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A social comedy by C. John Holcombe
Nicholas's affair with the captivating Clare is not progressing well.
In fact it's not progressing at all, despite a summer holiday together
in Italy where they do all that could be expected of a well-bred and
cultivated couple: tour around, visit galleries and churches, follow
up invitations and dine out in romantic settings. Back home in England,
Nicholas is even more perplexed when Clare takes up with a young socialite
who dabbles in banking. What is the budding art historian to do? An
affectionate look at the antics and follies of the English upper-middle
classes — a sort of Three Weddings and A Funeral in verse.
Free.
An historical romance by C. John Holcombe
Shuja Khan and his Toba princess are fictions rooted in historical
fact. When the story opens in 1290 (690 A.H.), the Mongol conquests
initiated by Genghiz Khan have been extended and consolidated by his
extensive family. Iran and the Middle East are ruled by the Ilkhans,
descendants of Genghiz's grandson Hulegu. China is ruled by Genghiz's
grandson Qubilai (Coleridge's Kubla Khan), founder of the Yuan Dynasty
and nominally Great Khan (Qaghan). The northern part of central Asia
is occupied by the Golden Horde, and the southern part by the Chaghatayids.
Local wars are common, and neither the Golden Horde nor the Chaghatayids
pay much attention to the Chinese ruler. Free.
A tale of mediaeval India by C. John Holcombe
Like Fitzgerald's Rubaiyat, the fictional story of Satyavati derives
from many sources — in this case the popular romances of pre-Mogul
India. The speaker is Hushang ibn Dilawar, ruler of the small sultanate
of Malwa in what is now Madhya Pradesh in north-central India. Hushang
introduced a policy of religious toleration, encouraged sufis and Islamic
clerics to settle in the kingdom, and employed many Rajput (Hindu) soldiers
in his army. India has many poems telling the love of Islamic rulers
for Hindu princesses, most of them ending badly. Hushang's misfortunes
stem from his character - his distrust of Satyavati's brother, whose
death he engineers, and his attack on the stronghold of Satyavati's
family. Free.
A Novel in Verse by C. John Holcombe
Like a contemporary Moll Flanders, the beautiful Mai Ying progresses
from Bangkok peepshow performer to bar-girl, unpaid British housemaid,
escort hostess to finally mistress and soon-to-be wife of a wealthy
industrialist. In this comedy of manners, Mai Ying is the poorly-educated
but knowing student of male hypocrisy — until she falls for the
industrialist's son and enjoys the raptures of physical possession that
she has supplied to men but not tasted before. Mai Ying is a survivor,
the laughing and rapacious sorcerer, and she returns to Thailand not
a whit restrained or sadder for her adventures in the land of farangs.
A long poem: free.
A Venetian tale in verse by C. John Holcombe
Venice at the height of her glory, and celebrated above all in the
canvases of Veronese. But what has happened to that altarpiece commissioned
from him, the one modelled on a child he had of the courtesan Antonia
Schiavoni? Ten years later it has not been delivered. The new abbess
calls him to account, and in the aged painter makes various excuses
— until he must meet the courtesan and their daughter again, when
he sees his life as great gifts squandered. A sadder man returns to
the small church of San Sebastiano, where his canvases show him what
he was once had the power to achieve. A long poem: free.
A political satire by C. John Holcombe
In this tale for our times, where the Civil Service has become a political
machine, an ambitious young protégé of Tony Blair's finesses
the concept of 'spin' and does his master's bidding through the Whitehall
corridors of power. In this he is joined by his secretary, Fiona, a
beautiful woman out of our hero's social league but one who knows advantage
when she sees it. Only one obstacle stands in the way of our hero's
climb to power, the wily Permanent Secretary, and Sir Roderick is not
a loyal Blairite, though too astute to say so. He will have to go, decides
our hero, but how? A long poem with quotable comments: fifty stanzas.
Free.
A modern pastoral by C. John Holcombe
A depiction of the east Anglian countryside in her various moods and
seasons, but also a tale of commercial adventure as young Robbie and
his sweetheart Meg struggle to make a go of their butterfly farm in
the depths of an abandoned market-gardening estate. Robbie is an oddball
character and Meg is no beauty queen, but they find affection for each
other in shared discomfort and hard work about their little farm. In
looking back over a half century, Robbie finds life just as he thought
it would be, part of a tradition coloured by individual hopes and disappointments
and soldierings on. An honest view of contempory aspirations. A poem
of fifty stanzas. Free.
A love poem by C. John Holcombe
All writers have their jealous but inconstant muses, and here the
mocking spirit flits across the English countryside and through the
generations of a family that traces itself to holdings in the west country
long before the Normans came. In this modern version of the English
pastoral the same themes are repeated: the constant longing for place,
the reference to what should have been, the evocation of someone dead
who still serves as emissary to a world that lies everywhere around
us, if we had the humility and sense of history to see it. An evocative
portrayal of past generations. Free.
Historical portrait of a country by C. John Holcombe
Chile is a land of contrasts, from the dry deserts of the north through
the pleasant farmlands of the centre to the forested mountains and glaciers
of the south. Even more varied have the political experiments: authoritarian
central government, libertarian reform, coups, right-wing, socialist
and communist administrations, militrary rule and currently a democracy
with a free market economy. All these are reflected in this snapshot
tour of the country that draws out the relevance of history and customs
in sharp sketches of the present day country. One hundred poems in a
free-verse form, introduced by a balanced essay on Chile's history.
Free.
A short story in verse by C. John Holcombe
The whole lot of them were chancers, good-natured philanderers who
take up various trades in London but who never settle, being always
attracted to women and their mysterious ways. But Charlie Tranter does
settle, and balances family life with innumerable affairs, until he
gets into one scrape too many. He is away on the usual fling when his
wife and young kiddie perish in a house blaze. The local press go to
town on the episode, and Tranter loses his job. But not for long. Irrepressible
as ever, he is soon a rep travelling in ladies underwear, and the pattern
of conquests begins again over the southern counties of England. Free.
A life in fifty chapters C. John Holcombe
Fifty linked poems written in stress metre that generates a drumbeat
measure that gradually drowns out the inner emotions as Caesar evolves
into a public person. An unexpurgated version where Rome is very different
from out Hollywood versions. Despite all that we have gained from it
in law, administration and language, Republican Rome lacked Greek refinement
or Christian caritas, and its brutality was exacerbated by increasing
civil wars. Free. po
A Collection of lyrics by C. John Holcombe
An old-fashioned book of poetry: thirty poems on love in its various
aspects and manifestations. Some are simple and faux-naif, little more
than nursery rhymes. Others are more demanding and extended. Many of
the poems follow strict and/or complex rhyme schemes, and all are metrical.
Free. po
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