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John Dunn
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John Dunn original writing
On grapenut-trees
Dr John Dunn 2022.
As I continue my break from the usual elements of the website whilst I travel in northern France, I have again found a little time to add another excerpt (see below) from Roy Campbell’s exceptional epic poem about the Spanish Civil War, Flowering Rifle.
When I have a little thinking time, I will add a few notes and thoughts to the extract, as I have done on previous occasions (see most recent blogs and Flowering Rifle in the ‘Thought Pieces’ section of my website).
John Dunn ©
They’ve backed no cause from Greenland to Australia
But petered out for fear of worse mischance.
For still the “Southern Stranger “ of their theme,
My “Southern Gestures Modify” their dream—
And well may they beware: for from her chain
A “Southern Gesture” liberated Spain.
For where they doze in faint Utopian steam
Among their vicious languors and their lilies
My Hand will pepper them with Southern chillies
Whenever I can spare it from my team,
As these found out, these gutless weary-willies
Who but that I had called this dance of wowsers
Would still be hiking in their sawn-off trousers
Or climbing grapenut-trees in some green lane—
But that I gave the rendezvous in Spain,
And came to greet them, shouting from my mule,
“Woodley! Old Woodley! Welcome Home to School!”
One votive goat, had they but spared my kraal
Would have been worth this batch, their kit, and all,
Who had not even the guts to run away
When their red paradise behind them lay
And not a single man to bar their way—
Inviting them with all its charms untold,
The New Jerusalem, the Age of Gold,
Where loving comrades howl for gory tripes
And pay their services with shots and swipes.
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From the archive:
Bruno and Florio
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Rudolf Steiner on Man in our epoch
Man has the ability to perform an act of freedom and reject the easy path of Ahriman, to find the more difficult one of Christ. But he can't find Christ if he first does not know the reality of the world.
John Dunn
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Just a thought:
‘Your will is free, direct and whole, and it would be wrong not to do, as it demands: and, by that, I crown you, and mitre you, over yourself.’ With these words of Virgil, Dante emphasised the essential linkage between the inner will and real freedom. (Renaissance: Counter-Renaissance) John Dunn
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The Oxford to Cambridge Arc 4
Further additions to the project, starting with the Newport Pagnell to Bedford leg of Ogilby's Oxford to Cambridge route.
John Dunn
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Now published on YouTube.
Dr John Dunn 2022.
By Royal Enfield along quiet rural lanes to a medieval gem.
View here.
Exploring ancient churches is also a great way to discover the many lanes of rural England.
“That church was of course a treasure. But so too are the little lanes around here, tucked away apart from the main highways.”
“Why would I be riding along quiet rural lanes in the northernmost part of Bedfordshire to seek out an old church? Well you’ve seen the treasure that was that medieval building.”
“But the answer to the question is… chiefly for the ride... I’m riding here in March. We’re coming out of winter, and the day is bright and cold.”
“I’m wearing as many clothes as I can squeeze under my motorcycle gear, plus my heavy fur-lined gauntlets.”
“But just look at the vivid blue of that sky. I count myself lucky to be motorcycling on a day like this.”
Gentle motorcycle touring on a Royal Enfield Classic 500.
The historical, quirky and unusual features of the English countryside seen from the saddle are captured on video.
Join me as I follow maps, park up and take a look around.
"...I love riding these quiet country lanes - the type of road on which this Royal Enfield excels, with its low revving, low compression, long stroke engine just chugging away, able to pull even the lowest speeds on this type of road in its highest gear. It all makes for a very satisfying way to travel around when seeking out the historic, the unusual and the quirky points of interest from the English landscape."
Original commentary researched, written and read by John Dunn.
View here.
© John Dunn.
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