Sophie Hannah 'Over and Elm and I'
I've just discovered this Poet and her wonderful poem 'Over and Elm and I' there is a line in it which reads 'held a St. Neots Field' has anyone any idea what a 'St. Neots Field' is? From the context it appears to be some kind of charm or cure.
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Over Elm and I
How about posting the poem for all to see. I couldn't find it on google so don't know the context of which you speak.
Kaaren Whitney
Copyright!
I don't think we could do that. It would be a clear breach of copyright.
Sophie Hannah 'Over and Elm and I'
Hi Kaaren, I had thought of doing that but, hesitated because of copyight issues. I found the poem in 'All the poems you need to say I Do' edited by Peter Forbes. Published by Picador. I think that Over Elm and Eye are towns or villages in East Anglia (Cambridgeshire and Suffolk) The verse in which the line appears is
No evidence you are a cure
but that the envelope you sealed
and hand-delivered to my door
held a St. Neots field
The line
'Over and Elm and Eye'
is the last line of the next verse, where there is also a reference to March and Waterbeach
Of course it is also a pun on 'I' and 'Eye' so it may be something personal that the reader is not supposed to know. But I would like to understand it better. It is such a lovely poem. Wish someone had written it about me or I had written it about someone.
Joe
Sophie
Since no one had the answer, I thought that the only solution was to go to the source, Sophie gave me answers immediately, Thank you Sophie
Joe
Sophie Hannah's reply
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:51:19 +0100
To: <sophie@sophiehannah.com>
Subject: Over Elm and I
Dear Sophie, Please forgive the intrusion, but I have to ask you as no one else seems to know. I love your poem 'Over and Elm and I' It's really special, I have been asking if anyone knows what a 'St. Neot's field' is but no one does. So I thought that the only solution was to ask you.
Joe Thraveson-Lambert
From: sophiehannahjones@hotmail.com
To: Jibse
Sent: Monday, September 14, 2009 7:24 PM
Subject: Re: Over Elm and I
Hi Joe
Glad you like the poem! I'm very fond of it - it's basically about being in love with Cambridge and the surrounding area! All the places mentioned are places in and around Cambridge, including St Neots. A St Neots field is basically a field in St Neots. Hope that helps!
All best
Sophie
From: jibse@apora.co.uk
To: sophiehannahjones@hotmail.com
Subject: Re: Over Elm and I
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 2009 19:47:23 +0100
Thank you Sophie, I thought that it was a reference to some sort of traditional remedy, since the first line of that verse is 'No evidence you are a cure' I had also thought that it was a love poem to some person or persons unknown.
Many many thanks,
Joe Thraveson-Lambert
----- Original Message -----
From: Sophie Hannah
To: jibse@apora.co.uk
Sent: Monday, September 14, 2009 8:11 PM
Subject: RE: Over Elm and I
Yes, it was a love poem about a person! But also more generally a love poem about Cambridge/Cambridgeshire! I'm trying to move back there at the moment!
Sophie