The news the following day that Mr Jobs had finally died followinga long battle with cancer turned the feeling of disappointment into one of deepsadness.
Each short chapter mourns the passing of years and Mrs. Bridge's increasing resignation, made sadder still by her inability to even dream of anything more for herself.
Over 32 poems Mr Hill traces an elegiac sequence for Lawes and his music, intermingling the historical events around his death with flashes of the everyday.
Though the scenery there was desolate, life was harsh and his longing for home was eager, the poet never felt sad and depressed but full of heroic passion.