Withstances
Rowan Evans
1.
All underfoot locked in yellow and white
constellated spear-leek in flower increasing
through deor-hall and freaked gully
reminded by guide-light
you recall unlettered and unmarked
bluebell at the melded word
great proclamation we stood with
but wið is against accompaniment in contra
so you withstand as everyone will know
the purple song but not what it means
the force of III or VIIII or XXX
and the herbs surge needing some recap some
kind of recuperation withstand us
and þu and þu remind declare establish name
I alone know a running stream
that is recovery partly and dim sweat
of a day-fever exertion of pushing
through the flushed wood to go in company
protected from flying harms while dense
work of sapling hides true contours
only alternations now of effort of shared injury
in afternoon light one broad way open east
2.
Each one with another pink with the yellow
resisting or coming to name
a clench within by limit of time
one eyelid holds another (improbable
pupil of fern) while travelling is
a loathing inwardly powerful and
greatly sepaled less the more and
more the less if lesson loosen
in lurid flora each flight a harm
or avoidance of harm a thrush discs
from a fist of rowan into VII woruldes
ear-harm head-harm by III and by XXX
the spear-leek is rotten the dead-nettle red
Caught in naming the offered din and
speke of things visible or audibly visible
the circumference of each body apparent
so step here so shriek this
whereas the jay its skew and wising
as an absent word of wætre of axshes
and of asking shall betoken the holy sealfe
also also eal so
3.
(against Old England)
Gonomil argomil marbumil the land is plural
many fielded cannot name ourselves
so swift in winter some kind of weapon
drank the wyrm burned the documents
a crow at the apex now jacketed
in wind or knowingness its mind agleaw
framed by or framing night
is a burning coal at one centre where
yours is no magic is only wyrm sickness
your ‘surge of patriotism real kind old kind’
that only marks others ungecyndelīc
In oblivion of definition by edges
and perceived attack the language of þrēat
when they come among our troop
is doomed hunt-logic meaning
‘threatened by outside forces’
will only justify the hunt do you hear
gonomil argomil marbumil turn to red vapour
the solidity of harm-words ‘belonging’
by cities rising argent in the nightfield
so sing this lay to the right ear hereafter
sing this galdor no mild argot this
notes on the poems: These poems are in dialogue with the ‘Nine Herbs Charm’ and other medicinal charms from the Old English Lacnunga manuscript (BL MS. Harley 585), as well as several riddles and poems from The Exeter Book (Exeter Cathedral Library MS 3501). In the context of the charms the Old English word wið means ‘against’, in the sense of a protection or remedy. The third poem is in part a criticism and rejection of the essay ‘Elysium Found?’ (2018, no longer published) by Paul Kingsnorth, which it quotes in speech marks. The title ‘Withstances’ is taken from a phrase by John DeWitt in ENDS (Tipped Press, 2011).
