More by Laurie Lee
It is a long time now since I knew that acute moment of bliss that comes from putting parched lips to a cup of cold water. The springs are still there to be enjoyed - all one needs is the original thirst.
I Can't Stay Long (1975)
….and Rosie, having baptized me with her cidrous kisses, married a soldier and I lost her for ever.
Cider with Rosie (1959)
...because city honours are not village honours. Like certain wines, they do not travel; carry them back to the village and you find they are dust in your hands.
I Can't Stay Long (1975)
This tiny, white-washed Infants’ room was a brief but cosy anarchy. In that short time allowed us we played and wept, broke things, fell asleep, cheeked the teacher, discovered the things we could do to each other, and exhaled our last guiltless days.
Cider with Rosie (1959)
At Bognor Regis I camped out on the sands where I met a fluid young girl of sixteen, who hugged me steadily throughout one long hot day with only a gymslip on her sea-wet body.
As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning (1969)
The rabble closed in; I was encircled; grit flew in my face like shrapnel. Tall girls with frizzled hair, and huge boys with sharp elbows, began to prod me with hideous interest. They plucked at my scarves, spun me round like a top, screwed my nose and stole my potato.
Cider with Rosie (1959)
One moment I was part of the hurrying crowds, the next I stood nakedly apart, my back to the wall, my hat on the pavement before me, the violin under my chin.
As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning (1969)
Now we go off to the office and come home in the evenings to cheap chicken and frozen peas. Very nice, but too much of it, too easy and regular, served up without effort or wanting. We eat, we are lucky, our faces are shining with fat, but we don't know the pleasure of being hungry any more.
I Can't Stay Long (1975)
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