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Henry Reed
(1914 - 1986)

Henry Reed

The  poet, playwright and translator Henry Reed is without doubt best-known for his wartime poem The Naming of Parts:

Today we have naming of parts. Yesterday,
We had daily cleaning. And tomorrow morning,
We shall have what to do after firing. But today,
Today, we have naming of parts. Japonica
Glistens like coral in all of the neighbouring gardens,
And to day we have naming of parts.

I make no attempt on this site to cover any more than his Hilda Tablet sequence of plays.

If you'd like to read more about him please visit the solearabiantree website where you can hear Reed reading his poems and see a timeline of his life.

Read on to learn more about the Hilda Tablet plays and hear Henry Reed talking about Mary O'Farrell who created the part of Hilda Tablet.

 

© Chris Goddard, 31 July, 2006