Byron and me

I have this foot, you know –
it’s stiffened up with age.
So in the pool each day
I stop and take a break.
With hands against the wall
I go through my routine,
then swim, Childe Harold-like,
footloose and fancy-free.
Willersley Castle Hotel is a mile away, on the edge of Cromford. We used to go there for a swim at 7.30 nearly every morning. It was my only good habit.

This poem was written to celebrate the bicentenary of Lord Byron’s swimming of the Hellespont – and because I was amused by the idea of a bit of wordplay.

Willersley Castle Hotel is a mile away, on the edge of Cromford. We used to go there for a swim at 7.30 nearly every morning. It was my only good habit.

This poem was written to celebrate the bicentenary of Lord Byron’s swimming of the Hellespont – and because I was amused by the idea of a bit of wordplay.

The photograph of the Hellespont (now the Strait of Çanakkale) is copyright nektofadeev at Shutterstock.

The photograph of the Hellespont (now the Strait of Çanakkale) is copyright nektofadeev at Shutterstock.