MCMXIV

Question 1

patiently

First Four Verses?

Answer 1

Those long uneven lines
Standing as patiently
As if they were stretched outside
The Oval or Villa Park,

Question 2

archaic

The crowns of hats, the sun

Answer 2

The crowns of hats, the sun
On moustached archaic faces
Grinning as if it were all
An August Bank Holiday lark;

Question 3

established // farthings

And the shut…

Answer 3

And the shut shops, the bleached
Established names on the sunblinds,
The farthings and sovereigns,
And dark-clothed children at play

Question 4

twist // pubs

Called after kings…

Answer 4

Called after kings and queens,
The tin advertisements
For cocoa and twist, and the pubs
Wide open all day;

Question 5

Shadowing

And the countryside…

Answer 5

And the countryside not caring:
The place-names all hazed over
With flowering grasses, and fields
Shadowing Domesday lines

Question 6

tiny rooms

Under wheat’s…

Answer 6

Under wheat’s restless silence;
The differently-dressed servants
With tiny rooms in huge houses,
The dust behind limousines;

Question 7

Never such…

Answer 7

Never such innocence,
Never before or since,
As changed itself to past
Without a word - the men

Question 8

Final Four Verses?

Answer 8

Leaving the gardens tidy,
The thousands of marriages,
Lasting a little while longer:
Never such innocence again.