The austere, honed-down style of George Bruce (1909-2002), the Fraserburgh-born poet, is already seen in this early poem from his first collection, Sea Talk.
The tension between sea and land, between man and the challenge of his environment, remained leitmotifs of his poetry. A lifetime’s output of thoughtful writing, dating from childhood to his nineties, is pulled together in the impressive volume Today Tomorrow, his Collected Poems from 1933 to 2000 (Polygon, £14.99 paperback).
INHERITANCE
This which I write now
Was written years ago
Before my birth
In the features of my father.
~
It was stamped
In the rock formations
West of my hometown.
Not I write,
~
But, perhaps William Bruce,
Cooper.
Perhaps here is his hand
Well articled to his trade.
~
Then though my words
Hit out
An ebullition from
City or flower,
~
There not my faith,
These the paint
Smeared upon
The inarticulate,
~
The salt-crusted sea-boot,
The red-eyed mackerel,
The plate shining with herring,
And many men,
~
Seamen and craftsmen and curers,
And behind them
The protest of hundreds of years,
The sea obstinate against the land.
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