What Captivity Has Been To

I Wanted To Be A Poet When I Was 20; I Had No Interest In Fiction Or Biography And Precious Little Interest In History, But Those Three Elements In My Life Have Become The Most Important.

Health, Money. That's What People Worried About In The 14th Century As Much As Today. I Find It So Much More Interesting Than The Supposed Activities Of Kings, Queens, Generals.

I Don't In Any Sense Think Of Myself As A Celebrity, Which Of Course I'm Not.

There Is A Word In Old English Which Belongs Wholly To That Civilization - "dustsceawung," Meaning Contemplation Of Dust. It Is A True Image Of The Anglo-saxon Mind, Or At Least An Echo Of That Consciousness Which Considered Transcience And Loss To Be Part Of The Human Estate; It Was A World In Which Life Was Uncertain And The Principal Diety Was Fate Or Destiny Or "wyrd."

He Stood Beneath The White Tower, And Looked Up At It With That Mournful Expression Which His Face Always Carried In Repose: For One Moment He Thought Of Climbing Up Its Cracked And Broken Stone, And Then From Its Summit Screaming Down At The Silent City As A Child Might Scream At A Chained Animal.