A Spring Harvest, Geoffrey Bache Smith
A Spring Harvest, Geoffrey Bache Smith
List: $2.95 | Sale: $2.07
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A Spring Harvest
Edited by J.R.R. Tolkien

Author: Geoffrey Bache Smith, Charles Burnett

Narrator: Peter McGiffen

Unabridged: 1 hr 26 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Magna Liborum

Published: 10/14/2022


Synopsis

The poems of this book were written at very various times, one (“Wind over the Sea”) I believe even as early as 1910, but the order in which they are here given is not chronological beyond the fact that the third part contains only poems written after the outbreak of the war. Of these some were written in England (at Oxford in particular), some in Wales and very many during a year in France from November 1915 to December 1916, which was broken by one leave in the middle of May. “The Burial of Sophocles,” which is here placed at the end, was begun before the war and continued at odd times and in various circumstances afterwards; the final version was sent me from the trenches. Beyond these few facts no prelude and no envoi is needed other than those here printed as their author left them. J. R. R. T.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Carmen on May 18, 2019

Inspired by the new Tolkien movie, I decided to read this collection of poems that Tolkien's best friend, Geoffrey Bache Smith, wrote and which Tolkien put together for him posthumously. While I was not smitten with every poem I did find a few that held great weight and power. Such as "Dark is the W......more

Goodreads review by Spens on May 24, 2022

Actual rating: 3.5 I picked this up after my rewatch of Tolkien (2019) and absolutely loved it! Many of the poems were moving especially given the context for when they were written but not really anything to write home about.......more

Goodreads review by Stephen on March 19, 2020

This collection, written by Tolkien's childhood friend (and one of the four in the TCBS), is in many senses a haunting read. Bache Smith seems to have possessed a spark of real genius, thus making his early death in World War I all the more tragic. A number of these poems are quite good, and several......more

Goodreads review by Thérèse on August 21, 2020

His poems should be appreciated more! I especially love the ones that mention the TCBS, though they're actually quite sad. “One I loved with a passionate longing     Born of worship and fierce despair, Dreamed that Heaven were only happy     If at length I should find him there.” This is literally......more

Goodreads review by Hope on February 27, 2020

I have a confession: I've never really gotten poetry. It's full of alliteration and word paintings and symbolism and I just never knew what to make of it. I never completely understood it. I always had to have my literature professor explain what the heck was going on. So I decided to try a collecti......more