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| William Ward after George Morland Tom Jones and Molly Seagrim in the Grove (illustration to Tom Jones by Henry Fielding) ca. 1787 hand-colored mezzotint British Museum |
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| William Ward after George Morland Tom Jones, Molly Seagrim, and Square (illustration to Tom Jones by Henry Fielding) ca. 1787 hand-colored mezzotint British Museum |
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| William Ward after George Morland Lady Bellaston and Tom Jones after their return from the Masquerade (illustration to Tom Jones by Henry Fielding) ca. 1787 hand-colored mezzotint British Museum |
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| Carington Bowles Lady Booby and Joseph Andrews (illustration to Joseph Andrews by Henry Fielding) ca. 1780-90 hand-colored mezzotint British Museum |
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| Anonymous English printmaker Tom Jones and Mrs Waters at the Inn at Upton after the Battle (illustration to Tom Jones by Henry Fielding) ca. 1750-1800 mezzotint British Museum |
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| William Ward after George Morland Fanny Hill, Louisa, and the Nosegay Boy (illustration to Fanny Hill by John Cleland) ca. 1787 hand-colored mezzotint British Museum |
Oxford
Homeless and never sadder,
dragging bags, spending money,
leaning over luggage,
suddenly saying, "Without you, God,
I can't continue." What was that?
And then I lift it and walk
to find one book.
Up Iffley Turn to the Hawkwell and Tree Inns
and down over a lock
into an extended filthy river
through the Thames Valley
and over a meadow into town:
two fats,
one fishing and one man on a bike
swerving through Cotswold cow pads.
I ask:
"Do you know the fastest way
to City Centre?"
No, yes, no!
Circle Magdalen College, and the mall, the High,
Broad Street, po and Headington Hill,
Brookside and Christ Church,
cross big pavement stones and cobbles
to Holywell
and down North Parade, Maison Blanc, Browns,
the Phoenix Cinema on Walton Street
where you can bring your wine into the film.
Asbestos,
white dust, condiments, Pret Manger,
T.S. Eliot, Philip Larkin, smelly markets, buskers
on a harp
and a xylophone, buses and bicycles.
Red-faced riotously quiet British. . . .
Earl green carpets and rotten wood frames,
lavender, and buttery daisies,
flagelot beans, bar food, the stink of perfumes
over toilets, Blackwell has none,
St. Philips does, what are you looking for.
Thomas Merton.
(There are so many mental ways
and Abbot Patrick in his cassock stands high above
and smiles and says You see? It's all right
the church is in ruins.)
The devil runs the world was Adam's discovery
and now it is time to pray
before Blake's engravings of the double bind.
I made this fruit for you. Don't eat it!
"Do you carry The Seven Storey Mountain?"
No.
Everything you see is finished.
Even the ground underfoot and ahead.
The stars and the dancing planets – over.
A grand finale unfolds across the lens.
There is no present.
The book is out of print.
– Fanny Howe (2009, published in Poetry)
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| William Ward after George Morland Fanny Hill and Phoebe (illustration to Fanny Hill by John Cleland) ca. 1787 hand-colored mezzotint British Museum |
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| William Ward after George Morland Harriet Ravish'd in the Summer House (illustration to Fanny Hill by John Cleland) ca. 1787 hand-colored mezzotint British Museum |
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| Anonymous English printmaker Harriet and the Baronet (illustration to Fanny Hill by John Cleland) ca. 1748-1800 mezzotint British Museum |
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| Anonymous English printmaker Mrs Brown, the Horse-Grenadier, and Fanny Hill (illustration to Fanny Hill by John Cleland) ca. 1748-1800 mezzotint British Museum |
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| William Ward after George Morland Mrs Homespun and Sedley (illustration to The Pupil of Pleasure by Samuel Jackson Pratt) ca. 1787 hand-colored mezzotint British Museum |
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| William Ward after George Morland St Preux and Eloisa (illustration to La Nouvelle Héloise by Jean-Jacques Rousseau) ca. 1787 hand-colored mezzotint British Museum |
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| Thomas Rowlandson Harlequin and Columbine, with Pierrot spying ca. 1790-1810 hand-colored etching British Museum |
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| Thomas Rowlandson after Francesco Albani Nymphs and Shepherds ca. 1790-1800 hand-colored etching British Museum |