Wednesday 22 February 2006

Nora Batty and the poets



…A dream of love to warm the winter nights
A draught of wine to end the summer days…



When my sister telephoned me to ask me if I knew the origin of the title of the world’s longest-running TV comedy, now in its 26th series, I didn’t hesitate to name a poet. Clearly, Last of the Summer Wine must have been inspired by some lines like the above, which might have been written by Shakespeare if I hadn’t just made them up. On the other hand, there is something a bit Donne-ish or even Herricky about the words, so I was prepared to be proved wrong.
I certainly was: it seems that the title of the series was invented by its creator, Roy Clarke.

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