The poem
Edmonton, thy cemetery In which I love to tread Has roused in me a dreary thought For all the countless dead, Ah me, the countless dead.
Yet I believe that one is one And shall for ever be, And while I hold to this belief I walk, oh cemetery, Thy footpaths happily.
And I believe that two and two Are but an earthly sum Whose totalling has no part at all In heavenly kingdom-come, I love the dead, I cry, I love Each happy happy one.
Till Doubt returns with dreary face And fills my heart with dread For all the tens and tens and tens That must make up a hundred, And I begin to sing with him As if Belief had never been Ah me, the countless dead, ah me The countless countless dead.
This poem is marvelous, innit. The countless countless dead. I like to read poems over and over. Even though I don't understand them.
But I am very young.
Edmonton, Thy Cemetery
I wonder what is the Edmonton that Stevie Smith writes about? I live in a city called Edmonton in Canada - and many people jokingly call it DED-MONTON. I wonder if the Edmonton is a play on this - given that the poem deals with death ? Any views anyone?
Footnote
Stevie would have been referring to the Jewish cemetery in Edmonton North London UK (I used to work nearby).