Give to me good earth as pillow
and the sky stroking tonic of willow
to plant within me the root of home
that will grow dominant as I roam
from the Northern lights natural wend
that inverts to Southern tip of rugged Land's End,
from the Eastern edge of Lincolnshire spire
to the western crown of Snowdon augmenting me higher,

Give to me, good England, compelling, unfinished,
productive and proud and never diminished,
resolution in water colour sketch book blended
to clamouring landscapes of emerald and blue suspended,
that chime in a dissonant, evaporating tone,
perfect in sharpness, a galvanising anger to hone
to utter incision, to immaculate control,
to intensity of intervals to penetrate my soul.

Ben Jonson, English playwright and poet, was born today in 1572.

John Constable, English landscape painter, was born today in 1776.