contents six consolations 13 Consolation № 1 17 Consolation № 2 18 Consolation № 3 21 Consolation № 4 23 Consolation № 5 25 Consolation № 6

28 Idyll 29 Clunk 30 Roadside Choreography

31 In Memoriam

32 Lines Written upon Hearing that ‘Dippy’ the Dinosaur

Would be Replaced by an Authentic Whale

34 The Miracle of the Roses

35 The Landowner  36 Ancien Régime

37 Protection  38 Beckford’s Tomb

40 Groundwater  43 Concerning the Weather

44 An Exercise in Prose 45 Bagatelle in Spring 47 A Sentence in Tacitus

48 Embellishment

49 Success 50 Intricacy 51 The Disappointment