Various Verses by Gordon Burness

Gordon Burness lived his entire life in London (1928-2015), leaving no large footprint in history. His life was nonetheless remarkable because he excelled in that great British tradition of the "great amateur." His restless curiosity and intelligence were not stimulated at school, because his education virtually ended at age 11 with the outbreak of World War Two, nor was it fueled by a high-flying career, since he worked as a toolmaker in a factory and later as a security officer. It...
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Gordon Burness lived his entire life in London (1928-2015), leaving no large footprint in history. His life was nonetheless remarkable because he excelled in that great British tradition of the "great amateur." His restless curiosity and intelligence were not stimulated at school, because his education virtually ended at age 11 with the outbreak of World War Two, nor was it fueled by a high-flying career, since he worked as a toolmaker in a factory and later as a security officer. It was innate. He strode through several life phases, first as a poacher turned naturalist, then book author and broadcaster, painter, and finally poet. This is a short anthology because he was already seventy years old when he began to compose verse, and that he succeeded so well is amazing without the benefit of a secondary education. But he was a natural wordsmith. His poetry phase followed two decades of painting in oils, for which he had an accomplished brush technique considering this too was self-taught. The subjects of his art ranged widely, from landscape to animals to fantasy, and even romance. For most of his life he was passionately interested in nature, beginning as a young poacher putting meat on the table during the austere post-war years of food rationing. Later, he exchanged his shotgun for a camera, achieving notice for his excellent writing and photographs in wildlife magazines. He treasured privacy and became a virtual recluse at the end, although welcoming old friends to his home where he would regale them with comical stories or the latest news about the Hubble telescope, the pineal gland or other scientific endeavors. His curiosity was never conquered by blindness and poor health, nor did he lose a cheerful outlook. Visitors left feeling enriched after engaging a remarkable mind that was careless about his own accomplishments, and which always deserved a wider airing. That is why Jamestowne Bookworks is proud to present his poetry in its original form.