Charles Causley

Charles Causley Poems

Colonel Fazackerley Butterworth-Toast
Bought an old castle complete with a ghost,
But someone or other forgot to declare
To Colonel Fazak that the spectre was there.
...

When to the music of Byrd or Tallis,
The ruffed boys singing in the blackened stalls,
The candles lighting the small bones on their faces,
The Tudors stiff in marble on the walls.
...

Charles Causley Biography

Charles Stanley Causley, CBE, FRSL (24 August 1917 – 4 November 2003) was a Cornish poet, schoolmaster and writer. His work is noted for its simplicity and directness and for its associations with folklore, especially when linked to his native Cornwall.)

The Best Poem Of Charles Causley

Colonel Fazackerley Butterworth-Toast

Colonel Fazackerley Butterworth-Toast
Bought an old castle complete with a ghost,
But someone or other forgot to declare
To Colonel Fazak that the spectre was there.

On the very first evening, while waiting to dine,
The Colonel was taking a fine sherry wine,
When the ghost, with a furious flash and a flare,
Shot out of the chimney and shivered, 'Beware!'

Colonel Fazackerley put down his glass
And said, 'My dear fellow, that's really first class!
I just can't conceive how you do it at all.
I imagine you're going to a Fancy Dress Ball?'

At this, the dread ghost made a withering cry.
Said the Colonel (his monocle firm in his eye),
'Now just how you do it, I wish I could think.
Do sit down and tell me, and please have a drink.'

The ghost in his phosphorous cloak gave a roar
And floated about between ceiling and floor.
He walked through a wall and returned through a pane
And backed up the chimney and came down again.

Said the Colonel, 'With laughter I'm feeling quite weak!'
(As trickles of merriment ran down his cheek).
'My house-warming party I hope you won't spurn.
You MUST say you'll come and you'll give us a turn!'

At this, the poor spectre - quite out of his wits -
Proceeded to shake himself almost to bits.
He rattled his chains and he clattered his bones
And he filled the whole castle with mumbles and moans.

But Colonel Fazackerley, just as before,
Was simply delighted and called out, 'Encore!'
At which the ghost vanished, his efforts in vain,
And never was seen at the castle again.

'Oh dear, what a pity!' said Colonel Fazak.
'I don't know his name, so I can't call him back.'
And then with a smile that was hard to define,
Colonel Fazackerley went in to dine.

Charles Causley Comments

Fahimeh Hosseini 21 July 2012

it's a pitty you don't have any of charles causley's poems. the entry in the google says you have but upon entering your site, no poem is accessible!

34 32 Reply
John Lloyd 26 February 2014

Yes FH I would also like Poemhunter to include Charles Causley's poems. Timothy Winters never fails to bring a tear to my eye.

25 18 Reply
Fabrizio Frosini 05 November 2015

Charles Stanley Causley (24 August 1917 – 4 November 2003) was a Cornish poet, schoolmaster and writer. His work is noted for its simplicity and directness and for its associations with folklore, especially when linked to his native Cornwall. Causley was born at Launceston in Cornwall and was educated there and in Peterborough. His father died in 1924 from long-standing injuries from the First World War. Causley had to leave school at 15 to earn money, working as an office boy during his early years. He served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War, as a coder, an experience he later wrote about in a book of short stories, Hands to Dance and Skylark. His first collection of poems, Farewell, Aggie Weston [1] (1951) contained his Song of the Dying Gunner A.A.1: Farewell, Aggie Weston, the Barracks, at Guz, Hang my tiddley suit on the door I'm sewn up neat in a canvas sheet And I shan't be home no more. Survivor's Leave followed in 1953, and from then until his death Causley published frequently. He worked as a teacher at a school in Launceston, leaving the town seldom and reluctantly, though he twice spent time in Perth as a visiting Fellow at the University of Western Australia, and worked at the Banff School of Fine Arts in Canada, and especially after his retirement which taken early in 1976 [2] was much in demand at poetry readings in the United Kingdom. He made many broadcasts. An intensely private person, he was nevertheless approachable. He was a friend of such writers as Siegfried Sassoon, A. L. Rowse, Jack Clemo and Ted Hughes (his closest friend) . His poems for children were popular, and he used to say that he could have lived comfortably on the fees paid for the reproduction of Timothy Winters: Timothy Winters comes to school With eyes as wide as a football-pool, Ears like bombs and teeth like splinters: A blitz of a boy is Timothy Winters. - first verse So come one angel, come on ten: Timothy Winters says Amen Amen amen amen amen. Timothy Winters, Lord. Amen. - last verse (from Wikipedia)

22 16 Reply
* Sunprincess * 31 May 2014

..............a wonderful poet.....loved his poem eden rock...would be nice if there was poems of his listed here....kind of surprising to see no poems on his page...

17 17 Reply
Fabrizio Frosini 05 November 2015

no poems by C.Causley because of a copyright issue..?

15 13 Reply
kayden 23 February 2022

he is so speciale

1 0 Reply
idk my name 24 August 2021

Im very sad to see that 'I saw a Jolly Hunter' is not here

0 0 Reply
Sylvia Frances Chan 18 July 2020

TEN TYPES OF HOSPITAL the Modern Poem Of The Day is no where to find, dear Poem Hunter. So I put my congratulations on his comment site, truly a great pity I could not read that. There are only left TWO POEMS and not one more.The late Charles Causley died in November 2003. My sincere Congratulatiions go to his beloved family. Rest In Peace, Sir.

0 0 Reply
John Ravenhill 30 April 2020

Disappointed that AT THE BRITISH WAR CEMETARY BAYEUX not on here! !

0 0 Reply
John Marks 16 April 2019

. WHY IN GOD'S NAME ISN'T 'EDEN ROCK' ON THIS SITE?

1 2 Reply

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