Under the Shadow of the Oath: A Selection from the African Journals of Mary Casey

For Gerard and Mary Casey were farming in Kenya during the period of the Mau Mau Emergency, when sheep and cattle were slashed and killed, farms burned, and near neighbours, Europeans and Africans, murdered. The great 'release' of her poetry was to occur in the following decade, stimulated...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Powys Journal Vol. 23; pp. 177 - 182
Main Author Hooker, Jeremy
Format Book Review
LanguageEnglish
Published Bridgwater THE POWYS SOCIETY 01.01.2013
The Powys Society
Subjects
REVIEW
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Summary:For Gerard and Mary Casey were farming in Kenya during the period of the Mau Mau Emergency, when sheep and cattle were slashed and killed, farms burned, and near neighbours, Europeans and Africans, murdered. The great 'release' of her poetry was to occur in the following decade, stimulated by her romantic friendship with Valentine Ackland and influenced by her discovery of the philosophy of Plotinus, which enhanced her understanding of 'aloneness'. In a later entry Mary Casey writes: 'What I love best is an image, a reflection of nature in the mind that is not uninfluenced by thought, however sad or gay; winging or stagnant the thought may be, but it is the meaning of sky and forest and plain, swift deer and what engenders fear'. Openings: A European Journal - a sequel to Welsh Journal (2002) and Upstate: A North American Journal (2007) - is due from Shearsman later this year.
ISSN:0962-7057