Released:
5 October 2010

Cover Artwork:
John Berger, Untitled I, mixed media

Interior Artwork:
Yves Berger, Untitled I-VII, pen and ink drawings

Printing:
Gaspereau Press, Kentville, Nova Scotia | jacket: processed colour on Domtar Natural | cover: letterpress on Mohawk Komono Red | inside: offset on Zephyr Antique Book Laid with logo in letterpress, composed in Sylfaen on 11 pt. | Smyth-sewn and perfect bound

Table of Contents | Poems | Author Page

REVIEWS

“Written with both wit and a profound sense of the time passing, Devon Hymns takes us to what he calls ‘the great mismatch / of man and field’. A place where the cattle themselves are recognised with a new vision of their existence. Witty and moving, reticent and self-revealing, harsh and lyrical by degrees.”
Ronald Blythe, UK

“There is nothing sanctimonious about these hymns. Their sense of the spiritual is lightened and refreshed by a shrewd humour that sees the personality in animals and trees, even inanimate objects… Clarke’s Zenlike perceptiveness and subtlety are well-matched here by Yves Berger’s startlingly economical line-drawings, in which hand and a hoof are juxtaposed, or a cow’s brindled markings mimic a continental pattern of tectonic plates, and there’s an equally fine cover design , a complex maze of leaves, flowers and faces by John Berger. Overall, this is a beautiful book, and one which proves that pastoral is as rich a poetic theme as ever.”
Read full review…
Matthew Francis, UK

"The simple truth, for me, always seems buried in a block of mental granite! I do ’see’ the simple truth and beauty of the everyday, but expressing it in a way that both resonates and has meaning, takes a great deal of time and attention. And in the end, of course, whatever one creates is always only an approximation of one’s original intention."
Read full interview...
The Literateur (28 October 2010)

"I have found dozens of Betjeman or Betjeman-related items on the shelves [of the secondhand bookshop Any Amount of Books in Charing Cross Road] and the pleasure is enhanced for me by a chat with the knowledgeable staff behind the counter - and the sight of their adorable and most bookish puppy. Described in The Daily Telegraph as 'the pious poet of St Pancras', [Jeremy Clarke] recently published Devon Hymns, his first volume of verse. I strongly recommend it to you and am not remotely surprised that, in January, he became poet-in-residence at Eton College and is admired by the likes of John Berger and Ronald Blythe. A brief quotation would not do the work justice but I have no doubt that Sir John would have loved it - and so will you. I suggest you buy it (cost £12) when you next visit the shop, or order from Rufus Books".
John Heald, The Betjeman Society Newsletter (No.81, April 2011)