Sir Christopher Bland

b. 1938 – d. 2017

Sir Christopher Bland was elected as an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2016.

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Sir Christopher Bland remembered – by Richard Eyre

Sonnet for Christopher

If death is but a crossing of the world

Or a gentle scull across the River Styx

With the boat’s slim sails only half unfurled,

It’s still a journey that no one picks

Through preference. We crowd on the shore, keen

To honour you, to garland your farewell

With blasts of trumpets as you skim between

The banks, and winds of love and praise propel

You, friend-blessed and heart-sent, to the other side.

There you’ll rest indelible in our minds’ inventory

Where your wit, your open-hearted joy and pride,

Will stand, with wisdom, witness to your glory.

There you’ll hoard the exegesis in your last breath

Of the malign mystery of life that’s death.