posted on 05 Nov 2017

The Lost Words by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris

This has to be a contender for the lost beautiful and thoughtful book of 2017. Author Robert Macfarlane insists that it’s a book of ‘spells’ rather than a book of poems and the large folio size does full justice to Jackie Morris’ splendid artistic talents.

The concept behind the book is nice and simple – but of course these ‘obvious’ ideas are only self-evident when someone else has put them down on paper. Macfarlane, who is an established and successful writer about the natural world, and Jackie Morris who grew up in the Vale of Evesham and now lives in rural Pembrokeshire, are both dedicated to the idea of ensuring children inherit the magic language of the British countryside. In the introduction to the book the authors express their dismay at the way traditional words associated with nature have fallen out of the child’s lexicon:

Once upon a time, words began to vanish from the language of children. They disappeared so quietly that at first almost no-one noticed – fading away like water on stone.

So maybe some magic is needed to bring them back and give them new life and new relevance. The chemistry between Morris the artist and Macfarlane the poet/spellmaker might just be the combination to make a difference.

You hold in your hands a spellbook for conjuring back these lost words. To read it you will need to seek, find and speak.

As if to underline the way these poems are really spells and incantations, Macfarlane has produced acrostics that run through the alphabet and have individual flora and fauna as their subject matter. Each of the spells is accompanied by a beautiful Jackie Morris artwork and is prefaced by a double-page cryptic illustration to act as an introduction to each entry.

Everyone will have their own favourites but I especially love Otter and this sample will give you a good sense of the way in which the words act as a magic spell that needs to be wrapped around the tongue and spoken out aloud:

Ever dreamed of being an otter? That

utter underwater thunderbolter, that

shimmering twister?

 

Run to the riverbank, otter dreamer, slip

your skin and change your matter, pour

your outer being into otter – and enter

now as otter without falter into water.

This is sumptuous word-mongering and there's a fabulous Jackie Morris otter to accompany it - there’s something classical about the painting as if it’s been drawn for the gilded wall of a Roman villa.

This book will confuse plenty of booksellers when it comes to finding a place for it in their shop. Many will plump for putting it in the children’s book section but they’d be missing a trick if they didn’t also include it in with the adult offerings. At a cover price of just £20 it’s an absolute steal and with Christmas fast approaching just who wouldn’t love to have a book like this waiting for them under the Christmas tree?

 

Terry Potter

November 2017