MANUSCRIPT LETTERS
YOUNG, Andrew. A 2pp. al.s., dated The Vicarage, Stonegate, Tunbridge Wells, 23 August 1943, to John Arlott, saying that, of the poems by Arlott he had been sent, "'Cricket' was the one I enjoyed most. I don't think sounds often get expressed in verse, except in Pope's cheap way of making the sound echo the sense. I was immediately struck by the way you reproduce two sounds in verse: 'the hollow sound /Of wary bat on ball', and 'Like rattle of dry seeds in pods /The warm crowd faintly clapped.' Anyone who has been to a cricket match will recognise these sounds. This seems to me an unusual gift you should cultivate. But you give the whole picture very well, action and spectators and setting. It's a delightful poem"; a 1½pp. a.l.s., dated Stonegate, 23 October 1944, with suggestions about how Arlott might continue with a series of radio talks on cricket, and a comment on what was evidently the first: "I hope you don't want to murder me because I often find cricket very dull. Would you not rather give a few explanatory talks -- the kind of thing that is done for music? With one or two anecdotes, like that about Syd. Barnes ... This is a serious suggestion, and I hope you will pass it on to Grigson ... Your voice sounded a little sad at first, but it was soon all right"; a one page a.l.s., dated Stonegate, Monday [no year], saying: "how very good I thought last night's broadcast was ... It gave us a real impression of one even Edinburgh school boys called W.G."; a 2pp. a.l.s., dated Stonegate, 18 May 1948, thanking Arlott for Gone to the Cricket and giving an appreciation of the book; a 2pp. a.l.s., dated Stonegate, Thursday [no year], reading: "You have done this book extremely well; it is far too good for its railway book-stall appearance. It should be worth a lot of money to anyone who wishes to understand the game. Your knowledge and love of it make themselves felt all the time, and you achieve what you set out to do, make cricket appear like a fine art, demanding a good deal from the spectator. The surprising dedication is very kind ...."; and 4 other a.l.s. from Young to Arlott, all of relevance to cricket. (9)
Details
YOUNG, Andrew. A 2pp. al.s., dated The Vicarage, Stonegate, Tunbridge Wells, 23 August 1943, to John Arlott, saying that, of the poems by Arlott he had been sent, "'Cricket' was the one I enjoyed most. I don't think sounds often get expressed in verse, except in Pope's cheap way of making the sound echo the sense. I was immediately struck by the way you reproduce two sounds in verse: 'the hollow sound /Of wary bat on ball', and 'Like rattle of dry seeds in pods /The warm crowd faintly clapped.' Anyone who has been to a cricket match will recognise these sounds. This seems to me an unusual gift you should cultivate. But you give the whole picture very well, action and spectators and setting. It's a delightful poem"; a 1½pp. a.l.s., dated Stonegate, 23 October 1944, with suggestions about how Arlott might continue with a series of radio talks on cricket, and a comment on what was evidently the first: "I hope you don't want to murder me because I often find cricket very dull. Would you not rather give a few explanatory talks -- the kind of thing that is done for music? With one or two anecdotes, like that about Syd. Barnes ... This is a serious suggestion, and I hope you will pass it on to Grigson ... Your voice sounded a little sad at first, but it was soon all right"; a one page a.l.s., dated Stonegate, Monday [no year], saying: "how very good I thought last night's broadcast was ... It gave us a real impression of one even Edinburgh school boys called W.G."; a 2pp. a.l.s., dated Stonegate, 18 May 1948, thanking Arlott for Gone to the Cricket and giving an appreciation of the book; a 2pp. a.l.s., dated Stonegate, Thursday [no year], reading: "You have done this book extremely well; it is far too good for its railway book-stall appearance. It should be worth a lot of money to anyone who wishes to understand the game. Your knowledge and love of it make themselves felt all the time, and you achieve what you set out to do, make cricket appear like a fine art, demanding a good deal from the spectator. The surprising dedication is very kind ...."; and 4 other a.l.s. from Young to Arlott, all of relevance to cricket. (9)