Ghosts in the Tower

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At 73, I have difficulty getting around London these days since a bad fall in 2011. As it happens, the accident occurred very near the Tower of London although I had not been visiting it that day. It later transpired that I had badly fractured my left ankle and would need to learn to walk again. At the time, several kind passers-by stopped to help and waited with me for an ambulance to arrive. I was in a lot of pain, ye I spite of everything, I experienced an uplifting sense of camaraderie not only with those kind strangers but also with what I can only describe as a sense of kindred spirit emanating from the Tower itself.

Call me fanciful if you like (who am I to argue?) but that same kindred spirit stayed with me throughout one of the worst years of my life which left me housebound for months and often despairing of ever being able to get out and about again. (I was, after all, 68 years old at the time.)

Now, I can walk again, if with some difficulty, with the aid of my trusty walking stick and mange wo get out and about pretty well, all things considered. Yes, I have good days and bad days, and on the latter, it is that same human spirit, positive even in adversity, that continues to see me through.

Now, today’s poem has been significantly revised since it first appeared on the blog several years ago.

Among ghosts at the Tower is said to be Anne Boleyn, beheaded in 1536 for treason against Henry VIII; her ghost supposedly haunts the Church of St Peter ad Vincula in the Tower, where she is buried, and has been said to walk around the White Tower carrying her head under her arm. Other reported ghosts include Henry VI, Lady Jane Grey, and the Princes in the Tower. In January 1816, a sentry on guard outside the Jewel House claimed to have witnessed an apparition of a bear advancing towards him, and reportedly died of fright a few days later.  There have been various nameless and formless apparitions reported more recently, by night staff at the Tower. 

GHOSTS IN THE TOWER

In the bowels of London’s tower,

beats the pulse of its history,

feisty ghosts reliving every hour

Though tempted, we do not cower

from a fear that's legendary

in the bowels of London’s tower,

Here, mortals high and low flower

like lotus, spoils of eternity,

feisty ghosts reliving every hour

Ambition, lights and dark of desire,

past-present-future of a city

in the bowels of London’s tower,

Where ravens fly and tourists gather,

a city (still) aspiring to glory

feisty ghosts reliving every hour

Pages in its history coming together

to engage with us (intimately)

in the bowels of London’s tower,

feisty ghosts reliving every hour

Copyright R. N. Taber 2010

A Short History Of London

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I grew up in Kent and would often spend a few weeks of my summer holidays in London where my maternal grandparents lived. This would have been in the 1950s when London suffered from periods of dense smog; the air here is considerably cleaner now still much polluted as in so many major cities.

When I was a boy, my mother would bring me to London on my birthday to see the Christmas lights in Oxford and Regent Streets; in take on a theme and all the major stores would reflect this in their shop window displays. The effect was magical. To this day, I recall how an Aladdin theme took young Roger's breath away, and it must have been a good fifty years ago.

Pollution aside, it is a great place to live, especially if you are rich (which am not) if only for its wealth of art galleries, museums and various historic icons like Buckingham Palace, Tower of London, the Monument and  St Paul’s Cathedral as well as newer ones like The Gherkin and The Shard...etc. etc.

I am fortunate to live within a short walking distance of Hampstead Heath and can easily access Green Park via the nearby Regent’s Canal. I sometimes find it hard to believe that I live in the heart of a bustling metropolis. To be honest, it is too bustling these days. London is very overcrowded as anyone who uses its stressful public transport network will confirm. 

Photo: The Tower of London

A SHORT HISTORY OF LONDON

Find love, hate and mystery
(politics of redemption);
zoom lens on a city’s history

No passing hint of jealousy
in its powers of persuasion;
find love, hate and mystery

Mansion and hovel, secretly
writing up its passion;
zoom lens on a city’s history

In darkest prose and poetry
of its tower-prison,
find love, hate and mystery

Feeding on Sam’s feisty diary,
flames of determination;
zoom lens on a city’s history

Come a multicultural century
(cause for celebration)
find love, hate and mystery;
zoom lens on a city’s history

Copyright R. N. Taber 2010

[From: On the Battlefields of Love by R. N. Taber, Assembly Books, 2010; rev. ed. in e-format in preparation.]