Page 46 of Persuading Penny
As she went on to finish the final verse, she once again spoke in that soft tone and returned to her seat, sitting as the last words were spoken.
The crowd applauded in sincere appreciation.
The second reader, a tall thin man standing nearly seven feet tall came bursting through the door of the tea house. He marched about, his reading style engaging and animated as his gestures emphasizing every word.
The Lake Isle of Innisfree by William Butler Yeats
I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay
and wattles made;
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the
honey-bee
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.
He came to stand right in front of our table, his voice booming;
And I shall have some peace there
For peace comes dropping slow
He moved on as he continued, and all eyes followed his every movement until the poem ended and we applauded.
The third reader, seated in the farthest corner of the tea house, remained seated and impossible to see as he began his poem.
On the Grasshopper and the Cricket by John Keats
The poetry of earth is never dead
When all the birds are faint with the hot sun,
And hide in cooling trees, a voice will run
From hedge to hedge about the new-mown mead;
His voice, rich, deep and filled with emotion was one that I knew well. I’d heard that voice often. Had heard it read poems to me, just me.
That is the Grasshopper’s – he takes the lead
In summer luxury, - he has never done
With his delights; for when tired out with fun
He rests at ease beneath some pleasant weed.
My breath caught in my throat and my heart suddenly pounded as I was flooded with emotions.
The poetry of earth is ceasing never:
On a lone winter evening when the frost
Has wrought a silence from the stove there shrills
The reader stood, confirming what I already knew. Cliff, looking so perfectly handsome in a white shirt and dark pants. He looked better than he ever had as he walked to the front of the room all eyes were on him. He continued to recite the poem, women practically swooning.
