![]() ![]() ![]() A particular source of inspiration was the Lake District where she lived for the last thirty years of her life as a farmer and conservationist. Her gallantly perfect language demonstrates the unwavering control with which she presented herself “In the time of swords and periwigs and full-skirted coats with flowered lappets – when gentlemen wore ruffles, and gold-laced waistcoats of paduasoy and taffeta – there lived a tailor in Gloucester.” (In respectful observance of her constant mission to explain let’s note that “paduasoy” comes from peau de soie, literally “skin of silk,” and is a French medieval grosgrain fabric.) Hail her superb drawing of flora and fauna note, however, that she had lesser skill drawing humans. It was Beatrix Potter's passion for the natural world that lay behind the creation of her famous little books. Fenton and he answered, “Don’t ask the poet, ask the poem.” Therefore - go thou and do likewise with Beatrix Potter, and you will find – to take some examples - a self-containment brought on by nursery loneliness see the inner space in her work: note the predominance of interiors. When seven little bunnies go missing, Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny find themselves caught up in a terrible battle between Mr. ![]() Some years ago, when I was presenting Radio Four’s Poetry Please, a listener left a message at the BBC with a question for James Fenton as to the meaning of one of his poems. ![]()
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