a book of poetry
by michael h. Stagg
A SYLVAN LIFE
“This book distills a life lived well with work and love and joy in creation.”
Bio
Michael Stagg has lived his life grounded in nature.
He has worked as a forester, a ranger and in environmental protection and education for nearly half a century. He started work at fifteen years old as the youngest member of a group of ninety woodmen in Savernake Forest in his native Wiltshire; and has tended trees in the West Country and North Wales, before coming to his beloved adopted county of Suffolk when he was appointed Country Park Warden in Clare. He was the first Warden of the Suffolk Heritage Coast, and his final post was as Head Ranger of the Ipswich Borough's more than 1,000 acres of parkland and woodland.
He has been a spiritual seeker and a watcher of the natural world since his very early days - he has always found great solace and inspiration in nature and poetry. He has spent a lifetime observing, protecting and loving nature and wondering at the beauty of God's Creation. 'This collection, written in his 'vintage years' expresses his heartfelt response to the miracle of life, which he sees in the mundane as well as the extraordinary.
review
Magazine of the Suffolk Poetry Society:
Twelve Rivers, Vol 14 Issue 2
Autumn/Winter 2023
By Peter Sandberg
The title of Michael Stagg's book, A Sylvan Life, draws attention to its salient feature that it stems not from research but from a deep knowledge derived from experience over a lifetime as a woodsman. Its scope is wide, as the first poem, on 'International Forest Day' shows, but references are always specific.
Forests, Woods and Trees, these have been my world
From whence, from nature, life gives me, unfurled
An interest, a passion, a love,
For loving things, that we call Creation....
and then he lists instances he has found all over the world.
The poems are often rhymed, but naturally and without rigidity. Foxes, hawks, spiders, muntjac, buzzards all gain his attention, as well as sheep and cattle, including a close encounter with a 'Bristling Ox-Tongue'.' Haiku Psalm' reflecting Psalms 41 and 42, my soul thirsts for you is among those expressing his spiritual sensitivity and 'Psalm 43, verse 3' is a hymn to God's love and compassion expressed with a poetic fluidity and a mastery of how well-chosen words enhance each other.
Naturally there are many items relating to a woodsman's work, such as
'The Woodman Plants Trees', 'The Tree Feller', 'Lunch Break' and 'Elm Trees'.
A somewhat sideways glance at the subject comes in 'Ask the Men who fell the Trees' which concludes ... best thing to dampen fire is ….beer. The metaphorical 'The Peace Tree' beginning Christ the Tree of Life, towers over the forest community’ illustrates how his work informs his faith.
continued...
Close observation and a woodman's stealth give rise to the description of a surprising and equal contest, perhaps playful, between fox and butterfly in 'The Hunting Fox'. By contrast 'Breakfast' dispassionately describes a sparrowhawk ruthlessly dispatching a blackbird.
An interest in art is shown in reference to Constable's Elm, Thomas Girton's The White House, and Millais' Ophelia.
Michael Stagg is well able to link historical references to today's concerns. 'Oak Apple Day' begins,
The King's Son was only one of many species,
Hiding in the Oak tree.
Famed for its tenacity; and as a home
For many hundreds of small creatures
Myriad insects, all seeking safety
ln the Oak tree, hoping to see tomorrow…..
and ends,
….Were similar thoughts coursing through
The mind of the King's son as he, trembling,
Held fast to the rough oak branches ?
'The Path - a prayer on St Francis' Day' is reminiscent of Christina Rosetti's ‘Uphill'
…. Is there far to go? Does it stretch ahead and onward go?
A simple poem, 'Loves and Leaves' displays the combined influence of nature and a mind steeped in poetry.
Love walks the woodland path
When leaves are burning green
and all is pristine, new and fresh,
Life’s rich with Spring-time sheen …
… Bright hope, warm joy, love, have not gone
When leaves fall, for their rebirth.
No, love has not passed away,
in the Ritual of the Earth.
This book distills a life lived well with work and love and joy in creation.
Review courtesy of the Magazine of the Suffolk Poetry Society, and reproduced with permission.
interview
Oral History:
Aldeburgh Voices
As part of the oral history project, Aldeburgh Voices, Michael spoke of his life and poetry to Doreen Bartlett.
In this 50-minute conversation, Michael contributes his remembrances of his early forestry work and shares the value of educating on conserving the countryside, as part of the effort to preserve the history of Aldeburgh and the surrounding areas for future generations.
Listen to the interview and hear the poet’s life in his own words on the Aldeburgh Voices website.
remembrance
Michael, the Poet, was A Georgian at heart; a 'maker' of the old school, with a clear understanding of his craft. His love of the landscape, of trees in particular. was all of a piece with this. A true Forester, born 'of a native species' an Oak Tree of a Man, timeless as any Churchyard Yew. Many who knew him and his work, will miss his strength of purpose and dependability.
Mike Bannister
Fellow poet and one time Chair of The Suffolk Poetry Society
Poetry and Images
©Michael H. Stagg, 2023
Edited by
Margie Stagg and Chris Stagg
Published
2023 by Woodsman Books
asylvanlife@outlook.com
A portion of the proceeds benefit woodland trust, working for the conservation of forests and woodlands in the U.k.