but whether or no the best thing for him was to go and get wiped out as soon as possible. He meant, nevertheless, fiercely, to have his night with the girl who was crying downstairs…
He heard in his ear, perfectly distinctly, the lines:
‘The voice that never yet
Made answer to my word…’All the while, earthtojane and I have been talking about the first passage via askbox. What it could mean, how the poem was connected to Christopher and Sylvia, why Christopher is so joyful and why Sylvia is touched so deeply by those lines. It has been a great conversation, and I want to thank earthtojane again for dropping by and starting it, but now the analysis is as far as it will get between the two of us.
So I suggested to make a post of our conclusions and ask for opinions, because as earthtojane said: ‘Sometimes, no matter how many times you have read it, you just need another person’s “eye” to see through what you have missed before.’
All the quotes in this post are from Ford Madox Ford’s ‘Some do not…’.
This is getting long, so our findings are under the cut.
Thank you 42error for this very well-thought-out post about the poem and its connection to Sylvia and Chrissie. I sometimes wish I have your brain. :)
Funny how that very same poem produced two very different emotions from the characters involved. For Sylvia, it evoked something terrible and sad whereas Chrissie felt joy and the chance of love with Valentine.
valandchris your voice is amazing! Bless you for recording the poem into a song.
Christina Rossetti
Sylvia said: ‘Do you know a poem called Somewhere? It begins : “Somewhere or other there must surely be…” ‘
Tietjens said: ‘I’m sorry. No! I haven’t been able to get up my poetry again.’
Sylvia: ‘Don’t!’
*****
He got to the door . He came back; his brother was nearly through. He said to Sylvia, and for him the occasion was a joyful one:
‘I’ve worried out some of the words of that song. It runs:
“Somewhere or other there must surely be
The face not seen: the voice not heard…”
Probably it’s :the voice not ever heard” to make up the metre….I don’t know the writer’s name. But I hope I’ll worry it out during the day.’
Sylvia had gone absolutely white.
‘Don’t!’ she said. ‘Oh…don’t.’ She added coldly: ‘Don’t take the trouble,’ and wiped her tiny handkerchief across her lips as Tietjens went away.
She had heard the song at a charity concert and had cried as she heard it. She had read, afterwards, the words in the programme and had almost cried again. But she had lost the programme and had never come across the words again. The echo of them remained with her like something terrible and alluring: like a knife she would some day take out and with which she would stab herself.
-Some Do Not, Ford Madox Ford
Yes the one with the drawing of a soldier. I’m curious now about the Carcanet editions since emmadelosnardos recommends it. Nothing much is written about his family on Wikipedia. Somebody make film about this guy. I’m looking at you Mammoth Screen :)I haven’t watched it, but didn’t the BBC air a special about Ford Madox Ford in conjunction with Parade’s End?
Yes, here it is:
Who on Earth Was Ford Madox Ford? A Culture Show Special
Duration: 1 hour, 5 minutes
Ford Madox Ford is one of the forgotten greats of British fiction. With Tom Stoppard’s dramatisation of Ford’s unusual First World War love story Parade’s End showing on BBC Two, Alan Yentob reveals Ford to be one of the most likeable characters in literature - humorous, overweight and with a deeply complicated love life that lit the fire under his greatest novels. A radical and a modernist, Ford was friend and collaborator to the great experimenters, Conrad, Lawrence, Pound and Joyce, and he wrote over 80 books including the masterpiece The Good Soldier.
Yentob follows Ford through scandal, prison, exile and into the army, where he was injured by an explosion while serving in the Somme. He reveals how the shockwaves from this explosion reverberated through the rest of Ford’s life, providing the inspiration for his visceral, unique and spectacular wartime epic Parade’s End.
Contributors include fans John Simpson, the Booker winner Ben Okri and academic Hermione Lee, as well as eminent chef Rowley Leigh, cooking some of Ford’s favourite food. [x]
(His favorite food?? Really?)
On youtube: Part 1/4
Reblogging because Ford Madox Ford deserves all the attention and recognition.
George Seldes, in his book Witness to a Century,describes Ford’s recollection of his writing collaboration with Joseph Conrad, and the lack of acknowledgment by publishers of his status as co-author. Seldes recounts Ford’s disappointment with Hemingway: ‘and he disowns me now that he has become better known than I am.’ Tears now came to Ford’s eyes.” Ford says, “I helped Joseph Conrad, I helped Hemingway. I helped a dozen, a score of writers, and many of them have beaten me. I’m now an old man and I’ll die without making a name like Hemingway.” Seldes observes, “At this climax Ford began to sob. Then he began to cry.”
asortofbookevent replied to your photoset: asortofbookevent: But there is, or used to be,…
Heart these tags. No plans to move on from PE anytime soon - I still have to read the damn book!
I beg of you to please read the book already…you are killing me!
A BOOK published 88 years ago has finally become a bestseller after being adapted for a £12million BBC period drama series starring Benedict Cumberbatch.
Parade’s End, by Ford Madox Ford, shot into a Top 100 book chart hours before the first of the five‑part series was screened on BBC Two on Friday night.
Parade’s End, published as four novels between 1924 and 1928, was little known until being adapted for TV by Sir Tom Stoppard.
By last night, hours after BBC Two was named terrestrial channel of the year at the Edinburgh TV festival, the complete book was at No 8 in the Amazon chart.
This is great news. More people should read it. I found out about this beautiful novel because of the show.
Here’s the cover of Sir Tom Stoppard’s tie-in publication for Parade’s End. The book contains the scripts, deleted scenes and stills and photographs from the production.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Parades-End-based-Tom-Stoppard/dp/057129913X
