Lyrics by Lamplight
WT published a collection of his poetry in 1968 under the title ‘Lyrics by Lamplight’. The modest booklet came out in 1968 with a foreword by P. Leighton Stowell, who calls them a ‘very valuable edition to Manx Literature’.
The poems were dedicated as follows:
One August evening many many years ago six of us were reclining in a bell-tent, feet to pole, somewhere in the heart of a Manx valley. It was drawing dusk outside but inside the scene was illuminated by a hurricane lamp hanging from a peg on the pole.
No one spoke for a while, only the music of the stream just outside the tent flap could be heard. Then suddenly the irrepressible member of the group sat up and cried, ‘come on, let’s have a lyric by lamplight!’ It is in belated reply to that call, and in memory of one who has since passed on to eternal light, that this volume has been written.’
You will find here the 42 poems printed in the book, in the same order, as well as two further poems that WT had hand-written into his personal copy on the back cover pages.
The ‘Lyrics by Lamplight’ collection labelled (Weekly Times) is a separate collection of poems that appeared regularly in the Manx newspaper of the same name during 1961.
List of titles of all poems in the category: Those from the booklet in their published order and those from the Weekly Times in alphabetical order.
- Lyrics by Lamplight (Collection from booklet)
- 01. Lyrics by Lamplight
- 02. Homing from Ballagrainey
- 03. The Song of the Tree
- 04. Eairy Dam
- 05. The Maid of Dhoon Glen
- 06. Lyric for Linda
- 07. Invitation
- 08. Night in Foxdale
- 09. Curlew
- 10. Sunrise over Douglas Bay
- 11. The Boat In The Farmyard
- 12. The Churchyard, Old Braddan
- 13. Nocturne
- 14. The Crocus
- 15. Lily Pool at Sandygate
- 16. Heard in a Garden
- 17. If He Sees Not
- 18. Folklore
- 19. Fallen Tree
- 20. Two Worlds
- 21. Colby Afternoon
- 22. The Country Life
- 23. Summer in Sulby
- 24. Wood Smoke
- 25. Only a Book
- 26. Come your Ways in
- 27. Thoughts Beside the River Neb
- 28. Draw the Curtains
- 29. Awake
- 30. Thoughts in the Small Hours
- 31. Delight
- 32. Moths
- 33. The Truant Soul
- 34. Orrisdale
- 35. Cass-ny-Hawin
- 36. Mist at Fleshwick
- 37. The Lilacs of Lindale
- 38. On Sailing from Douglas at Sunset
- 39. When the Lamp is Out
- 40. The Dear Departed
- 41. When all is Quiet
- 42. Deserted Beach
- Lyrics by Lamplight (from the Weekly Times)
- A Mourned Day
- A Symphony of Seasons
- Country Chapel
- Country Song
- Dedication
- Drowsiness
- Evening
- Folk Dance Festival
- Gazing on Douglas Bay
- Glen Spell
- Greatness
- Home Thoughts from the City
- Honeysuckle
- Lyric for a Special Birthday
- Old Mill-Wheel
- Pastoral Lyric
- Revelation
- Senses
- Summer and Winter
- Supreme Artist
- The Cross by the Sea
- The Destructive Winds of Summer
- The Infinite Content
- The Life Unseen
- The Lyrical Streams of Mann
- The Song of the Hermit
- The Whole Self
- To a Pantheist
- To the Carnation
- Whether or No